Testimony: Fair Fares Proposed Rules Hearing
Debipriya Chatterjee
Testimony at the Public Hearing on Proposed Rule of the Fair Fares NYC Program
Organized by Human Resource Administration
Presented by Debipriya Chatterjee, Ph.D., CSS Senior Economist
Thank you, Chairperson, Councilmembers, and to other members of the Committee on for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Debipriya Chatterjee, and I am a Senior Economist at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), a long-time nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing economic opportunity for working New Yorkers. We use research, advocacy, and direct services to champion a more equitable city and state. We have been especially instrumental in launching the discounted transit fare program, Fair Fares, by working with our collaborators and coalition partners, from some of whom you have already heard today.
Today my testimony will focus on (a) applauding the administration for adding more funds to the Fair Fares program in what was a tight budget year while increasing eligibility to New Yorkers with incomes up to 120 percent of the Federal Poverty Line and (b) reiterating our position that the expansion in eligibility falls short of the need of the hour and that we need Fair Fares program to be accessible to New Yorkers earning up to 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line.
Since its inception in January 2019, Fair Fares has provided a lifeline to New Yorkers struggling with transit affordability. As of last week, over 300,000 New Yorkers were enrolled in this vital program which connects low-income New Yorkers to jobs, training, education, medical care, and so much more. The increase in enrollment is also reflected in our Unheard Third Survey: from 2021, when only 25 percent of eligible New Yorkers surveyed said that they had enrolled in the program, the rate has increased by 10 percentage points to 35 percent of eligible New Yorkers surveyed reporting that they were enrolled in summer of 2023. Mirroring this progress in enrollment, the share of respondents who said that they had not heard of the program or that they did not know how to apply has also decreased significantly over the past years. The outreach and education efforts by the administration are paying off.
Unfortunately, while we do believe that these efforts need to be reinforced and continued, we think that they are unlikely to boost enrollment and have as much positive impact on the city as intended. As the economy continues recovering and more New Yorkers are employed, the arbitrarily low eligibility thresholds of the Fair Fares program continues to exclude most of them from availing the discounted fare program. This year’s budget did increase the eligibility to 120 percent—the reason we are all here—but this expansion is too little to make a tangible difference. It is likely to make the program accessible to an additional 50,000 New Yorkers, while continuing to exclude hundreds of thousands.
The reason we are focused on expanding the eligibility to 200 percent of FPL is because based on our Unheard Third Survey, we know that 29 percent of all low-income New Yorkers reported that they often struggled to afford subway or bus fares. This proportion was the same for households in poverty, i.e., those who are currently eligible for Fair Fares MetroCards, as well as those whose incomes put them between 100 and 200 percent of the federal poverty line. These are working New Yorkers, who are trying to thrive in a city of exploding costs and increasing hardship. Many New Yorkers with incomes just above the poverty level are working multiple jobs and can be pushed into poverty by even the smallest, unexpected expense like a visit to the emergency room or a malfunctioning appliance.
Easing transit hardship for working New Yorkers by expanding Fair Fares is a low-hanging policy fruit. It would make the city more environmentally friendly, would add revenue to MTA’s coffers, and most importantly, would be a major step in equitable growth by helping Black, Hispanic/Latinx and Asian communities. Transit hardship among these communities is at least twice the rate of their white counterparts and these working New Yorkers rely almost exclusively on public transit. We’re talking about home health care workers, laborers, food service and restaurant workers – the very people who help make this city run.
We urge the administration to recognize that the Federal Poverty Level is an imperfect, and unsuitable metric for gauging economic need. Consider this: for a family of four, the official poverty level is $26,550. However, for a mother and two children it's only $23,030, and for a single New Yorker it's an unimaginable $13,590. A more realistic measure of economic need in New York City should be at least twice the federal poverty level.
When we first imagined Fair Fares -- working with our partners at Riders Alliance and building a diverse coalition of elected officials, faith leaders, advocates and anti-poverty organizations -- we started cautiously. But today, we know the actual program cost and utilization patterns. All of this tells us that we can afford to expand the program to more of those in need. And we should.
Thank you again for the opportunity to present my remarks. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to me, Debipriya Chatterjee, over email dchatterjee@cssny.org.