Wu and Mamdani both campaigned hard on fare-free transit. Delivering is another story.
Two Progressive Mayors, One Shared Promise, Very Different Stages
When Zohran Mamdani and Michelle Wu ran for mayor of New York City and Boston respectively, both campaigned on expanding free public transit. Wu won first, launching a fare-free pilot on three MBTA bus routes serving Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan in 2022. Mamdani won the New York mayoral race in 2025, inheriting a transit system where bus speeds average 8.1 miles per hour and where free fare proposals require the cooperation of a state-controlled MTA led by a governor who has already poured cold water on full fare elimination. The two cities offer a revealing study in what progressive transit ambitions look like when they meet fiscal and political reality.
What Boston Has Achieved and What Remains Uncertain
Boston’s fare-free bus program, covering Routes 23, 28 and 29, has been running since March 2022 using federal pandemic relief funds. Ridership on the three routes grew by 35 percent in the first year, more than double the MBTA system average. The routes now carry 16 percent more riders than before the pandemic. All-door boarding has cut dwell times by roughly 20 percent. Surveys found that 26 percent of riders saved more than $20 per month and used those savings for food, emergency funds, and other necessities. In February 2026, Wu announced an extension of the program through June, using the last remaining federal COVID relief funds. But the program’s long-term future is deeply uncertain. The city faces budget challenges and has not identified a sustainable funding source to replace the $340,000 monthly federal reimbursement to the MBTA. Wu said she is discussing the long-term future of the program with the MBTA, which faces its own massive budget deficit.
What New York Has Promised and What It Has Delivered So Far
Mamdani campaigned on fast and free buses but has so far focused primarily on the fast part. In February 2026, he restarted four shelved street redesign projects including bus lane improvements on Fordham Road in the Bronx, where bus speeds average 5 miles per hour. His preliminary budget adds $5 million annually for bus and bike lane projects. The free component remains aspirational and would require agreement from Governor Hochul and the state-run MTA, both of which have expressed skepticism. Hochul told reporters she is open to making the system more affordable but cannot set forth a plan that takes money out of a system that relies on fare revenue.
The Structural Challenge Both Mayors Face
American Public Transportation Association data shows that fare revenue typically accounts for 20 to 40 percent of bus and rail operating budgets in major U.S. transit systems, creating significant financial obstacles to full fare elimination without replacement revenue. Both Wu and Mamdani govern cities where transit is controlled at the state level, limiting their ability to unilaterally implement fare-free systems. In Boston, the MBTA is a state agency under the governor. In New York, the MTA is similarly state-controlled. The rider benefits of fare-free transit have been well-documented. Research compiled by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute finds that fare elimination produces measurable ridership increases, reduces dwell times, speeds service, and disproportionately benefits lower-income riders who spend a larger share of their income on transit costs. The political and fiscal question is not whether free transit works but who pays for it and whether those funding commitments can be sustained without federal aid that has now dried up. The comparison between Boston and New York suggests that progressive mayors who campaign on free transit must immediately confront the structural funding gaps that make the promise hard to keep.
