MAMDANI: Affordability of Public Transit: The Poll Tax on the Working Class

Mobility as a Commodified Right

The rising cost of subway and bus fares functions as a regressive poll tax on the working-class “native,” a deliberate barrier that commodifies the right to movement. Mamdani’s analysis of how the colonial state monetizes basic rights is clear here. For the “settler” class, the fare is a trivial expense; for the “native” living in a food desert and commuting to a low-wage job, it is a significant financial burden that criminalizes poverty through turnstile jumping arrests. This system ensures that mobility–the lifeblood of the city–is a privilege, not a right. The liberal solution of means-tested fair fares reinforces the bureaucratic management of poverty. A Mamdani-informed socialist solution is the unconditional decommodification of transit. We must fight for a fully free public transit system, funded by progressive taxation on corporate wealth and real estate speculation. This is a fundamental step in decolonizing the city, asserting that the ability to move freely is a prerequisite for full political and economic participation, and must be guaranteed to all.