MTA chairman questions economics of Mamdani's free bus plan, says it needs study

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber signaled his opposition Wednesday to one of the signature policy proposals of Democratic mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani — fare-free buses.

Mamdani, a state Assembly member representing Queens, has made “fast and free buses” a key plank in his affordability platform , saying it would cost the MTA $700 million to $800 million a year to fund the program.

But Lieber questioned that figure in an interview on NY1 Wednesday, saying it was based on last year’s farebox revenue from the New York City bus system — a number that he expects will increase.

“Our projection is that bus revenue is going to start to push closer to a billion dollars a year in the next couple of years, as we’ve gotten customers back and, frankly, as we’ve pushed back on fare evasion on buses,”