What Would Free Buses Look Like, Actually?

"One of the busiest buses in New York City, the Bx12, starts its route at one end of the A train, in Inwood at the very top of Manhattan, and runs across to Co-op City, in the Bronx-the largest housing coöperative in the world. In between, it crosses a lot of places people might want to get on: the 1 train, the 4, the D, the 2, and the 5; the tip of the Bronx Zoo; the bottom of the Botanical Garden; Fordham University;"

"The Bx12 is almost always full. On a recent weekday afternoon, large crowds waited at each stop, and people pounded on the back doors when they couldn't squeeze on. There is no cross-town subway in the Bronx, which is part of the reason that Fordham Road, where the Bx12 often slows to a crawl, is the second-busiest bus corridor in the city. (The first is the M15, which goes up and down First and Second Avenue in Manhattan.)"

The Bx12 bus runs from Inwood at Manhattan's northern tip across to Co-op City in the Bronx, passing major subway lines, the Bronx Zoo, Botanical Garden, Fordham University, Metro-North, and the Bruckner Expressway. The route experiences heavy demand, often filling to capacity and suffering slowdowns along Fordham Road, the city's second-busiest bus corridor. Most New York bus lines operate at a fare revenue loss, but the Bx12 approaches cost recovery. Mayoral candidates including Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo have proposed fare-free bus initiatives, with differing scopes, and Mayor Eric Adams has signaled openness to free buses.

Read at The New Yorker