CUNY Student Senate supports #freepublictransit

@USSCUNY

How to "find" money for #freepublictransit in NYC

All budgets are a statement of priorities. Here are several other ways the MTA could reorder its priorities:

• Put a halt to boondoggles like the Second Avenue subway project, which cost a princely sum but are of little use to most commuters. Building the new Second Avenue line from 63rd Street to 96th Street cost more than $4 billion. A planned extension to 125th Street by 2029 is projected to cost $6 billion — and the digging hasn’t even begun.
• Expand dedicated bus lanes, for a fraction of the cost of building new underground lines. This will make it easier to connect people across the outer boroughs, where a lack of mass-transit options is a chronic problem.
• Ensure that spending on vitally important capital programs such as updating the subway system’s archaic signal system, doesn’t spiral out of control.
• Scrap Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to hire an additional 500 subway police officers at a cost of more than a billion dollars over the next 10 years, according to the conservative Empire Center. That’s a lot of dough to spend on an affirmative action program for bullies.

https://indypendent.org/2019/12/how-to-stop-fare-evasion-make-the-subway-free/ 

Beware the opportunist - good twitter thread!

Demands for free public transportation are becoming louder in NYC so opportunist, careerist politicians like Nydia Velazquez are trying to push for weak, half-assed reforms to stop people from continuing to demand FREE, HIGH-QUALITY public transportation. https://t.co/erQbIEFOz1

— Ash J (@AshAgony) November 19, 2019

Free transit - not free parking

Trade free parking for free transit: An idea that would reduce congestion and fund mass transportation https://t.co/QaGSDWi8A1

— Donald Shoup (@DonaldShoup) November 13, 2019

Details of racist terrorizing arrest in NY subway

In case you’re wondering how an arrest in NYC goes down. The guy has made absolutely no indication that he would flee or fight and wasn’t trying to hide.

If you can’t see, the reason everyone moved was because all the police had taken out their guns and aimed at him. pic.twitter.com/dAstrtMntz

— Elad Nehorai (@PopChassid) October 25, 2019

People in NYC protest against racist terror over fares

People protest NYPD policing the MTA by mass hopping the turnstiles pic.twitter.com/Roli76gPMX

— barely informed with elad 🕵🏻‍♂️ (@elaadeliahu) November 2, 2019

Racist terror continues in NYC

NYPD tasered and arrested 2 teenagers for fare evasion. It’s important to note that @NYCMayor @NYGovCuomo have stationed NYPD at train stations located in the poorest Black Latinx neighborhoods in NYC. #NoNewCops pic.twitter.com/q7W5XAV25m

— Achmat X (@AchmatX) October 29, 2019

Fare-evasion crackdown is just racist terrorism

More than 60 percent of people arrested for fare evasion in the second quarter of the year were black or African-American, according to the most recent fare evasion data published by the NYPD. Another 25 percent were listed as “Hispanic.”

https://queenseagle.com/all/people-of-color-account-for-85-percent-of-fare-evasion-arrests

Racist fare-enforcement continues

NOW: 7 cops arrest young Black man at Nostrand Ave A/C train station for supposed fair evasion. 7 cops, 2 squad cars & supervising officers for fair evasion. Community members rallied, took video & are meeting the man at the precinct. This is why we #SwipeItForward pic.twitter.com/OjfHk6RKWv

— Dave George (@davidgeorge265) October 19, 2019

Fare enforcement a waste of taxpayer money - #freeischeaper

There are a gaggle of cops checking tickets on the M14 this morning at each stop along 14 ST. A truly incredibly waste of time and energy for everyone involved.

Public transportation should be fare-free. We can afford to do it and we can’t afford not to. #freepublictransit pic.twitter.com/NIJdc4qPr9

— Peter for New York (@PeteHarrisonNYC) October 15, 2019

Billions of dollars go to subsidize fossil fuels

The IMF estimates that eliminating fossil fuel subsidies could free up US$2.9 trillion in government revenue annually.

https://theconversation.com/amp/vast-subsidies-keeping-the-fossil-fuel-industry-afloat-should-be-put-to-better-use-119954? 

One in four say they cannot afford #publictransit fares

But some evaders simply don't have the money. According to data compiled from public defenders by the Community Service Society of New York (CSS) in 2017—a low-income advocacy group that's suing to compel the NYPD to release more robust fare evasion data—more than one in four low-income New Yorkers said they could not afford to pay for public transit. The group also described a large number of evasion arrests taking place in high-poverty neighborhoods (the lack of official data makes it tricky to paint a complete picture). "It's a crime of poverty, not a public safety problem," said Harold Stolper, senior economist at CSS, "and so the solutions should be affordability, not enforcement."

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3xbj5/the-case-for-leaving-fare-beaters-alone-and-making-public-transit-free 

City Buses: So Why Not Ride Free?

Nobody wants to hear it, but the truth is that Mike Quill, the erstwhile New York City transit union chief, was right: Public transportation should be free.
What?
Yes, free! That is, as free as anything gets. Free, in this case, means that the cost would be paid through the general fund (that's a euphemism for taxes.)
On the face of it, free transportation has a ring of absurdity. But upon reflection it makes a lot more sense.
Think of it. Free public transportation would make it possible to meet all criteria for efficiency and popularity. Funds would be available to create a complete system with adequate routes and good schedules as well as the nitty-gritty costs, such as salaries, operating expenses and capital investment.
Yes, but wouldn't all those buses run empty?
No. Creation of a good system of free public transportation would entice droves of people -- many of whom now believe that buses are only for people too poor to afford their own car -- to shun the exorbitant cost of owning an automobile in favor of a free, enjoyable socially desirable ride to work or play. Who would want to pay for a car, with all its attendant expenses, if he could ride free?

https://hubpages.com/travel/So-Why-Not-Ride-Free 

Bill would provide #freetransit to all students in state of New York

All students in New York state would get a free round-trip ride to and from school, under a bill introduced Friday.

Co-sponsored by Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson (D-Newburgh) and Sen. James Skoufis (D-Hudson Valley), the bill could save parents thousands of dollars a year in Metro-North train tickets and MTA subway fares.

https://nypost.com/2019/02/02/new-bill-would-give-free-public-transit-ride-to-all-new-york-students/

Transportation is a public service, no need for user fees [fares]

What if instead of Fair Fares for some, we made public transportation free of fares for residents? We provide public services — garbage collection, firefighters, etc. — through taxpayer funds because they’re necessities. Transportation is integral to city living and should be thought of as a necessity.

https://www.amny.com/opinion/the-real-goal-should-be-fare-free-mass-transit-1.26350631