The cost to ride the city’s subways and buses increased to $3 on Sunday and many straphangers say they’re already frustrated with the 10-cent increase.
“ I’ve been living in New York for going on 50 years now and for all the fare increases, I think the subway service is lackluster at best,” said Tom Nimen, commuting to Union Square station from Crown Heights on Sunday. “There were times I could not afford that. There were times I used to choose between food and a subway fare. I’m not in that situation anymore, but others are not.”
The MTA board has opted to increase fares incrementally every two years rather than waiting longer and hitting riders with a double-digit hike that other train systems in the region face. The increase is to combat growing inflation and operating costs.
“It sucks, but I get why they’re doing it,” said 23-year-old commuter Arun Lakshman. “[But] I think affordability is a big thing these days, right? If things aren’t affordable, people are going to complain and I think they have a right to.”
Late last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul released data showing that subway trains were on time 83.7% of the time on the average weekday in 2025, up 2.1% from a year earlier. On the average weekend day, the data showed subway trains were on time 86.6% of the time, up 2.4%.
The MTA data also showed that there were 1.3 billion total trips on the subway in 2025, up 7% from 2024 and 85% of its pre-pandemic ridership totals.
Sunday morning commuters said better performance didn’t quell their frustrations with the higher fare.
“ I just feel like that if you’re gonna pay $3, we better have world-class service now. I still see rats on the subway. I still see a lot of track work being done,” said Ian Ward, 28.
Other transit systems in recent years have faced steeper fare hikes. Across the Hudson River, officials at NJ Transit increased the fare of all of their services systemwide by 15% in 2024 to prevent a looming deficit. It has also committed to an annual and indefinite 3% increase in the fare.
The higher fare isn’t the only change to the way New Yorkers use public transportation.
The MTA fully transitioned away from the iconic yellow and blue Metrocard to OMNY, the tap-to-pay system, on New Year’s Day.
And the transit agency in recent weeks began a pilot program to test out modern fare gates to curb fare evasion — a problem that officials estimated cost the MTA around $400 million in 2025. To help curb the problem in the short run, the MTA installed spikes and paddles on existing turnstiles, which officials said is helping reduce fare evasion.
Sunday also marked an increase in the express bus fare from $7 to $7.25; weekly and monthly tickets on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North are up 4.5%; and tolls on all nine bridges and tunnels owned and operated by the MTA increased 7.5%.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said New Yorkers are still burdened by cost in the five boroughs when asked about the increase in fares at a news conference Sunday morning.
“When the fare was $2.90, one in five New Yorkers were being priced out of it. We know that for so many New Yorkers, public transit is increasingly becoming out of reach,” he said, reaffirming his commitment to making the city’s buses free.
