New York Metropolis is well known for its transit choices — and notorious for its excessive value of dwelling.
Over 3 million folks experience the subway every single day, going by means of the turnstiles to enter the sprawling transit system that runs with the assistance of their fares.
Some New Yorkers pay the newly elevated $3 fare, which occurred final month, with out a lot thought, however for others, transportation is tough to afford.
One in 5 New Yorkers wrestle to afford subway fares, in accordance with the newest survey by the nonprofit Group Service Society. To assist them, a number of packages assist New Yorkers pay transit prices, however every has completely different guidelines and processes to hitch.
The 2 major ways in which qualifying New Yorkers can use to slash the price of transit fares: Honest Fares NYC, a city-run program underneath the Division of Social Providers, which relies on earnings, and Lowered-Fare, an MTA-run program based mostly on age and incapacity. There are additionally smaller packages to assist younger New Yorkers and ferry riders afford transit.
Able to get a diminished fee for the buses and trains? Right here’s what New Yorkers ought to find out about making use of for the discounted fare choices:
Honest Fares NYC
Honest Fares NYC is a city-run program that slashes the price of transit fares in half on subways, buses and Entry-A-Journey — the paratransit service for people with disabilities or well being circumstances that may make utilizing public buses or trains tough. It additionally reduces fares on the Staten Island Railway, Roosevelt Island Tramway and Hudson Rail Hyperlink, and is on the market to residents no matter immigration standing.
The Division of Social Providers reviews that 389,405 New Yorkers as of January are enrolled in this system, accounting for 40% of eligible New Yorkers.
This system launched in 2019 to offer New Yorkers with incomes at and beneath the federal poverty stage entry to diminished fares, nevertheless it has step by step expanded its eligibility to use to people and households making as much as 150% of the federal poverty line. For a household of three dwelling in New York, meaning they can not make greater than $40,980 to qualify for this system.
“People who qualify are overwhelmingly in determined want, and so these are of us who’re actually having bother making ends meet, and for whom each greenback counts,” Danny Pearlstein mentioned, coverage director for Riders Alliance, a transit-advocacy group. “An actual concern is that individuals might place themselves in hurt’s approach by skipping the fare and place themselves liable to ticketing or arrest.”
Listed below are the family earnings limits to qualify in 2026:
| People in Family | Most Earnings |
| 1 | $23,940 |
| 2 | $32,460 |
| 3 | $40,980 |
| 4 | $49,500 |
| 5 | $58,020 |
| 6 | $66,540 |
| 7 | $75,060 |
| 8 | $83,580 |
apply: Honest Fares
New Yorkers can apply on-line by means of ACCESS HRA, the town’s on-line portal for advantages or in individual at considered one of 5 Honest Fares places of work. There’s one Honest Fares location in every borough, open Monday by means of Friday, 8:30 a.m. to five:00 p.m. and closed on holidays.
Paperwork are required to confirm the applicant’s age, handle and earnings. The record of recommended paperwork might be discovered right here, together with a government-issued picture ID, financial institution statements and particular person tax returns from the prior 12 months.
Paperwork should be uploaded utilizing the ACCESS HRA app or introduced in individual. After submitting an software, candidates have 10 days to submit the required paperwork. As soon as submitted, the town notifies the applicant by mail when the applying has been reviewed, which can take as much as 30 days.
Upon approval, the town will mail a Honest Fares OMNY card to the person’s handle, which can take as much as three weeks to reach. Members might use the Honest Fares-issued OMNY card, or instantly apply the low cost on to a private OMNY card, financial institution card or cell pockets by means of the ACCESS HRA web site or cell app.
Honest Fares enrollment lasts for one 12 months and might be renewed so long as the participant remains to be eligible. Riders will obtain a renewal deadline through textual content and mail, and they need to renew a minimum of 30 days earlier than the deadline to proceed receiving the low cost with out pause. The quickest approach to renew is on-line and contains submitting proof of earnings eligibility once more. Renewal may additionally be finished in individual at a Honest Fares location.
Bronx resident Jeremiah Gonzalez has been enrolled in Honest Fares since November 2024.
“I’m presently unemployed. I don’t have the means to become profitable in addition to the money help HRA provides me,” he mentioned. “I’ve to stretch that $183 a month in sure methods.”
Gonzalez mentioned Fare Fares turns out to be useful for him.
“I don’t need to pay $3 each single time I’m going to a job appointment, or to right here, or to wherever,” he mentioned, including that the low cost retains him from making an attempt to beat the fare.
The town price range units apart $120 million to cowl the price of Honest Fares, in accordance with HRA Deputy Commissioner Monica Ealey. Outreach efforts like promotions on trains, buses and screens inside subway stations are strong to assist New Yorkers join with this system, together with partnering with metropolis companies and group organizations to achieve people who could also be unaware of the profit. The Division of Social Providers additionally advertises it on trains and buses, with texts and emails despatched to HRA shoppers and “transit talks” held at subway stations a number of instances a month.
Lowered-Fare Packages
The Lowered-Fare program applies to any New Yorker age 65 or older, or any individual with a qualifying incapacity. Enrollees pay half of the fare for subways, buses and the Staten Island Railway. Riders who take the the Lengthy Island Rail Highway and Metro-North, the MTA’s commuter railroads, additionally pay half for one-way, peak fares. This system additionally slashes the fare for categorical bus journeys anytime besides the weekday peak intervals of 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. and three:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Disabled New Yorkers ought to apply for Honest Fares if they’re underneath the age of 65, meet the earnings necessities (see above) and need to obtain reduced-fare Entry-A-Journey journeys. Half-off rides with Entry-A-Journey don’t apply to senior riders or riders with disabilities within the Lowered-Fare program.
An internet software shouldn’t be presently obtainable for the Lowered-Fare program, which implies candidates should apply in individual or by mail. Candidates who join in individual might obtain their Lowered-Fare OMNY card the identical day, however candidates who apply by mail might wait as much as three months earlier than receiving a Lowered-Fare OMNY Card. There are two completely different purposes for folks aged 65 or older and people with disabilities.
Apply: Lowered-Fare riders 65 and older
Apply in individual at one of many 29 subway stations with Buyer Service Facilities open 24/7, on the MTA’s Buyer Service Middle in Decrease Manhattan or at Cell Gross sales automobiles. Test the schedules right here for when they could go to your neighborhood.
Convey an ID card to use. The record of legitimate types of picture ID is right here and features a legitimate driver’s license, passport from any nation and state picture ID
Daisy, a senior citizen, utilized to this system in individual on the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Road station advanced in Queens. “It was very simple. They’re very useful,” she mentioned. “I’m nonetheless working part-time, so it affords me the power to go there. I don’t drive. I can’t stroll to work.”
Apply: Lowered-Fare riders with disabilities
Individuals with disabilities usually tend to stay on a hard and fast earnings or have lower-paying jobs than nondisabled people, and price could be a barrier to transportation, in accordance with Anna Humphrey, an organizer on the Middle for Independence of the Disabled.
For New Yorkers with disabilities, together with these unable to drive or afford taxi companies, discounted fares enable them to go to work, healthcare appointments and easily benefit from the metropolis with out elevated monetary strains.
In individual, you’ll be able to apply for the Lowered-Fare program in choose subway stations with Buyer Service Facilities open 24/7, on the MTA’s Buyer Service Middle in Decrease Manhattan or at Cell Gross sales automobiles. Test the automobiles’ schedules right here for when they could go to your neighborhood.
Convey documentation of your incapacity through a duplicate of a Medicare card issued for causes aside from age, or certification from a doctor or licensed healthcare supplier for bodily, cognitive disabilities or psychological well being circumstances.
The record for qualifying disabilities is expansive and covers bodily, cognitive and psychological well being circumstances.
Riders with power disabilities should re-certify each 4 years, a course of Humphrey known as “pointless.”
“If somebody has a everlasting incapacity, that’s by no means going to vary,” she mentioned. “We simply need to see the applying course of simplified, and the recertification half is a matter.”
Eman Rimawi-Doster underlined the needlessness of getting folks with disabilities reapply throughout a rally at Metropolis Corridor for increasing public transit on Feb. 4. She is a incapacity justice organizer and a double amputee.
“I’m not a starfish,” she mentioned. “My legs are usually not going to develop again.”
Certification varieties might be accessed right here or on the in-person Buyer Service places.
Making use of in individual could be a barrier to accessing diminished fares for seniors or folks with disabilities who could also be mobility impaired and wrestle to achieve customer support places. The MTA will ship its Lowered-Fare OMNY playing cards to those that select to use by mail.
Should you select to enroll by mail, obtain an software right here for candidates aged 65 and older, which requires a passport-style picture and a duplicate of a sound ID.
Obtain an software right here for candidates with disabilities, which incorporates documentation of a qualifying incapacity along with a passport-style picture and a duplicate of a sound ID.
Mail the applying and paperwork addressed to the MTA Lowered Fare Program at 130 Livingston St. Brooklyn, NY 11201-9625.
Subway fares for teenagers and college students
As much as three kids underneath 44 inches tall experience free of charge with a fare-paying grownup.
Scholar OMNY playing cards, distributed by NYC public faculties at first of the college 12 months, are legitimate 24/7 — even throughout summer time. College students stand up to 4 free rides a day and obtain a brand new card from their faculty administration annually.
Ferry reductions
For New Yorkers who cruise metropolis waters, there may be the Ferry Low cost Program administered by the NYC Ferry. People are eligible for $1.45 one-way tickets if they’re age 65 or older, have a incapacity or are already enrolled in Honest Fares or the Lowered-Fare program. However enrollment shouldn’t be automated; those that need the low cost should apply individually to the ferry system, which is operated by the Hornblower firm.
On-line purposes and bodily software varieties in a number of languages might be discovered right here.
Should you select to not submit a web-based software, drop off accomplished varieties to the Wall Road Pier 11 ticket sales space, or mail them to the Ferry Low cost Program at 63 Flushing Ave., Constructing 5, Suite 100 Brooklyn, NY 11205.
Highschool college students in grades 9 to 12 at public, nonpublic and constitution faculties may additionally obtain $1.45 one-way ferry tickets with the Ferry Scholar Low cost Program. College students can select whether or not they need to entry a ticket low cost code on the NYC Ferry cell app or obtain discounted paper tickets solely obtainable on the Wall Road Pier 11 ticketing window.
To get the scholar low cost, mother and father or guardians should log in or create a NYC Scholar Account for discounted tickets on the NYC Ferry app. They could additionally submit an software for discounted paper tickets on-line or on the Wall Road Pier 11 ticket sales space.
Scholar low cost tickets are solely obtainable to make use of on weekdays — meant for college students travelling to and from faculty. They’re accessible till the tip of August, when college students should re-enroll in this system and obtain a brand new code.
