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QUEENS WEEKLY, FEBRUARY 2, 2020
New Yorkers eligible for ‘Fair Fares’ half-price MetroCards
BY MARK HALLUM
New Yorkers in need once
again have the opportunity to sign
up for half-priced MetroCards for
the “Fair Fares” program.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and local
elected officials are encouraging
people to enroll in the initiative
after a late 2019 expansion of eligibility
criteria.
The administration is boasting
that 107,000 have enrolled in
the program in its first year and
that now CUNY students, student
veterans, and NYCHA residents
who meet other standards can
sign up for a MetroCard with an
“FF” on the back.
The program has grown since
it was last discussed in October
2019, at which point only 76,000
New Yorkers were enrolled and
city Comptroller Scott Stringer
criticized the program as not accessible
enough as only 15 percent
of subway riders pay weekly or
monthly unlimited.
“New Yorkers living in poverty
make difficult choices daily
about how to spend money, sometimes
sacrificing basic necessities
like warm boots to pay for
transportation costs,” Council
Speaker Corey Johnson said Monday.
“Today, we are attempting to
ease their burden by making halfpriced
MetroCards available to
all residents who meet the federal
poverty threshold. Already, more
than 100,000 New Yorkers have enrolled
in Fair Fares but we know
so many more people can benefit
from this program. I urge anyone
who is eligible to sign up.”
Councilman Ydanis Rodríguez,
who chairs the Transportation
Committee, said that while Fair
Fares could reach more than
800,000 people this year, more expansion
is needed.
“Today, over 800,000 people will
have the opportunity to apply for 50
percent reduced fare,” Rodríguez
said. “We must ensure that the New
York City Transit is affordable,
accessible, and reliable to all. We
must continue expanding the Fair
Fares programs reach, ensuring
that it covers every working-class
family in New York City.”
Chief Operating Officer of the
MTA Mario Peloquin said expansion
of the Fair Fares is a fitting
supplement to programs the state
agency already has in place to
discount senior citizens or offer
free Metro-Cards to students.
“The MTA stands ready to assist
the City in any way possible
to ensure New Yorkers living below
the poverty line have access
to half-price transit services,”
Peloquin said. “The MTA is committed
to providing the most affordable
transportation options
possible to all New Yorkers who
rely on us to get where they need
to go, including work, doctors,
school, and more.”
Although the program is
growing and has gotten over the
struggles of its early days, such
as disorganization, it still offers
major obstacles for not only getting
a Fair Fares card but also for
people already accepted.
Some riders have complained
about the difficulty of replacing
cards they have lost such as two
month wait periods.
But the month of December
saw outreach from the city in the
form of targeted advertisements
in ZIP Codes where concentrations
of eligible New Yorkers live,
the speaker’s office said.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum
by e-mail at mhallum@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–
4564.
Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks (podium)
speaks about the Fair Fares program as (from left to right) City
Councilman Carlos Menchaca, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and
City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, with transit advocates, look on.
Photo via Twitter/@NYCHRA
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Middle Village Preparatory Charter School
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Charter Schools are Non-Traditional Public Schools
Charter Schools Help Students Achieve
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S.T.E.M. Lab
All applications for incoming 6th Grade
students are due by April 1st, 2020
Preference given to students living in District 24
and children of MVP Employees
We encourage all students from District 24 to apply, including English
Language Learners (ELLs) and students with IEPs.
info@middlevillageprep.org
Middle Village Preparatory Charter School
P.O. Box 790224
Middle Village, NY 11379
Q38
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