Mamdani’s Free Bus Scam Would Bring “Dangerous Homeless Shelters on Wheels” to NYC

New Yorkers face a clear choice in the mayor’s race, and Zohran Mamdani’s push for free buses stands out as a risky gamble dressed up as relief. As polls open today, his campaign site promises to “lower the cost of living for working class New Yorkers” with fare-free transit, but evidence from cities that tried it paints a different picture.

Mamdani co-authored a piece last year claiming programs like Kansas City’s led to a 39 percent drop in security incidents from 2019 to 2020. He called it a model that gives riders “economic breathing room while also making their commute safer.”

Yet Kansas City officials who lived through the experiment tell a harsher story. Nathan Willett, a city council member, and Nicholas Miller, head of the local transit union, detailed how assaults on bus drivers jumped from one or two a year before 2020 to 32 in 2024. Bus disturbances climbed from 972 in 2019 to over 1,300 annually afterward—a 30 percent spike that forced the hiring of seven times more security guards, who had to be armed for the first time.

Drivers described their vehicles turning into “dangerous homeless shelters on wheels,” with more intoxicated passengers and people riding loops just to stay off the streets. Every operator at a union meeting raised their hand to bring back fares, saying they no longer felt in control.

The financial hit was brutal too. Kansas City lost $10 million yearly in fare revenue and spent $6 million extra on security, leading to route cuts and the program’s shutdown earlier this year. By April 2025, the city council approved reinstating fares to stem the bleeding, with service reductions already in place.

Other attempts at free transit have stumbled hard. A Regional Plan Association report found many low-fare programs fail to reach those in need, staying under-subscribed despite the hype. In New York itself, the MTA’s free bus pilot drew backlash from lawmakers for only attracting 12 percent new riders, a number the agency deemed underwhelming. Studies show zero fares often replace walking or biking trips rather than pulling people from cars, doing little to cut congestion or emissions.

Nationwide, transit systems grapple with funding shortfalls post-pandemic, teetering “on the edge of a cliff” as ridership lags. Mamdani’s plan risks amplifying that chaos in a city already plagued by slow buses—New York’s fleet hits stops on time just 70 percent of the time, worse for express routes.

Voters eyeing Mamdani, the Democratic nominee leading in polls against Andrew Cuomo’s independent bid and Republican Curtis Sliwa, might see free rides as a quick win. But peeling back the layers reveals a scheme that burdens taxpayers, endangers workers, and erodes reliable service. Kansas City’s lesson is fresh: what starts as a populist perk ends in regret. New York deserves better than experiments that trade safety and solvency for votes.