cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/47472940
Feb. 13, 2026
Free buses? Really? Of all the promises that Zohran Mamdani made during his New York City mayoral campaign, that one struck some skeptics as the most frivolous leftist fantasy. Unlike housing, groceries and child care, which weigh heavily on New Yorkers’ finances, a bus ride is just a few bucks. Is it really worth the huge effort to spare people that tiny outlay?
It is. Far beyond just saving riders money, free buses deliver a cascade of benefits, from easing traffic to promoting public safety. Just look at Boston; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Kansas City, Mo.; and even New York itself, all of which have tried it to excellent effect. And it doesn’t have to be costly — in fact, it can come out just about even.
If free buses strike you as wasteful, you’re not alone. Plenty of the beneficiaries would be people who can afford to pay. Does it make sense to give them a freebie? Yes, if it improves the life of the city, just as free parks, libraries and public schools do. Don’t think of it as a giveaway to the undeserving. Think of it as a gift to all New Yorkers in every community. We deserve it.
What if you drink alcohol or use recreational drugs? You can still take the bus and won’t endanger anyone (unless you’re totally off your head). Drink/drugged drivers are a danger to everyone.
One of the anti-everything groups in our city actually put out a public statement about how people advocating for public transit “just wanted to be able to go out partying and then ride transit home!! REEEEEEE!!!”
Many people went “yeah, duh?” <confused looks> Isn’t that a phenomenal reason to have great public transit? It literally saves lives and promotes enjoying life.
Calvinism is such a blight upon humanity.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I have no experience with that.
Not everyone drinks or do drugs.
Everyone who drives, or who rides while someone else drives, or who walks or bikes near a road, absorbs the risk of impaired drivers.
True, but at least from were I’m from almost nobody drives impaired.
Or, at least they don’t declare it loudly.
Narhh it is pretty frowned upon and those who do it don’t care about free public transport anyway.
Where is it not frowned up? (Okay, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and all of Balkans. But otherwise?)
Big parts of the US? The justification being, how do you otherwise go home from the bar in a small town?
That’s sad to hear. And maybe something I could have figured out. But didn’t.
In a small town I’d assume you’d just walk, though. Depending on how you define “small town”, of course! Or alternatively, take a taxi of some kind. Or have your friends ferry you around?
Where on earth are you from?