After New York City's subway rides saw a 10 cent hike in fares from 4 January, social media users in India shared posts holding the city's new mayor, Zohran Mamdani responsible for the higher cost of transit.
The claim: Those sharing such posts have claimed that Mamdani, who campaigned to make buses free for NYC commuters, "allowed" bus and subway fares to be increased from $2.90 to $3 per ride, despite talking about making buses free in his campaign.
How do we know?: Public transit in New York City's metropolitan area is handled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which oversees development, fare collection, and policy implementation for NYC's buses, subways, metro, and rail lines.
On their website, under the 'Fares and tolls' section, we came across a page which noted that they had approved certain changes to "fares, tolls, and ticketing policies" which would go into effect from 4 January 2026.
It mentioned that the "base fare for subways, local buses, and Access-A-Ride will increase 10 cents, from $2.90 to $3."
The page also mentioned that the MTA Board had assumed that a fare hike would happen in March 2025, but had delayed it to "align with the launch" of new unified payment card.
The change was approved in September 2025, under former Mayor Eric Adams' mayorship, whereas Mamdani won the mayoral race on 4 November 2025.
This makes it evident the Mamdani is not responsible for the fare hike.
Who runs the MTA?: The MTA is headed by a 23-member board, four of which are recommended by the mayor of New York.
Conclusion: Social media users have falsely claimed that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is responsible for the recent hike in subway and bus fares in the city.
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