Bronx Riders Deserves More, For Less

New Yorkers are proud people. We celebrate our skyline, our hustle, our culture. But when it comes to the Bronx, that pride and support often feels one-sided, especially when it comes to public transit.

I am a 50-year-old disabled stroke survivor on dialysis, awaiting a kidney transplant. I’m also a student at Lehman College. My life runs on deadlines and medical appointments. Public transit is not optional for me. It’s survival. I’ve lived in New York City for more than a decade. For nine of those years, I’ve lived in the Bronx. I’ve learned the rhythm of the buses, the patience required for delayed trains.

When people talk about New York, they don’t picture bus routes that take twice as long as they should, or subway stations without working elevators. I do, because I live here.

When transit is delayed or inaccessible, it isn’t an inconvenience. It’s anxiety. It’s physical strain. It’s the risk of missing medical care. For people like me, time is not just money. Time is health.

I receive Fair Fares, which is a program for low income New Yorkers that provides a 50 percent discount on transportation. It helps, and I am grateful. Without it, the cost of getting to appointments, school, the pharmacy, or meetings would weigh even heavier on my limited income.

However, too many New Yorkers fall between the cracks. They earn just enough to be ineligible for Fair Fares, yet not enough to comfortably absorb rising fares. They are working people. Caregivers. Seniors. People managing chronic illness. Some are choosing between groceries and transportation.

The Bronx feels this squeeze intensely. We are a borough with high poverty rates and high rent burdens. We rely heavily on buses, yet bus service is often slower and less reliable here than in wealthier neighborhoods. We are asked to pay more for less. This is a social justice issue.

For the past four years, I have been a member of Riders Alliance, organizing for affordable and reliable public transit. I’ve spoken at rallies and listened to stories that mirror my own. A mother calculating whether she can afford to visit her child across boroughs. A senior skipping doctor’s visits because the fare adds up. A worker waking up two hours early just to account for delays.

Transit equity is not abstract. It’s racial justice. It is disability justice. It is economic justice.

Mayor Mamdani campaigned on expanding Fair Fares, but funds to extend it didn’t appear in his recent preliminary budget. That promise should not fade just because Election Day has come and gone. Expanding eligibility would immediately help thousands of New Yorkers who are struggling but don’t meet the current income threshold. Affordability is not a binary condition. You are not either poor enough to deserve help or wealthy enough to absorb endless fare hikes.

New York City cannot claim to celebrate working people while making it harder for them to move through the city. It cannot speak about public health while ignoring transit barriers that prevent access to care. The city cannot boast about resilience in the Bronx while underinvesting in our infrastructure.

We have New York pride. We chant it. We brand it. We sell it, but where is the support for the Bronx?
We deserve buses and trains that show up on time. We deserve transit that is affordable enough that no one has to choose between staying alive and getting where they need to go.

Fair Fares should be expanded. Access-A-Ride should be strengthened. The Bronx should no longer be treated as an afterthought. I ask the people of New York to stand up for the Bronx and tell the mayor to make policies that don’t leave us out. We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for fairness.

Victor Lee Walker is a Riders Alliance member