‘Free’ Bus Program Mamdani Used as Model Ends After Years of Failure
24th June 2026
Surprise, surprise: There really is no such thing as a free bus.
One of New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s key campaign promises was that he would provide free bus services to everyone in the city.
Not only is that goal seemingly not even in the medium-term plans for the mayor, but one of the programs he pointed to as a successful model has gone belly up.
Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Kansas City, Missouri, ended its experiment to provide free bus services to people in the city. It will now begin charging riders for the service.
“Kansas City reinstated bus fares this month after six years, unwinding a closely watched experiment that inspired zero-fare transit campaigns across the U.S., including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s,” Bloomberg reported.
Kansas City’s free bus was sold as a cost-saving measure that would make ridership more “equitable.”
The city created the program with a major federal cash influx during the COVID-19 lockdowns. But it became financially untenable as the initial funds ran out in 2023 and the cost of operations reportedly climbed to $15 million a year, nearly double the initial projections.
Part of the problem is endemic to other “free” transportation services in big cities. Without the small amount of buy-in from customers and given the tendency of blue cities to tolerate mass homelessness and recidivism, these services naturally become more dangerous and more expensive.