Riders Alliance

Riders Alliance members and coalition partners filled the halls of the Capitol in Albany during state budget season to demand reduced wait times for trains and buses.

New York approved congestion pricing, a program to toll cars to reduce traffic in the busiest parts of NYC and fund public transit with the revenue in 2019. With federal approval finally secured in 2023, Riders Alliance continues to advocate for the program to be turned live and begin generating $1 billion annually to improve trains, buses, and service across the city.

Riders Alliance members laid out a 50-foot banner in Union Square for passersby to share why better subway and bus service is important. The art and activism project created community and a compelling mural that conveyed a collective message to decision-makers in Albany.

Riders Alliance canvassers meet riders at bus shelters and subway stations to listen to their transit stories and invite them to get involved to improve their experience and service in their community.

Riders Alliance and a broad coalition of partners, including from Transport Workers Union Local 100, gathered outside Grand Central Terminal, to call on state lawmakers to prioritize transit in the post-pandemic budget.

Riders Alliance provides leadership training to members, including telling personal stories at press conferences. Kelechi M. a Riders Alliance member shared what the Fair Fares (half-priced MetroCards) program means to him and his family.

In 2019, New York City rolled out the Fair Fares program proposed by Riders Alliance. The program provides half-priced MetroCards to New Yorkers with incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level. Riders Alliance is now calling to expand the successful program by raising the eligibility cap.

Riders Alliance
2024 - $15,000 General Support

Riders Alliance is a grassroots organization made up of, and dedicated to, New York bus and subway riders fighting for better public transit to make our city more equitable and just.

Riders Alliance is a grassroots organization made up of, and dedicated to, New York bus and subway riders fighting for better public transit to make our city more equitable––especially in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn where transit is most delayed and disjointed.

Since its founding in 2012, Riders Alliance has organized thousands of riders to demand results from officials and to change the politics of New York transit. It has produced meaningful, tangible improvements that save riders time and money: half-priced MetroCards for low-income riders, the nation’s first congestion pricing program with revenues set to fund major accessibility and reliability improvements on the subway, and a first-in-a-generation increase to off-peak subway frequency, which particularly helps shift and service workers.

Riders Alliance’s theory of change is simple: elected officials and public agencies will prioritize transit riders’ needs only when riders are organized and prepared to hold our representatives accountable. Riders Alliance continually builds membership in the most impacted outer-borough neighborhoods, canvassing at bus stops and on subway platforms to engage riders in its work and identify new leaders to develop and support. It hosts regular trainings to equip members with skills to speak to the media, facilitate meetings, canvass, and lobby elected officials. Member-leaders organize in their communities to support fellow riders. Members are integral to campaign selection, strategy, and  implementation.

In 2024, Riders Alliance is focused on three areas of transit policy and service to improve the lives of everyday New Yorkers:

• Fairer fares for a fairer New York: In 2024, Riders Alliance’s priority for Fair Fares, New York City’s half-priced MetroCard program for low-income riders, is to increase the utilization and impact of the program by increasing eligibility to 200% of the Federal Poverty Line (or $29,160 for a one-person household). Riders have a chance to evolve this program to have the biggest impact and help the most New Yorkers.
• Congestion pricing’s premier year: In 2024, Riders Alliance’s priority for congestion pricing, the tolling program established for Manhattan’s Central Business District, is to keep leveraging rider power and strengthen the coalition to ensure the program successfully exits the political “valley of death” and goes live.
• Buses are the key to transit equity:  In 2024, Riders Alliance’s priority for better buses is to build unignorable bus rider power and test its case for an expanded theory of organizing and powerbuilding to finally deliver fast and reliable service to all of New York City. It will zero in on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn as a model of bus organizing and service for the future.

www.ridersalliance.org