The War on Cars12 Aug 2025

Should the Bus Be Free? With Yonah Freemark

Should the bus be free? That's the question everyone following the New York City mayoral race is asking, with Democratic primary winner Zohran Mamdani promising to focus on fast, free buses if he's elected to City Hall. Eliminating bus fares is a big idea, but is it a good one? Like a lot of things in politics, there's no simple answer. That's why we asked Yonah Freemark — a researcher in cities, land use, and transportation at the Urban Institute — to walk us through the pros and cons of making the bus free for everyone. Whatever you think about it, the good news is that everyone is talking about bus riders. That's a win in our book.

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***Our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, will be published on October 21, 2025 by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Pre-order now.***

Purchase tickets for our Life After Cars publication party and live show at The Bell House in Brooklyn on October 28th. And find us in other cities for our book tour including San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and more.

The War on Cars is produced with the generous support of the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.

This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood and Upway. Listen for the latest discount codes.

Check out Mamala Food by Dani Finkel. (She designed our logo!)

SHOW NOTES

Learn more about Yonah Freemark and his work at the Urban Institute.

Watch Zohran Mamdani on The Breakfast Club.

Charlie Komanoff: Free buses would mean faster buses and more riders. (Streetsblog)

Andrew Cuomo has a less ambitious free bus plan. (Gothamist)

Boston has free buses on three routes. (Boston.gov)

New York's free bus pilot. (MTA.info)

This episode was recorded at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio.

www.thewaroncars.org

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