NEW YORK, N.Y. — Nearly every City University of New York student picked for a City Council pilot that pays for unlimited subway and bus rides has claimed a card, and council leaders said Friday they want to grow the program next year.
The council said 693 of the 700 students chosen for its CUNY OMNY Pilot Program have collected their cards, a 99% pickup rate. The program is paid for with $700,000 the council put in the city budget. Speaker Julie Menin announced the figure at a transportation summit, appearing with Majority Leader Shaun Abreu.
Demand far outran the supply of cards. About 54,000 CUNY students met the rules, and more than 28,500 filled out an interest form sent by email. To qualify, students had to be Pell-eligible, carry at least 12 credits in both semesters, take two or more in-person classes and get no other transit aid.
Each card works for unlimited rides from Oct. 5 through Dec. 25, 2026. A 120-day unlimited pass then covers the spring term starting Jan. 28, 2027.
The pilot is part of a wider council push on transit costs. Abreu, who chairs the council transportation committee, said a free bus program would carry a price tag between $900 million and $1.3 billion, more than he believes the city can take on. He and Menin instead favor Fair Fares, the half-price fare program for low-income residents.
This year Fair Fares eligibility now reaches households earning up to 200% of the federal poverty line, opening it to about 340,000 more residents and roughly 1.3 million in all. A June estimate from the Independent Budget Office found only 41% of eligible New Yorkers enrolled, and council leaders blamed a long application and weak outreach.
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