Claim : New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has raised the subway fare from $2.90 to $3 despite promising during his campaign to make subways free.
Conclusion : The claim is false. The fare increase was approved by the MTA Board in September 2025 before Mamdani’s election victory in November 2025 and his inauguration as Mayor. However, Mamdani had promised to make buses free in his campaign and not subways.
Rating : Totally False — 
Several social media users have claimed that NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has raised the subway fare from $2.90 to $3. Verified X user ‘IanJaeger29’ made such a claim, framing this as a trick, using the phrasing “His voters got lied too” to emphasize the alleged dishonesty. He further states how “Zohran Mamdani campaigned on making subways free” and has shared a picture of him too. The post gained more than 1.5 million views and can be seen here –
BREAKING: NYC has increased their subway fare to $3.
Zohran Mamdani campaigned on making subways free.
His voters got lied too. pic.twitter.com/8BnesdBALb
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) January 4, 2026
Other users have also shared similar claims which can be seen here and here.
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India investigated the claim and found it to be false. The subway fare increase from $2.90 to $3, implemented on January 4, 2026, was approved by the MTA Board in September 2025. This decision was made before Zohran Mamdani assumed office as mayor following his election victory in November 2025.
Details:
We first conducted a web search with the phrase “Zohran Mamdani increases subway fare” to learn more about the claim. The search took us to a report by FirstPost America that mentions how “the increase was approved months earlier by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and built into the 2025 budget.” We further learned that Mamdani has committed to free city buses, a policy which requires state level funding and MTA approval.
Following this, we searched about the subway fare hikes approved by the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) board. According to a report by NBC New York, the MTA board “approved the plan with an 11-0 vote and two abstentions in September 2025 itself, though most changes were set to take effect in January 2025…” The report also states how these fares affected “New York City Transit’s subways and buses, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North.” View a section from the report below –
Next, we checked the official statement released by the MTA board on the fare hikes, last updated on September 30, 2025. Under the New York City Transit, it is clearly stated that “base fare for subways, local buses, and Access-A-Ride is increasing 10 cents, from $2.90 to $3.” According to the MTA, the increase to $3 is below inflation, but if adjusted to inflation since the last increase in 2023, the base fare would have been $3.14. View a section from this press release below –
Additionally, Zohran Mamdani has proposed expanding dedicated bus lanes citywide to cut commute times and reduce traffic congestion. To fund this free bus program, he has suggested raising the state’s corporate tax rate and increasing income taxes on individuals earning over $1 million annually. His campaign did not promise free subway rides, rather advocated for free bus rides.
Thus, the claim is false.
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