State lawmakers proposed spending $90 million this year to improve bus service frequency and expand the scope of the MTA’s free bus pilot in the Assembly and Senate “one-house” budgets released on Tuesday., allocate $45 million for the MTA to increase bus frequency and $45 million to expand its free bus pilot in the five boroughs, scaling up to three routes per borough over the current one.
“Gov. Hochul’s Executive Budget makes record-setting investments in New York’s future while ensuring the state remains on a stable long-term fiscal trajectory,” Hochul spokesperson John Lindsay said. “She will work with the Legislature to craft a final budget that achieves these goals.” “Two million New York bus riders need more frequent, reliable, and affordable service,” said Danny Pearlstein, the group’s policy director. “The legislature’s bold $90 million plan gets us much nearer our goal. Now, we need Governor Kathy Hochul to get on board and seal the deal in the final budget due April 1.”half-price MetroCard program for low-income riders to both the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North.