Ana Terrones sat in a window seat of the M15 Select bus, brushing raindrops off her jacket and scrolling through her phone. The glow of incoming text messages bounced off her glasses.

The 34-year-old mom of three was en route from the Bronx to the Upper East Side, where she's a housekeeper at a luxury apartment. At 8:13 a.m., she was praying the bus would arrive in time for her to pick up a light cappuccino from her usual bodega before clocking in to work by 9.

New York City's rent and grocery prices "get worse every year," she said, but she rarely notices small line items like a $3 bus fare. Saving minutes is more valuable than a few dollars.

On a Wednesday morning in May, a dozen commuters on the city's busiest bus route had strikingly similar views about Mayor Zohran Mamdani's fast-and-free bus pitch, one of his most highly publicized affordability promises. Riders told me how they make ends meet in one of America's most expensive cities. They mentioned groceries, housing, and childcare — and needing to get to work on time. The crowd was less enthused about the "free" part.

"I often have to run and race for the bus, and it's not reliable," one rider told me. "Then, sometimes on the weekends, I have to wait nearly 20 minutes."

By the end of his term, Mamdani hopes to eliminate fares on the city's more than 300 bus routes, an undertaking that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and require significant support from both local and state lawmakers.

The administration also aims to take on the less expensive task of making the bus system faster and more reliable. While Mamdani's camp says they can achieve both goals, I wanted to know what New Yorkers really want from their rush hour. On the "free" part of Mamdani's promise, commuter opinion was mixed. More were fans of the "fast" pledge.

Yulia Chulad's most reliable means of transportation between her East Harlem apartment and her downtown teaching job has always been the M15 bus. She lives above 96th Street, where the Q train stops.

"I'm not sure if I would be taking the bus if it were free, to be honest," she said.

One-third of buses fail to show up at their scheduled stops on time, a 2025 analysis by the NYC Comptroller's Office found, and over half of bus lines with frequent service experience delays due to "bunching," or inconsistent spacing between buses.

The "free" part of Mamdani's pledge could jeopardize buses' speed. The city experimented with no-fare lines on five routes in 2023; it increased ridership but cost the city millions and slowed bus service. Kansas City and Boston have seen similar mixed results with free bus experiments.

From a numbers perspective, NYC bus fares generate $652 million a year, which is used to offset the system's multi-billion-dollar operating cost. Eliminating fares would cost upwards of $700 million, according to Mamdani, though state leaders worry the sum will be much higher. The mayor would also need to overcome red tape and budget hurdles — the MTA is a state agency, so City Hall can't directly change fares. Simply adding more dedicated lanes to skirt traffic would cost closer to $123 million, a fraction of making buses free.

The city should direct more money toward "fixing the streets so buses can run faster," one born-and-raised New Yorker told me. A seventh grader on his school commute was still making up his mind about the policy. (He's been a daily rider "probably since sixth grade.")

With a finite amount of money, the city will likely need to prioritize. Commuters I spoke with broadly agreed that the bus is more visually appealing and less cramped than the subway, more realistic than walking, and more financially accessible than a car or taxi. With over 300 routes to the subway's 25, buses reach many neighborhoods in the city that the trains do not. Many commuters — especially women and teenagers — also told me that the bus feels safer than the subway. The MTA recorded more crimes on the subway last year than on buses across all city precincts.

Many of the New Yorkers I spoke with think it's a service worth paying for.

"I'm not a great fan of the free buses," said a 70-something retired investment banker. "I don't think you should just get that."

Commuters I spoke with were on their way to work as bankers, analysts, teachers, service workers, and housekeepers. A few were teenagers on their way to school; others were traveling to appointments. The vast majority said they are regular riders and spend between $50 and $100 a month on fares.

And then there are the riders who don't pay anything. For Sophie Swintochowski, fare evaders are New York's biggest problem. (She has secondary gripes with graffiti and dog waste.) Only a city bus offers easy transit access between her typical haunts — her apartment, the park, and her granddaughter's school pickup — and the dentist appointment she had that day. She's worried that too many people skipping the fare will mean worse service.

"Most of the time, the bus is free," the 73-year-old tells me. "A lot of people just walk in. It's only a few of us that do pay."

The Office of the New York State Comptroller reported that, between 2022 and 2023, transportation made up 14% of the average NYC household's spending, lower than the 17% national average. Still, the MTA estimates that about half of riders of all ages and incomes evade fares completely. The MTA's reduced fare program applies to seniors and some people with disabilities.

Fare evaders serve as an argument for free buses because enforcement is costly and creates conflict. The MTA's latest crackdown includes employing civilian fare enforcement agents to check riders' credit cards and phones for proof of payment. It's not yet clear how much it's recouping. For the dozens of people I watched step on the M15 without paying, only one woman was removed and ticketed over a four-hour period. From a safety standpoint, fare-free buses also tend to have lower rates of assault and violence against drivers.

Elizabeth Adams, City Hall's newly appointed "free and fast bus czar," added that free buses would make the city more accessible to residents, regardless of their budgets. "People shouldn't have to make decisions between paying for groceries or getting to work," she told me, and "everyone should have freedom of movement."

It's a big task: The city's buses are already heavily subsidized by government funding, and the system must smoothly accommodate over one million riders every day. Adams told me that Mamdani's strong working relationship with the governor will translate to financing for free buses. Hochul has not indicated that she will include it as a line item in the state budget, even as MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber is actively supporting the city's bus lane and speed improvements.

Asked about how a lack of fares would affect service, Adams said, "The mayor knows that a free bus is only good if it comes."

John Leake, 63, plans to do two or three laps around the route. He may hop off at South Ferry for a drink, something "light and sweet," but doesn't have any agenda. He has lived in the five boroughs his entire life and is currently homeless.

He thinks Mamdani is "a good man," and hopes that fast and free can coexist. In the meantime, he resorts to fare evasion and told me, "I haven't paid for a ticket since the World Trade Center went down."

In April, Mamdani announced a planned redesign of some bus routes in Brooklyn, which City Hall says will better connect neighborhoods, improve traffic lanes, and speed up commutes. Changes to the Q70 bus are set to speed up service for LaGuardia Airport and World Cup travelers, and construction of new bus lanes on Lexington Avenue is underway. Adams said these efforts will ensure residents no longer have to experience slow commutes. Both she and a spokesperson for the Mayor's Office emphasized that City Hall won't compromise on either side of the fast-and-free promise.

"We shouldn't be settling for half loaves," Adams said. "New Yorkers deserve all of it."

On my way back uptown, I sat next to Shaliek Loabhont. The 32-year-old said $1.50 is a fair price for the bus, especially if it's on time. Three dollars? "Absolutely not." He was on his way home.

Loabhont next revealed that, an hour earlier, he had been in court for fare evasion.