Working class and poor New Yorkers looked forward to the rollout of Fair Fares. They’re still waiting for a true rollout.

While the program designed to provide half-priced MetroCards to low-income New Yorkers has begun, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been hesitant to announce its presence and market it according to activists’ liking.

“I think we’ve been very public about our concerns,” said Community Service Society President & CEO and MTA Board Member David Jones. “We’ve alerted people to the fact that at least in the preliminary rush the numbers were only in the hundreds. We’ve been asking from the beginning, what are the plans for reaching the majority of people who should be eligible?”

In the mayor’s preliminary budget released last week, de Blasio committed $106 million towards the continued implementation of Fair Fares. “We all understand people need to get around to get to opportunity, and for so many New Yorkers who have real limited means this is a huge challenge,” the mayor said during his news conference presenting the budget. “That’s why we’re continuing our commitment to the Fair Fares initiative. It is ramping up consistently. We are putting $106 million into the preliminary budget for Fiscal ’20 as we continue to build that program and evaluate the real costs.”

But Jones told the AmNews that the program was promised $212 million. In a joint statement between the CSS and the Riders Alliance, they decried not getting what they were promised.

“While this is a significant investment, it falls short of the full funding required to expand Fair Fares to all working-age New Yorkers at or below poverty,” read the statement. “Most immediately, we still need a concrete plan and timetable for rolling out the full program. The administration needs to offer every eligible New Yorker the opportunity to sign up for a reduced fare card by launching an ambitious advertising and outreach campaign throughout this inaugural year of the program.

“And to cement the commitment to access and opportunity that Fair Fares promises, Mayor de Blasio should dedicate unspent funds from the current budget towards meeting the costs of the full program for low-income New Yorkers in his executive budget,” concluded the statement.

According to a recent CSS report titled “The Transit Affordability Crisis,” the cost of subway and bus fares have kept many New Yorkers, including low-income Blacks and Latinos, from getting medical care or taking a job that’s farther away from home. Transit expenses tend to exceed 10 percent of low-income family budgets.

With the MTA contemplating a fare hike in the coming months, New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez—a champion of the Fair Fares program—testified late last month at an MTA Board Meeting calling for a halt to hike plans that would hurt low-income New Yorkers.

“Although I understand the need to attain new funds to close the MTA’s budget deficit, I must challenge the Board’s first instinct of increasing fares to garner those funds,” said Rodriguez. “The two options that have been proposed by the Board, one increasing base fares and another eliminating the popular bonus system, will not resolve existing funding issues. I call upon the MTA Board to explore alternative, more creative methods to fund the gap in the Operating Budget like establishing Public-Private Partnerships, a comprehensive congestion pricing plan, and a Millionaire’s tax. By generating other types of revenue, the MTA would incentivize the use of our transit system potentially reducing carbon emissions further in addition to garnering revenue for the transportation system.”

So what makes the implementation of Fair Fares so difficult? Jones believes that de Blasio wasn’t a fan of it in the first place.

“He’s not been aggressive about marketing this program as he was with other programs,” said Jones. “Clearly, the mayor never embraced this program though I was placed on the board of the MTA by him because I presented this idea to him. The mayor became fixated that this is a cost that should be paid by the state and the MTA even though it would only serve New York City residents. I think we’re in a struggle, but I’m happy that he’s at least embraced it initially.”

Jones said that the program would help unemployed New Yorkers; City University of New York students who meet the low-income threshold; undocumented and documented immigrants; and low-income New Yorkers. He said the program’s already established well-staffed offices in the boroughs to inform people of Fair Fares, but the slow rollout could have a ripple effect.

“It may be a few years before a substantial fraction of the people eligible get a benefit,” said Jones.