By Key Jones-Ford
A Brooklyn-based civil rights and activist group is taking a stand against the MTA to attempt to delay the incoming fare hike in 2025. #TheFareAin’tFair was a campaign slogan introduced during a town hall on March 2 by the December 12th Movement.
The December 12th Movement, herein D12 Movement, was started in 1987 by five members of the Black Power movement: Elombe Brath, Sonny Abubadika Carson, Coltrane Chimurenga, Father Lawrence Lucas, and Chairperson Viola Plummer. According to their website, the D12 Movement is described as “a Black human rights organization.” Named for the day they started in 1987, they serve as a political activist organization that focuses on mobilizing communities around reparations, housing, criminal justice, education, and other causes to better the living of those in New York City.
“One of our primary goals is to educate, agitate, and organize the masses of our people to the question; us being a self-determining people. That we, those of us that face these problems, are the ones that have the solutions,” said Ariana Freeman, a member of the D12 Movement and a speaker at the meeting.
The meeting took place at New Canaan Baptist Church, and went over a few statistics, such as the 25% poverty rate in NYC based on 2023 data. “Low-income New Yorkers are highly reliant on public transportation,” one of their slides read, “with 58% using subways and buses as their primary mode of travel.” 1 in 5 New Yorkers struggle at the moment to afford public transportation.
In December of 2024, the MTA voted on its 2025 budget, which included a 4% increase to its fares according to Spectrum News. This 4% fare hike would raise the current $2.90 fare for the mainline trains and bus systems to $3. This hike is set to be put into effect in August of 2025. This marks the second increase in the last year, the first being in 2023 when the fare was raised from $2.75 to $2.90, and continues the MTA’s pattern of raising the fare on average every two years.
In a move to recognize the issue of access to public transit, the MTA has a program to reduce the cost of fares for struggling citizens. The Fair Fares NYC program was established in 2019, with the goal of reducing the fare for those who are at or below the federal poverty line by 145%. Currently, around 360,000 people are enrolled, but over a million New Yorkers can qualify for the program and are not enrolled.
However, the program does not do enough, according to the D12 Movement’s speakers and members. Freeman stated during her panel that an individual New Yorker making the current minimum wage of $16.50, assuming they are working full time and year-round, would not qualify for the program. The average New Yorker would need to be making close to $67 per hour in order to have all their basic needs met according to research reported by ABC News, which includes public transportation. The current minimum wage does not allow for a New Yorker who lives alone to reliably afford the fare.
This is the base of the foundation for the “Fare Ain’t Fair” campaign. “The first and primary goal of the campaign is the expansion of the free fare program,” said member Christroper Joseph. “We want to expand that to include folks who are at 400% of the federal poverty level or below.”
“It’s not just low income families,” one of the speakers said during his presentation of the statistics. “It’s also middle income people. [They are] impacted by the prices, and they will be impacted by the fare hike. This just solidifies the need for us as working class people to work together on things that impact us, versus thinking of it as ‘just a low income family thing’. This is about all of us.”
Also in attendance was New York State Senator Jabari Brisport, who represents the 25th Senate District. He came as a supporter of the D12 movement and to learn about their current campaign. “I was part of the pilot program to put the five free bus lines a couple years ago. What we’re trying to do now is expand that to 15 buses between each borough,” Brisport said. “I’m trying to learn about the Fare Ain’t Fair [campaign] and what I can promote, including any actions around the MTA meetings.” Of obstacles to their goal, Brisport cited the wealth imbalances within the city, “the multimillionaires and billionaires who try to bend New York City to their will.”
Freeman also pointed out that this year would have been Malcom X’s centennial, or 100th year. The D12 Movement is seeking to embody his ideals and goals this year and moving forward. “Doing the Fare Ain’t Fair campaign, the big push this year is planting ourselves on [Malcom X’s] shoulders; what did Malcom see at that time that we may not be seeing? What would he be looking at now?”
Keenan Toure, another member of the D12 Movement, gave the maximum goal of their campaign. “Free, free for all. A union president called for that decades ago, and that’s what we are trying to work towards.”
The next planned Fare Ain’t Fair coalition meeting will be at Sistas’ Place on March 15, 3pm. The D12 Movement intends to use this meeting to further discuss the next steps of the campaign. Their next planned day of action will be attending the MTA Board Meeting that is to occur on Wednesday, March 27.
Those interested in more information can email the organization, infod12movement@gmail.com