Just 30,000 of the 800,000 poor New Yorkers eligible for half-price MetroCards will be getting them when the program starts this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced on Friday.
The selected residents all receive cash assistance from the city.
The program will expand in April to an additional 130,000 New Yorkers who get food stamps through the city’s Human Resources Administration, with future expansions expected.
When the program was first proposed in June, figures showed about 800,000 people would qualify.
Only weekly and monthly MetroCards are being offered at first, while single-use cards will be available through the program in April, officials said.
“This is a difference-maker for so many New Yorkers,” de Blasio said at the 125th Street A train station in Harlem.
The program is expected to cost as much as $106 million through June 30, and roughly $212 million per year at full implementation.
A monthly card currently costs $116.50 and a 7-day card runs $31, while a single ride costs $2.75.
The program, for which funding was approved in the fiscal 2019 budget in June, was a high priority for Johnson in his first budget negotiations as speaker with the mayor.
While de Blasio supported the idea, he was resistant to using city tax dollars to pay for it.
On Friday, Hizzoner reiterated his hope to WNYC radio that state lawmakers would include so-called “fair fares” into a longterm plan for funding the subway system.