Every day, travelers at the Lexington Ave.-59th St. subway station are greeted by a vibrant piece of artwork by Elizabeth Murray, featuring a thought-provoking quote from W.B. Yeats: “In dreams begin responsibility.” This quote resonates profoundly with the essence of New York’s transit system, a marvel of ambition often mired in bureaucratic challenges. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a body crafted to shield elected officials from accountability, embodies this paradox.
Historically, New York City mayors have maintained a distance from the MTA, primarily because it operates beyond their direct jurisdiction. The agency’s financial lifeline is intricately tied to state funding, a relationship that inevitably comes with conditions imposed by the governor.
However, Mayor Mamdani aims to shift this dynamic.
During his campaign, Mamdani championed the idea of free and faster bus services, advocating for public transit as a means of economic empowerment rather than an economic strain. This vision resonated with voters, arguably playing a crucial role in his electoral victory. It’s no surprise that he chose the historic, albeit abandoned, subway station beneath City Hall as the setting for his oath of office, symbolizing a commitment to revitalizing the city’s transit system.
The pressing question now is whether City Hall will embrace the challenge of actualizing this vision and assume true accountability for its transit ambitions.
As a former MTA chair, I must express my skepticism about Mamdani’s proposal for free bus services. Nonetheless, variations of this initiative are likely to gain traction. I sincerely hope he succeeds where I could not, by transforming New York’s bus system into an efficient service for the millions who depend on it daily.
Mamdani should start by doing something no mayor has done: nominate himself to serve as one of the city’s representatives on the MTA Board.
Unlike the below-ground oath of office, this would not be a symbolic gesture. Sitting on the board would signal that the city’s transit system is a core mayoral responsibility.
There is precedent for this kind of leadership. Twenty-five years ago, London faced a similar dilemma. The British government funded and managed London’s declining transport system with little local control. That changed in 2000, when Ken Livingstone became London’s first directly elected mayor and assumed the role of chair of Transport for London.
I worked at TfL during that period and witnessed Livingstone treat transportation as a defining responsibility of city leadership. He campaigned on expanding what the system could deliver and accepted political ownership for the consequences.
That ownership imposed discipline. It forced difficult trade-offs, including support for fare increases he had long opposed, resulting in reinvestment in the Underground, a transformed bus network and safer streets.
New York should learn from London’s success. Clear political ownership matters. Having Mamdani himself on the MTA Board would move the region closer to a model where the city’s top elected official owns and champions public transit.
Critics may worry that a mayor serving on the MTA Board would politicize the agency or blur lines of authority. But the MTA already operates within a political framework shaped by state and regional appointments.
Mamdani’s direct participation at the MTA Board table would help reassure the public that his free-fare proposal is achievable within the authority’s broader financial reality and that its effects on the overall transit network are being taken seriously. In any case, free fares are the easier part of his bus agenda.
Speeding up buses is far harder. We know what works: dedicated lanes, signal priority, enforced curb rules, route redesigns and faster boarding. The success of the 14th St. Busway proves the point. Select Bus Service should continue to expand, but it cannot be the backbone of a citywide solution when only 20 of more than 300 bus routes benefit from it.
The real obstacle to faster buses is our collective tolerance for behavior that paralyzes the streets: double-parking “just for a minute,” blocking bus stops and rushing intersections. These actions feel normal, even harmless — but multiplied thousands of times a day, they bring the city to a standstill.
Here, the mayor can shape street design, traffic enforcement, parking policy and interagency coordination to get buses moving. The mayor can elevate bus speed as a top-tier priority in an authority historically dominated by subway concerns. That shift would really matter — especially for the most vulnerable riders most reliant on our bus system.
Accountability cannot stop at buses. Subway safety, including policing and social services, also depends heavily on decisions made at City Hall. The mayor’s focus on buses should reinforce, not distract from, the city’s broader responsibility for the entire transit system.
The artwork at 59th St. offers a quiet reminder. Dreams are easy. Responsibility is harder. By taking a seat on the MTA Board, the mayor can show New Yorkers that he is a leader willing to accept both.
Walder is a former chairman and chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a former senior leader at Transport for London.
