People over 65 on Manhattan buses (low income, health insurance, home)

[dmenesq]

Someone told me that, in Manhattan only, people over 65 are able to ride the buses (not the subways) for free. I have never heard that before. Does anyone know if that is accurate info?

[WithDisp]

It's not true. Go to MTA.info for Senior Fares.

Seniors can deal with social services with the city for free metro cards pending they have insufficient income.
MTA gives no breaks.

[Kefir King]

It's half price with a senior Metro-Card with picture...subway is exactly the same.

[Chava61]

I believe that some low income seniors can get free Metrocards to use to go to and from medical appointments via their health insurance carrier. But otherwise as Kefir King mentioned it is half price with a senior metrocard for buses and subway trains.

[BrightRabbit]

Originally Posted by Chava61

I believe that some low income seniors can get free Metrocards to use to go to and from medical appointments via their health insurance carrier. But otherwise as Kefir King mentioned it is half price with a senior metrocard for buses and subway trains.

Resident seniors generally buy a permanent card., but senior or SSDI (Social Security Disabled) visitors to NYC may also ride half-price, if they know this: Show their own Medicare card (which is basic U.S. Social Security) IN PERSON to the subway station agent (not a bus driver). Agent may sell ONE roundtrip half-price fare card at a time, usable for one bus and/or subway ride.

All senior cards are non-transferrable to others. MTA agents watch for abuse, such as an elder holding several one-time cards, or a young person swiping for entry with any senior MTA card (light goes off). Don't mess.

Also, OP wrote "Manhattan only" in the question. Wrong; it's for all boroughs.

Medicaid (low-income) card-carriers of any age, not just seniors, can apply for free MTA transpo to MEDICAL appointments.

Medicaid and Medicare are two different programs. Roughly speaking, MediCAID assists low income, can be any age. MediCARE at every income level is for seniors age 65+, or younger people deemed permanently disabled by the U.S. Social Security administration.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by BrightRabbit

Resident seniors generally buy a permanent card., but senior or SSDI (Social Security Disabled) visitors to NYC may also ride half-price, if they know this: Show their own Medicare card (which is basic U.S. Social Security) IN PERSON to the subway station agent (not a bus driver). Agent may sell ONE roundtrip half-price fare card at a time, usable for one bus and/or subway ride.

I didn't know that it was possible for visiting seniors to get the reduced fare for individual rides as I thought that it was impossible. Has this always been true (like before metrocards, for example)?

[BrightRabbit]

I don't know the past, just here since 2 years.

I flash the Medicare card on the window at the subway station agent. He checks by appearance that I look "old" enough, then issues one roundtrip reduced fare individual card. In 2 years, I've never been asked to state or prove my home address, which is now NYC but could be from anywhere.

Maybe I always looked and sounded confident/bossy enough to pass as a resident, but I'm assuming any visiting senior from Heartland USA could do same with their Medicare card.

[Kefir King]

Originally Posted by Chava61

I didn't know that it was possible for visiting seniors to get the reduced fare for individual rides as I thought that it was impossible. Has this always been true (like before metrocards, for example)?

It's been available for a long, long time.
You DO get back and forth travel but you lose out on the extra free bus-subway and bus-bus transfers that you get with the Reduced Fare Metrocard. Thus if you do a subway to bus transfer that wipes out your "back" ride and you wind up paying full price. ($2.50 can get you 4 rides on a Senior Metrocard but only 2 on the "paper transfer method,"

Also you need all entries to be made at a turnstile with an attendant and that can often mean a lot of running around trying to find a human.

But for basic subway up and subway back, the Medicare card method works. Better than nothing.

A friend keeps losing her senior Metrocard and it takes MONTHS to get it replaced, so she is forever on the "paper transfer" method. She's always bitching about having to go out of her way to find a clerk, especially at Herald Square.

[BrightRabbit]

Why doesn't the friend buy a paper ticket whenever she passes by a convenient clerk at any other station and save until next needed at Herald Square -- oh wait, sounds like she'll lose that card, too. I honestly don't know if there's time limit on them, as I buy and use in the same week, pretty much.

BUt I didn't know I was erasing my discount every time I did a bus-subway transfer, which I do when too cold/tired/lazy to walk to my nearest subway.

OK, Kefir King, you've motivated me to get that permanent Reduced Fare Metrocard now. And your friend's saga will motivate me not to lose it.

[Kefir King]

Originally Posted by BrightRabbit

Why doesn't the friend buy a paper ticket whenever she passes by a convenient clerk at any other station and save until next needed at Herald Square -- oh wait, sounds like she'll lose that card, too. I honestly don't know if there's time limit on them, as I buy and use in the same week, pretty much.

BUt I didn't know I was erasing my discount every time I did a bus-subway transfer, which I do when too cold/tired/lazy to walk to my nearest subway.

OK, Kefir King, you've motivated me to get that permanent Reduced Fare Metrocard now. And your friend's saga will motivate me not to lose it.

BR,

See even if she DOES accumulate transfers, she has to enter Herald Square at a clerk operated area so he can buzz her in. So you need a clerk for every ride.

Remember too that if you want a 7-day or a Monthly pass, you can also get them at half price, but only with a Reduced Fare Metrocard.

A nicely is that once you get a Senior Card, they automatically send you a new one a month before expiry...every 2 years. So it's bureaucratic aggravation only ONCE (assuming you don't lose the card and it never has an electronic nervous breakdown.)