NEW YORK — A group of advocates launched a “Fair Fares” campaign to get Mayor Bill de Blasio and lawmakers to create a program for half-price MetroCards for an estimated 800,000 residents living below the poverty line who would be eligible to participate, the New York Daily News.

A study from the Community Service Society, which supports the effort, estimated that it would cost the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) $194 million a year if just 361,000 of the eligible New Yorkers make use of a half-cost MetroCard.

The study says that the MTA, which offers reduced fares for the disabled and elderly, could be made whole from the city's budget or new revenue from higher gas surcharges and new bridge tolls and would save money from the $48 million it spends on MetroCards for people enrolled in job training and education programs. For the full story, click here.