While the City Council continues negotiating with Mayor Bill de Blasio over funding the Fair Fares program to provide half-priced MetroCards to low-income riders, experts tell WNYC once approved, it could be implemented relatively quickly.

The Community Service Society, which has been pushing the idea of half-priced fares to New Yorkers living below the federal poverty line for over three years, said it met with the MTA in May to discuss how to administer the program. It suggested using existing infrastructure and databases that are currently used by the city's Human Resources Administration, which offers free MetroCards to New Yorkers who receive public assistance and want to travel for job training.

"It has the capacity to screen applicants for income eligibility and put the names and identifying information of New York City residents who qualify on an approved electronic database," said Jeffrey N. Maclin, vice president for governmental and public relations for the Community Service Society. "Then people could apply for half-price fare cards the same way seniors apply for half-price cards now. But instead of verifying age, as with seniors applying for fare cards, the MTA would verify that the person was on the HRA approved list."

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson has made Fair Fares funding one of the council's top priorities for the fiscal year budget beginning July 1. Approximately 800,000 residents are expected to qualify.

"The council is pretty united on this," he told reporters Thursday. "I continue to have conversations with the mayor every single day about this."

Despite reports that the City Council and mayor had reached an agreement, both sides insist there's more to discuss. "We’re in ongoing conversations with the City Council," Raul Contrears, deputy press secretary for de Blasio, said in a statement. "We’ll have more to say soon."

The budget is due by the end of June.