Reference：https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/08/business/free-buses-us-public-transit/index.html

These cities are ending fares on transit. Here’s why

Nathaniel Meyersohn

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN

Updated 1:29 PM EDT, Sat July 8, 2023

New York-CNN

More major cities in the United States are letting public transit riders hop on board for free.

Eliminating fares gives a badly needed boost to ridership, removes cost burdens— particularly for lower-income riders -— and reduces boarding times at stops.Proponents【n. （某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 ) 】also hope it will compel more people to get out of their cars and ride transit. But many transit researchers, officials and advocates say that removing fares fails to address the dire state of transit systems across America and diverts【v. 使转移[向]( divert的第三人称单数 )；娱乐；转移（某人）的注意力；改变（资金、材料等）的用途】 scarce（adj. 缺乏的，罕见的 adv. 勉强；仅仅；几乎不；简直不） resources from more pressing priorities: transit service and quality.

However, some experts say there are also targeted ways to help low-income riders afford trips without further straining transit agencies’ funding models. They also say there are more effective policies to get people out of their cars and onto transit, such as congestion pricing and parking restrictions.

And dropping fares does not make buses run on time or lead to faster and cleaner trains. These are the improvements that will get more people to take transit instead of drive, according to passenger surveys.

Free transit experiments

The zero-fare push comes as ridership nationwide remains sluggish after people shifted to working from home during the pandemic. Ridership is at about 70% of pre-pandemic levels nationwide, and transit agency budget shortfalls threaten service cuts, layoffs and fare hikes.

Replacing fares

Fare-free advocates say that transit agencies must reduce their dependence on fare collections, which fluctuate and place the greatest financial burden on low-income riders.

But fares are a critical source of funding for transit agencies, and they have to make up the lost revenue elsewhere.

‘No such thing as free transit’

“What we don’t want is to trim transit service because of zero-fare,” he said. “We already don’t have enough service, and we don’t want to cut it.”