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Public transport can create value by running all night. That way, more young people move to the city and bring money with them and create wealth while they are there.

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As a relatively young person living in a city, I'd appreciate public transportation being available all night. I don't think the ridership would be high enough for it to be profitable, though. You'd also have to deal with the problem of it becoming a de facto homeless shelter.

Instead of selling tickets and passes directly, sell bonds that pay interest in tickets / passes: you pay $1000, you get ten rides per month. These bonds would be transferable. That way, it's restricted to people who can put together, say, $1000 in cash. It wouldn't be hard to borrow that much, if you didn't have it on hand, unless you were a total failure.

Tourists would just put up the money as a deposit, and get it back at the end of their trip.

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