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Comment by peteretep | Hacker News Reader

I’d worry that “free” creates some weird incentives that don’t exist at €0.50, but it’ll be interesting to see how it pans out

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The only weird incentive I can think of is that I'd hop on a tramway for one station if i see it coming instead of walking 5 minutes like i probably should.

Except maybe when the tramway is completely crowded, so you're not changing peak capacity, taking mostly unused capacity.

The commons inevitably becomes the dumping ground for all of society's unsolved problems.

I hope France has solved most of their problems; this can't work in the US until we fix a great deal of social injustice and lack of safety nets.

Like what?

When I was a student and literally only had 5 pounds I got on the London Tube and slept there for a few hours as it was super cold outside. It only happened once and it was my fault for being in that situation but that is an example.

On the other hand now I give homeless ppl money for hostels. It was an interesting experience in hindsight.

OK, so making it free rather than 50 cents raises the barrier to people with 50 cents?

People sleeping on public transport, reduced walking/cycling for short distances, kids using buses to hang out on

A lot of public transit riders have unmetered usage due to monthly passes. It doesn’t seem to be a problem. Although that is still a class of people who can cough up $75 or whatever for the pass.

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