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Comment by tinkerdol | Hacker News Reader

> One study was done in NYC which showed that making the busses free would actually save them money

I wouldn't go that far either -- but why not decouple the functions of driver and ticket checker. This is already done in some systems and seems to work well. The people pay for their ticket at the station instead of the bus and stamp it themselves when then board (with a time stamp). (or avoid the process by buying monthly pass). Then people can board directly through the back doors as well because the driver doesn't need to check. Periodically, a ticket-checker or police-type of person comes through and gives fines (lets say $50) to those who don't have a ticket.

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I'd go that far. Making the busses "free" would have a number of benefits:

1. Drivers might be in less of a hurry. MBTA busses frequently run red lights and/or sit in the middle of intersections creating gridlock. [Source: Pick any busy downtown intersection during rush hour and wait <15 minutes. Watch.]

2. In my (admittedly limited) observation, Boston bus riders tend to fall into two groups.

(a) Relatively affluent riders connecting to the T (the subway or trolley). The MBTA will still get some money.

(b) Relatively poor riders commuting solely by bus to one of the multiple jobs they're holding down per day. Consider this a kind of reverse sales tax.

The real problem with making buses free is that they basically become homeless shelters on wheels, especially in winter. This then means people don't take the bus, which means routes get cut back, which means yet more people for take the bus.

The best solution is to have cashless buses. In London, you can only use Oyster card or visa/MasterCard/Amex contact less payment cards to ride. It seems to have smoothed things considerably.

Good point. Just require the use of a Charliecard to get onboard. No cash. Make it easier to buy and find them online or in person.

NYC does this right now on high traffic routes with their select bus system. You pay at the stop which then prints out a receipt that is valid on that route for 1 hour. Every so often inspectors board the bus and look at the tickets.

They would then have to pay for the ticket machines & maintenance and fare enforcement, another huge cost.

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