We have free buses in Kansas City because at the end of the day, the costs of collecting fares and all of the time and disputes that go with it was more costly than just making it free.
Replies
Aht aht aht not anymore you don't www.kcur.org/news/2025-04...
jun 18, 2025, 4:54 pm • 4 0 • view
Yeah they’re giving up and it’s sad. Good public transit systems require a whole ecosystem of policies that we just don’t have.
jun 18, 2025, 4:59 pm • 3 0 • view
Kansas City also barely has a bus system so there wasn't much of a loss.
jun 18, 2025, 4:12 pm • 10 0 • view
No, but it’s a good example of why free bus fare isn’t a crazy idea, but a workable solution for some cities that already has a model.
jun 18, 2025, 4:14 pm • 2 0 • view
Do the “model cities” have transit modeshare above the single digits? Or are they mostly smaller suburbs/ college towns with low coverage and frequency?
jun 18, 2025, 4:16 pm • 2 0 • view
Like if your model is “free service almost no one uses” that’s fine I guess. But uhh I think for the sake of climate/ air quality/ equity goals we should aim higher.
jun 18, 2025, 4:17 pm • 3 0 • view
And they lost a chunk of their pathetic bus service due to budget cuts. Farebox recovery is one way riders can show that they value transit service, and make it politically difficult to cut
jun 18, 2025, 4:23 pm • 8 0 • view