[siruncledrew]

As someone who has ridden the DC bus before (mostly when the Metro broke), "free" meets the mark on the only price I'd pay to use it again.

Aside from the other stuff you can probably picture, it's slow AF and takes longer to move between popular spots than drudging through traffic in a car or Uber.

Now making the Metro free... that would pique people's interest.

[rektide]

It really depends. I biked a lot too but my commute north to Silver Spring was quite speedy, and it was more pleasant riding in this lovely city aboveground than underneath, for less money & significantly shorter travel time. Alas enforcement is not good, but DC has also made a signicant number of bus lanes that also do sometimes help.

There's a good number of limited-stop bus routes that span some pretty long routes that would require much more cross-city metro riding, and serving many places the metro doesnt conveniently service at all. My feeling is generally the opposite of yours- actual urbanites are good at & love the buses, know some real handy convenient routes, and people further afield tend to only know & try the much simpler & more limited metrorail. DC just isnt that big; a handful of stops if you're going 2-4 miles is not really a concern.