[bluGill]

Probably not. For most people cost is not the issue of why they don't ride. Free would increase a little, but most people are not riding because the service isn't there. Service can be one of Frequency, speed, or ability to get to the destination.

Transit needs to: Get you from where you are, to where you want to be, when you want to go, in a reasonable amount of time, for a reasonable cost. If you lack any of those things and transit isn't useful. Generally cost is the only part of transit that is reasonable (but not always) and so it isn't something to focus on.

People who ask for free transit are really saying transit is for the poor and "normal people" should just drive.

[bombcar]

Worse, free fares can cause undesirables to cluster and abuse the system.

Transit begin able to be paid with a phone has removed most or all the "friction" arguments, the need is to make it reliable (arrive on time) and frequent (so you don't have to meticulously plan your day).

[AnthonyMouse]

> Transit begin able to be paid with a phone has removed most or all the "friction" arguments

That's the sort of thing that would get many people to avoid using it because of the growing (and accurate) sentiment that anything that requires you to use your phone is using it as a tracking device.

[bluGill]

Transit should accept lots of options. Your credit card, a phone, or a pass. Modern e-readers can read all of the above and are very cheap so there is no reason to refuse any (unless they charge too high of a fee)

If you want to remove friction set a way such that a family has a maximum monthly charge they will pay. It does mean you need to track people, but if you a careful in how this is done it is worth it since cost for frequent travelers could be an objection and you want this peace of mind that your max cost is known.

[AnthonyMouse]

> Modern e-readers can read all of the above and are very cheap so there is no reason to refuse any (unless they charge too high of a fee)

Nearly all of them will have some recurring service fees and paying ~3% to process credit card payments is fairly unavoidable, but those aren't even the biggest costs. You have to install card readers everywhere, which is not just the equipment cost but also the labor to install them, and maintain them, and keep them networked with all the costs of that. If any of it fails it's a service interruption which means you need redundancy and overnight support. People call you with billing problems or commit fraud and have to be investigated.

What's the point of any of that when the fares are generating less than 1% of the state budget, have privacy issues and deter people from doing something you want to encourage?

[bombcar]

A familial "maximum charge" would be so nice, simplifying things and meaning you don't have to worry about it.

The only time you should really be worried about limiting rides on transit is if the system is already overburdened (perhaps as the proverbial Japanese trains with shovers).

[potato3732842]

You're not wrong. But the MBTA went to phones because an insane fraction of the cash they handle "goes missing".

[AnthonyMouse]

Another problem solved by setting fares to zero.