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Opinion: Transit Needs to Be Better, Not Cheaper With many U.S. transit agencies facing severe gaps in service and budget shortfalls, some advocates argue that improved service matters more than free fares. June 9, 2021, 5am PDT | Diana Ionescu | Despite a growing movement to make public transit fare-free, Henry Grabar argues in a piece for Slate that getting rid of fares would not help the poorest and most underserved transit riders. Jarrett Walker, a Portland-based transit planner and author of Human Transit, agrees. I’ve heard people describe the free fare movement as being a movement for free, terrible service, and that’s how the trade-off ends up working if you expect this to happen inside the budget of an impoverished American transit agency. While research shows that low-income riders do use transit more when offered discounts, they also overwhelmingly said reliability was a bigger concern than affordability.

King countyUnited statesHenry grabarJarrett walkerSteven polzinLos angeles county metropolitan transportation authorityHuman transitCommunity economic developmentSocial demographicsFare free transitFree farePublic transitPublic transportationTransit serviceLos angeles county metropolitan transportation authorityTransit operations