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Kansas City has done a neat thing. They've made all public transportation free as of 2019. In 2023, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is about to spend millions installing new turnstiles—what if instead they just took the turnstiles out? You still can't get a transfer between BART and MUNI (trains and buses)—what if instead of making the payment systems interoperable (which would cost millions), just stop charging?

To everyday people,  it seems like public tranit is funded mostly by fares, but when you dig into the numbers, you find that fares only make up a small fraction of the funding. Most of the funds for public transit come from taxes. So making public transportation free (while also improving its quality) is entirely financially doable. So let's do it!

Also consider how much it costs to drive a 3,000 lbs car on the road? It's free. Why does it cost money to carry your 150 lbs body down town?

Come listen to this provocatively pragmatic take.

Happy Earth Day! 🌎

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Comments? Feedback? Questions? Solutions? Message us! We will do a mailbag episode.

Email: [email protected]
Adam: @ajbraus - [email protected]
Scot: @scotmaupin

adambraus.com (Link to Adam's projects and books)
The Perfect Show (Scot's solo podcast)
The Numey (inflation-free currency)

Thanks to Jonah Burns for the SFM music.