should busses be free in NY

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "should busses be free in NY". Your opponent's style: Devil's Advocate

yes because then you won't have to wait for people to tap and get in

You're describing a speed benefit that doesn't actually exist at scale. Here's the real problem: free buses create *longer* waits and *slower* service, not faster entry. When transit is free, ridership spikes dramatically—sometimes 5-15% immediately. That means more crowded buses, more stops, longer dwell times at each station as people board. You're not eliminating the tap-in bottleneck; you're creating a *boarding chaos* problem where drivers can't even close doors efficiently. A bus that's sardine-packed moves slower through the city than one at 70% capacity, even if nobody's tapping anything. Plus, you're assuming people would somehow magically board in perfect sync. Reality: free transit concentrates riders at peak times even more intensely because there's zero friction. You get entire bus lines gridlocked at rush hour with people stacked at stops. That's not faster transit—that's a traffic nightmare wearing a transit uniform. The real speed gains come from dedicated bus lanes, signal priority, and reducing *overall* ridership friction through actual transit improvements. Free fares just flood the system without improving the infrastructure that moves people. So here's my question: **if the problem is boarding speed, why not just speed up fare payment technology instead of bankrupting the system with free service that'll just make buses more packed and slower?**