Free Bus Rides: Unnecessary, Bad Policy

In Richmond, Virginia, the bus transit company announced free bus rides because of the Trump Virus. Consider the following:

1. Unemployed people are not going to work so they don't need the bus on a daily basis. If going to the doctor, they had bus money before the Trump Virus and they still do.
2. Employed people still have a paycheck from which a few dollars for bus fare is not a bankruptcy proposition.

What has happened is that schoolkids who were sent home to avoid physical closeness use the buses in groups for joy rides. Expecting a bus driver to enforce social distancing is absurd with teenagers who can become violent.

Simple solution: Restore bus fares.

There is a time for free bus fares as is practiced in Minnesota's Twin Cities:

1. The hour after bars close is free ride time to discourage drunk driving.
2. Ibid. all day long on St. Patricks day.

Free bus fares as a response to Trump's Virus is illogical and counter-productive while introducing social problems with teenagers.