What We Learned From RTD’s Month of Free Fares
For the entire month of August, public transportation was completely, utterly FREE. The no-cost ride effort was in part meant to lure drivers out of their cars and mitigate our annual, late-summer problems with air quality. We wanted to know how this $14-million “Free Fare for Better Air” experiment actually worked for people, so producer Lizzie Goldsmith spent the month riding buses and light rail, and talking to dozens of RTD riders about their experience. Today, she chats with host Bree Davies to share some stories and try to answer the big question: Was the free fare worth it?
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