They could still have taps. I lived in another country that made bus fares free, but you still had to get a card and use it to tap on and off.
Comment on Here’s why some people still evade public transport fares – even when they’re 50 cents
RarePossum@programming.dev 6 days agoI think the main reason to not make it completely free was so they could track information via the tap on. That way they have data to plan route adjustments in the future.
Tanoh@lemmy.world 6 days ago
hitmyspot@aussie.zone 6 days ago
They could quite easily do this with a driver manually counting on and off passengers. It wouldn’t need to be accurate, they could ballpark any numbers above 5. It could also be done with surveys are stops or on board, or with security camera footage. All without the infrastructure need. We also seem to be able to plan roads and spend even more than in public transport, without any need for registering trips.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 6 days ago
Drivers don’t even have to manually count by hand. They already have a button that they’re meant to use to track fare evaders, to collect data on which routes have the most evaders. Just repurpose that button to track all users.
Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
i love adding facial recognition to every single thing we have
hitmyspot@aussie.zone 5 days ago
It doesn’t need facial recognition. If it’s for statistical purposes, it only need numbers in and off, not to track us. That’s the point.
Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
how are you getting data on the trips people make then?