Public transportation should be FREE and the routes should be expaned and increased for convenience. The only way to get most people out of a car is to make the routes worthwile.

Charging for what should be a public good only hurts those that actually have to rely on it. Who cares if the perception is a "no cost service.?" If anything, that is one argument to get people out of cars and onto the system.

Public transport in the US has dropped over the last few years. Ride Hailing (Uber etal) is a large contributor because even when expensive, the Ubers are door to door convenient.

Ridership decreases due to fare increases. Data shows that every 25c or 50c increase has a solid relationship to the decline!

[1]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422000945