During the COVID pandemic (2020-1), CDTA allowed for passengers to ride free as a courtesy so riders could get to work (if needed) or appointments. After restrictions were lifted in the spring-summer of 2021, up until last month, there were some people that were given "courtesy rides" when they didn't have the cash to pay for the fares, or, in a worse case scenario, were exploiting CDTA.
Well, that's not happening anymore.
Earlier this week, the company began posting "fare required" on their buses, and the AI announcements were also updated to reflect the change.
During the summer, there were a couple of cases, as observed by ye scribe, of drivers taking a hard line stand against "fare jumpers", feeling as though it was time to stop with the charity. Coupled with CDTA's recent decision to change the frequencies of certain buses due to low ridership, this suggests that the company is looking to trim a budget deficit, while worrying about government meddling at the national level.
In hindsight, this was a move that should've been made after the COVID restrictions were lifted 4 years ago, but wasn't. Now that they've finally ended the "courtesy rides", likely due to complaints from fare-paying riders, CDTA could be facing some hardships with ignorant riders accustomed to the free rides, thinking that public transportation means riding for free.
In that case, ignorance isn't bliss, but, rather, just plain ignorance.
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