What time period did they do the studies on? Suppose I drive a car because it has some advantages over paid public transit. Now when they make public transit free, I still have my car. I'm not likely to switch within a short time period. When it comes to moving home, getting a new job or a new car then I may become a new user of transit.

It's a valid point, and my problem with most basic income studies. Most of the studies were less than a year. That said, if you're making a decision to sell your car and move to a place near a transit stop, I'd argue that $2.50 or whatever a bus ticket costs isn't going to be a primary factor in your decision.

Consider Japan; everyone uses transit there, and train tickets are generally quite expensive. But, people pay for it because

1) Almost all development is high density near transit stops

2) The trains are fast and frequent

If we want people to use transit, low fares are a definite nice to have, but the real key is we need to stop with horrible car-centric zoning policies and low-density construction.

It makes transit more accessible to people without money.

And it saves a good chunk of money on fare collection, processing, and enforcement.

Thankfully, since the beginning of the pandemic, most mass transit in the U.S. is de-facto payment-optional.

Studies paid for by who? The car lobby

…okay? That seems fine?