However, some experts say there are also targeted ways to help low-income riders afford trips without further straining transit agencies’ funding models. Lane Turner/The Boston Globe/Getty Images The city has made three routes free as part of a pilot program. “We’re seeing the difference that it makes when you remove financial barriers for everyone.”Ī 28 bus in Boston. “A very, very large proportion of residents feel that their lives are more convenient now that they don’t have to ration trips,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who has championed free transit policies since she was a city councilor, told CNN. But many transit researchers, officials and advocates say that removing fares fails to address the dire state of transit systems across America and diverts scarce resources from more pressing priorities: transit service and quality. Proponents also hope it will compel more people to get out of their cars and ride transit. Boston is piloting three zero-fare public bus routes, and New York City is expected to test free buses on five lines.Įliminating fares gives a badly needed boost to ridership, removes cost burdens- particularly for lower-income riders - and reduces boarding times at stops. Denver is dropping fares across its system this summer. Kansas City Raleigh Richmond Olympia Tucson Alexandria, Virginia and other cities are testing dropping fares on their transit systems. Niagara was reaching peak quarantine and people were craving social activity as much as the wood-fired pizzas and handmade pastas, including the calling cards Carbonara and Bolognese, that Crawford and his staff have become known for serving.More major cities in the United States are letting public transit riders hop on board for free. The invitation to locals to pull into the Ruffino’s parking lot on Friday and Saturday nights and dine in the comfort and safety cars couldn’t have come at a better time. The sun seemed to have set on the drive-in until May 15 when Crawford, with 36 new carhop trays in hand, took to social media to announce he would offer one at Ruffino’s as an alternative to takeout. Then along came the drive-thru, heralded for its efficiency in serving people quickly and with fewer hands to do it. The concept caught on in fast food dining with servers - carhops - outfitted in roller skates, delivering burgers and fries on one silver aluminum trays to guests in parked cars. “It’s really making the best of a bad situation,” Crawford said.Īnd it’s doing it using a dining format that was on the verge of becoming an anachronism until a modern-day health crisis changed everything about the way we live - and eat at restaurants.Ĭrawford launched the Ruffino’s Carhop last May, nearly 80 years after cars pulled into what’s believed to be the world’s first drive-in in Dallas, Texas, for chicken fried steak sandwiches washed down with milkshakes. That way it can serve as the vessel for Ruffino’s Pasta Bar & Grill Carhop, a drive-in dining experience in Niagara-on-the-Lake that gets people out of the house in a time of hunkering down. Even better, it attaches to a car window. Well, technically, it was an aluminum tray. You could say the solution for carrying on business during the novel coronavirus pandemic was presented to chef Ryan Crawford on a silver platter.
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