Yeah, I understood your point. I used “free” the same way you did. There was no need to move the goal posts. .

We tend to distrust “free”.

How many "free’ offers do you have in your inbox right now? How many do you think are scams? We assume there are some sort of hidden costs, or that the service is “worth what you paid”. If it is offered “completely free”, it will be broadly avoided.

When charged a token amount, we get the impression of value. A bargain.

The “penalty” for fare evasion should be the cop looking the other way, or handing out “$5” passes and asking them to “pay it forward”.

A more crucial question is: if public transport is nearly free but still generates overhead to manage and enforce fares, why not make it completely free and eliminate the overhead entirely?

The zero price effect: “If something is free, you are the product”.

They seem to be enforcing fares much like Frederick the Great guarded his potato fields.