A Free-Transit Prescription for Healthier Communities

  • Author: https://reasonstobecheerful.world/free-transit-healthier-communities/
  • Date: 01/24/2025

From physical activity to access to medical care, how people get around is interconnected with their physical and mental health.  Afew years ago Christiana Sylvaine stopped driving. Diagnosed with narcolepsy, she’d had a few incidents behind the wheel that scared her. So she sold her car and turned instead to the two bus lines that ran within blocks of her home in Kansas City, Missouri. When Sylvaine boarded the bus, she never paid a fare.

That’s because Kansas City’s public bus system stopped charging riders altogether in 2020, becoming the largest city in the U.S. to adopt a zero-fare policy.

For Sylvaine, saving money on parking, gas and bus rides gave her more financial flexibility. And she believes that free use of the bus system had an impact on her health. When a health issue came up, she didn’t hesitate to seek medical care.

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