»A tale of two cities, part three

A concept that I have long favoured for San Francisco may be coming to New York: free transit. Ted Kheel has proposed a "Free Transit Plan (PDF), balancing transit and Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing plan. Kheel's proposal includes convincing analysis of the costs, to the city and to commuters, and he presents his ideas boldly but without hubris. I like it.

Meanwhile, San Francisco's independent auditor has recommended against further study of free transit, citing unbelievably low costs for fare collection and an anticipated rise in ridership. Just six months ago, Mayor Newsom was calling free transit in San Francisco a possibility.