When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, ridership plummeted on Green Mountain Transit, Vermont’s largest public transit agency.
“Like just about every transit agency in the country, the demand for transit disappeared,” said Jon Moore, general manager of the agency, which runs buses in five northwest Vermont counties.
Officials knew they needed to do something. So they made all bus service free, at least temporarily. At first, the idea was to help protect drivers from COVID-19 by allowing passengers to board at the rear door as well as the front door, bypassing the farebox in either case.
