On Dec 26, 10:51*pm, danny burstein wrote:
In writes:
Until roughly 1970, bus drivers in major cities gave change so
passengers didn't need to have the exact fare in cash. *But holdups
pushed transit carriers to go exact fare.

methinks you mean "simplification and a speedup in boarding
* * * * * * * * * pushed transit carriers to go exact fare"


No, I meant to prevent holdups. They were a serious problem in the
late 1960s as urban conditions decayed.

Back in those days fares could be odd coin combinations, 15c in small
towns, I think 20c in NYC at the time; plus there were transfer and
zone fares in many places. While most passengers used exact change to
save themselves time, plenty of people expected change, especially if
a family was travelling.

I don't know about NYC, but in Phila, initially the driver could punch
a refund slip if a passenger overpaid. The slip could be cashed in at
the local bus garages. Obviously punching up a slip took time and
passengers arguing with the driver over change took time.

It also put transit in a bad light.

Charles Addams make a joke about it: a group of people were headed
down to a ferryboat in a cave operated by a hooded person. On the
edge of the boat was "exact fare required".