They have made the morning and afternoon routes to and from school the most popular ones in the city's 18-month pilot program. There is no such thing as a free lunch. My sixth grade teacher had a sign with those words positioned oppressively above the chalkboard in her room. One day, she led a class discussion on the maxim. The same rule applies to transit.
Free rides are only free for the user.
Somewhere, somebody is paying for them. Consider the family car. A teenager driving to the movies is getting a free ride. Of course his parents had to pay for the car at some point, and they continue to pay maintenance costs. But the teenager and his amigos do not see these costs when they go cruising.