SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Advocates of fare-free public transit argue that eliminating fares is the most effective way to persuade people to leave their cars at home. If buses and trains cost nothing, they reason, drivers will switch in large numbers, easing traffic and cutting pollution.
Text 2: Transportation researcher Mariana Costa studied several cities that eliminated transit fares. Ridership rose in every case, but most new riders had previously walked or biked rather than driven. Costa found that drivers responded far more to how often and how reliably buses and trains ran than to the price of a ticket.
Based on the texts, how would Costa most likely respond to the advocates' argument in Text 1?
She would agree that eliminating fares is the best way to attract drivers to public transit.
She would claim that eliminating fares causes transit ridership to fall.
She would argue that cities should raise fares in order to pay for more frequent service.
She would argue that eliminating fares raises ridership but is unlikely to be the most effective way to draw drivers out of their cars.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
Costa found that free fares did increase ridership, but the new riders were mostly former walkers and bikers, and drivers cared more about frequency and reliability. She would accept part of the advocates' argument (ridership rises) but reject the claim that free fares are the best way to win over drivers, choice D.
Choice C goes beyond Text 2: Costa says frequency matters more than price to drivers, but she never proposes raising fares.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. This contradicts Costa's finding that drivers respond more to service frequency and reliability than to ticket price, meaning free fares are not the most effective strategy for attracting drivers.
- B. Text 2 explicitly states that ridership rose in every city studied, so claiming it falls directly contradicts the evidence provided in the passage.
- C. While Costa notes that frequency matters more than price, she never proposes raising fares as a solution, making this an unsupported inference that goes beyond the text.
Got it wrong? On SAT Owl, Owl looks at the answer you chose and explains the exact mistake, then gives you similar questions until it sticks. Get your predicted SAT score free, or take a free full-length practice test.