Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said ridership on the Downtown Circulator buses is 13,000 a day ("Circulator detour ahead?" July 22).
If each rider paid $1 for an all-day ride, that would be $4.75 million right there against the $6 million shortfall.
There is no need to create "a whole fare collection apparatus and accounting system" that is costly and slows down service.
The $1 charge would be for all-day rides on all routes. Exact payment in $1 bills would be required. Each bus would have a fare box to receive fares, and riders would receive a color coded receipt for each day of the week.
Granted, the above scheme is not as convenient as simply hopping on and hopping off a bus. But if it keeps the circulators running at full strength, it is certainly worth trying.
Herman M. Heyn, Baltimore