Question 2·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Information and Ideas
During a six-month pilot of contactless fare payment on five high-ridership bus routes, the city’s transit agency recorded a 6% increase in ridership and a 3% decrease in average fare revenue per rider, largely because more riders hit the weekly fare cap. However, stop-level boarding times fell by 15%, schedule adherence improved, and overtime payments declined. The agency announced it will expand contactless payment to all routes next year and will freeze the base fare for twelve months. The operating budget for buses has little room for overtime increases.
Therefore, the agency most likely expects that expanding contactless payment will ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For “Most logically completes the text” inference items, first summarize the key trends and constraints (what went up/down, and any stated plans like a fare freeze). Then choose the option that best reconciles those details into a single expectation, and avoid choices that (a) focus on only one detail while ignoring others, or (b) introduce major new consequences not supported by the text.
Hints
Focus on cause and effect
Underline what actually happened during the pilot (ridership, revenue per rider, boarding times, overtime) and think about how those results would influence a decision to expand contactless payment.
Use the fare freeze and budget limitation
Ask yourself: If the agency is announcing a 12-month base-fare freeze and says there is little room for overtime increases, what must they believe about how contactless payment will affect costs and revenue overall?
Choose the option that synthesizes multiple details
The best completion should account for both the per-rider revenue drop and the operational/ridership benefits, rather than focusing on just one detail.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the key results of the pilot
From the pilot, contactless payment was associated with:
- Ridership up .
- Average fare revenue per rider down (more riders hit the weekly cap).
- Boarding times down .
- Schedule adherence improved.
- Overtime payments declined.
So the change has a revenue-per-rider downside, but it also brings higher usage and operational improvements.
Use the agency’s stated plan and constraint
The agency will (1) expand contactless payment to all routes and (2) freeze the base fare for 12 months, while noting the bus operating budget has little room for overtime increases.
That combination implies the agency believes it can make expansion work financially without relying on a near-term fare hike, and without triggering higher overtime costs.
Form the inference the conclusion must capture
To justify a systemwide expansion while freezing fares, the agency would most reasonably expect that the benefits observed in the pilot—more riders and improved efficiency (including lower overtime)—will, in combination, compensate for the modest decrease in revenue per rider caused by more riders reaching the cap.
Match the inference to the choices
Evaluate each option against the inference:
- Saying total fare revenue will fall (choice 1) focuses only on the fare-cap effect and ignores the pilot’s ridership growth and operating savings that could offset it.
- Predicting service cuts (choice 2) introduces a consequence not suggested by the pilot results or the agency’s announcement.
- Claiming little net change (choice 4) conflicts with both the pilot’s measurable improvements and the agency’s decision to expand.
The choice that directly captures the expected tradeoff—lower revenue per rider but offset by higher ridership and efficiency savings, making a fare increase unnecessary—is: offset the lower per-rider fare revenue through ridership growth and efficiency savings so that a base-fare increase is unnecessary.