Confusion and friction when paying for public transit fares across different regional systems

Visitors and occasional riders struggle to understand how to pay for bus fares in unfamiliar transit systems like DC Metro, leading to missed trips, frustration, and potential fare evasion. Current solutions lack clear, unified payment instructions at the point of need, forcing users to search online or ask for help. Each transit system has different payment methods (cards, apps, cash), creating cognitive load and payment failures.