Doesn't quite count as free, but when Megabus was getting started a ±decade ago, they used to have $1 tickets available if you booked them far enough in advance. I have some nice college memories of getting from Pittsburgh to NYC to Boston (about 600 miles/950km each way) and back for ±$5 total.<p>Not sure if they still have similar deals, but I imagine there is some sort of new transportation startup offering cheap/subsidized bus/car rides.
Only free transportation I have come across in the Midwest is Free shuttle to nearby casinos. Now I hope they also have a shuttle or two to the next city center but I have my doubts that I can reach Atlantic City from here. I should try that next spring.
I dunno about free transportation but I've been thinking of creating a 1 day Moscow sightseeing tour route that requires only a ticket for 1 subway ride. Since it's possible to transfer from subway to some suburban trains/monorail with a whopping 90-minute interval transfer allowance, this allows you to get a lot of mileage of just one trip. Some potential transfer points include<p>- VDNKh<p>- Luzhniki Olympic Complex<p>- Moskva-City<p>- Belorusskiy Rail terminal (with a lunch at Depo Food Mall)<p>- Tsaritsyno Palace<p>You can spend all day on just one ticket...
I think the more interesting question would be which public transportation routes greater than X miles (or kilometers) in length have the highest distance to price ratio.
I’m surprised no one went straight here. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_public_transport#List_of_towns_and_cities_with_area-wide_zero-fare_transport" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_public_transport#List_of_...</a>
Does the longest running ferry in the world count. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kootenay_Lake_Ferry" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kootenay_Lake_Ferry</a>
Does hitchhiking count? I've hosted couch surfers who have hitchhiked thousands of miles. One couple came to San Francisco all the way from Ecuador.
I rode a bicycle from SF to NYC (about 2500 miles, ~150 miles per day), and that was "free" in the sense that I didn't have to pay anyone to do it. I'm also assuming you don't count the cost of food.<p>You could probably walk, too, if you wanted. It's pretty amazing what can be accomplished with nothing but human power and some determination.