[Avodah] free public transport on Shabbos/Yomtov

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Zev Sero wrote

> In the current situation all NYC buses are free, since the
> front of the bus is closed to protect the driver, and all
> boarding is from the rear.
> In some cities there are free buses or streetcars on a regular
> basis. For instance in Pittsburgh all buses within the center
> of the city are free.
> In all these cases, is there any problem with using these
> services on Shabbos or Yomtov?
  (For those buses that only
> stop if someone is waiting at the stop or if a passenger has
> signalled a request to get off, assume that one boards only
> at a stop where someone is already waiting, and gets off
> only when someone has already requested a stop.)

You seem to presume that the main/only problem is paying, or the maaris
ayin that others might think I paid for the ride. To me, a much bigger
problem is defining the line between which vehicles are so large and strong
that my weight is negligible and does not cause the vehicle to do more
melacha, versus those vehicles which are smaller and my weight *does* cause
the vehicle to work harder.

I don't know that any real line exists at all between those two categories,
and my feeling is that they should all be assur. But I'm just a layman.
Even among poskim who do/would draw such a line, surely it is a matter of
shikul hadaas, of perception and feeling what level constitutes
"negligible", no? And if so, we have a serious maaris ayin problem, because
onlookers may not realize that this particular vehicle is on the "okay"
side of that line. If buses and trains are on one side, and automobiles and
elevators are on the other, where does that leave the van, the minivan and
the tram (or streetcar)?

> Further, assuming that there is no problem, suppose one
> boards within an eruv, and gets off also within an eruv, but
> the two eruvin don't touch each other.  Obviously one may
> carry on to the bus, and one may carry on the bus, but may
> one carry off the bus what one brought on board, and carry
> it around in the second eruv?

My first thought was to compare this to one who is carrying from a
reshus harabim to mekom petur, and then from that mekom petur to further on
in the reshus harabim. That's assur, but RZS's scenario could be several
levels of d'rabbanan down, especially if the two eruvin *do* touch each
other.

But then I realized that it might be assur even to bring the object onto
the bus to begin with. If one knows that the bus will bring the object
outside the eruv, is that any better than placing a ball on the ground, on
a hill, in a manner where the ball will definitely roll out of the eruv?

Akiva Miller
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