Be glad that a smart card is the worst of your problems.

Where I live we've had to put up with decades of out-of-control development, high tolls, narrow streets, heavy traffic, and a single rail line and bus system that have actually risen in ridership but shrunken in capacity due to a budget cuts, little new planning since the 90s, and a lack of investment while the borough's population increased rapidly. My place has the highest commuting times in the United States and the highest car dependency in the region, but little has been done to alleviate these problems because of our small population in comparison to the surrounding areas (though it's still 500000 people) and years of incompetent leadership. As a result, our economy has stalled for everything but the retail sector.

That's public transit hell for you.

I have been taking the bus for over 10 years and can say that it has taken a noticeable decline in quality since I first started taking public transit. I don't mind the re loadable cards, if anything I prefer them over the old paper passes. The busses I take still accept cash fares and I haven't seen any plans to stop accepting cash but with society becoming increasingly cashless your concern there is not entirely unfounded. The amount of passengers has gone up without a doubt but service has also been cut in many areas and some places have so little service that going by bus while it is possible is a huge hassle.

I was disappointed to learn that the title was not, in fact, hinting at the ability to go to Hell while sitting next to a questionable-smelling homeless man in exchange for some pocket change.