Tax them more! And demand that they be inspected for compliance with NY, NYC, and NJ laws every time! Catch the pedo bastards before they leave their wasteful, reckless, planet-destroyers.
No, because I don't get to choose the amount of money I pay in taxes. I can choose my mode of transportation at time of service. Kt would be fair - those who use the system pay for it, those who don't, don't get stuck with the bill.
I'm very aware of NJTransit, the MTA, and SEPTA. I can't drive, but I know that they cost more in my taxes to run than they would if they were privatized but legislated in terms of salaries, etc. It's just a matter of fact that for them to run a profit, fares would be massive.
Not to mention, the cost of taxis/"rideshares" when the buses & trains inevitably can't get to where you need to go, or when they're 15+ minutes late, or when they only run so rarely that they may as well not run at all. If you run a bus/train service and want to actually compete with cars, you need to have a truly massive number of vehicles on the road and rail, which means a massive skilled labor force between mechanics and crew, dispatchers, drivers, and route managers - all of whom expect to be paid more than minimum wage. And you can't assume 100% fill on every bus trip (that's how you get situations where the buses run once an hour or less), so you have to charge based on minimum fill rate, so that every ride is at least guaranteed breakeven.
Better idea. Make sure that people have access to places they want to go with those big cars.
Also, it wouldn't be a small fee. It'd be a very, very expensive fee to pay for the gas, the traffic, and the wages. So if the prices are fair you'd be paying as much to use it as it does to own a car.
Stop worrying about realism!