In King County, buses lost -a lot- of riders when COVID appeared. And that ridership hasn't rebounded yet. At non-peak times, it's maybe 1/3. (And that's at 15 minute intervals ... a -lot less- frequent that New Yorkers expect [Youtube] ). So yeah, a high tolerance for freeriders should prevail below 1/2 loads.

Also there a lot of new drivers these days ... there's more than enough for them to learn and watch ... policing should be low priority. Kids (IIRC) are free-riding anyway.