People love free stuff. Maybe if they realized being driven about in a large heavy metal box does actually cost money, they might value/respect it a little more? The perception that buses are only for the elderly, kids and welfare cases is a big reason why it has the least amount of policy attention despite being the most widely used form of "public" (as in available to anyone) transport.

More broadly, the Day Rider and similar tickets have to be the biggest insult to potential occasional bus users ever invented. Where else other than Beamish are you effectively given a whole day's service for only slightly (as in literal pennies) more than it costs to perform what most people define as a single useful return trip. It's a total con.