Estimate public transit fares.
Working out what transit actually costs you needs three things the headline fare does not include. Transfers: on networks that charge for each boarding rather than each journey, a trip with one change costs the base fare plus a transfer fee, so your real per-trip cost is higher than the advertised fare. Frequency: multiply by trips, counting each direction. And the fare cap, which many contactless networks now apply weekly — once you hit it, further travel is free, which means heavy users pay a much lower effective rate. Convert to a month using 4.345 weeks so the figure lines up with a pass price.
Transit Fare
Fare per trip = base fare + transfers x transfer fee; weekly = min(trips x fare per trip, weekly cap); monthly = weekly x 4.345
On most contactless systems, yes, provided you use the same card or device for every tap. Mixing payment methods across a week resets the accumulation and forfeits the cap.
Compare this monthly figure with the pass price. Where a weekly cap exists, contactless often matches or beats a monthly pass and carries no commitment.