Metro Transit bus drivers began enforcing a long-standing policy of requiring people to show identification with their unlimited ride bus passes Monday and have since confiscated several bus passes.
Mick Rusch, a Metro Transit spokesperson, said although drivers have not pulled a large amount of passes, drivers have confiscated passes from several people who were using bus passes of older siblings or other family members.
Metro Transit is enforcing the ID policy because people who have not been issued a bus pass by the University of Wisconsin-Madison or a local business are using passes paid for by other groups, according to Rusch.
“It’s a misconception out there that once you have this pass, that it’s a free pass,” Rusch said. “[Passes issued by an organization] are not meant to be a family pass and not meant to be passed on.”
Bus drivers can choose whether or not they request passengers to show an ID when they swipe their bus passes, according to Rusch.
“The drivers are doing a very good job of pulling the passes that they really think are a problem,” Rusch said.
Rusch said in order to keep buses on schedule, some drivers may not request ID verification.
“It is [the driver’s] discretion to verify as many IDs as they possibly can,” Rusch said. “But if it’s going to mean being late or if there is another situation, it’s his call on how to handle the situation and how to keep moving.”
