Fraud found in senior free-ride program - chicagotribune.comSome using transit ID cards issued to people who have died
By Richard Wronski, Tribune reporter, November 29, 2010Thousands of fraudulent free rides have been taken onChicago's mass-transit system by people using passes issued to now-deceased senior citizens, officials said Monday.
The Regional Transportation Authority found that at least 164 senior free-ride cards remained in use after the person to whom the card was issued had died. One card alone racked up as many as 1,400 free trips, officials said.
An RTA audit turned up about 25,000 fraudulent free rides in 2009, costing the transit agencies about $50,000, said Grace Gallucci, RTA deputy executive director.
Although this is a relatively small amount of revenue and ridership, RTA officials fear more widespread abuse of the free-rides program is taking place.Besides people using a dead person's card, RTA officials believe the program is also being abused by people improperly using cards issued to other seniors or to low-income disabled individuals who are eligible for free rides under the state's Circuit Breaker qualification.
"There's a greater risk of abuse" under the entire free-ride program, Gallucci said.
More than 426,600 senior citizens and more than 43,250 people with disabilities are currently enrolled in the free-rides program, according to the RTA. The number of participants is increasing each month.
The RTA has deactivated about 3,142 free-ride cards issued to people who have died. The agency cross-checked its cardholders against death records, spokeswoman Diane Palmer said.
Although the free-ride IDs contain the user's photo and are embedded with smart-card technology that flashes a signal on a turnstile or fare box, abusers are able to take advantage of a bus operators' inability to check each passenger's identity.
Bus operators and customer assistants "can't monitor every individual," said Noelle Gaffney, spokeswoman for the Chicago Transit Authority.
When CTA personnel believe a person is fraudulently using a pass, they can confiscate the pass. So far this year, the CTA has confiscated more than 500 cards, Gaffney said.
The free-rides program was initiated and hastily sent through the legislature by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The program costs the CTA,Metra and Pace between $38 million and $116 million last year, according to a report by the University of Illinois at Chicago.
On Monday, a House committee approved legislation that would scale back the free-rides program by setting income limits for seniors to qualify.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch or a free ride," Rep.Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said.
Gov. Pat Quinn has previously said he would veto legislation limiting free rides, but Currie said she is confident the proposal will have enough support for lawmakers to override a veto.
Tribune reporter Monique Garcia contributed to this report.
The Regional Transportation Authority found that at least 164 senior free-ride cards remained in use after the person to whom the card was issued had died. One card alone racked up as many as 1,400 free trips, officials said.
An RTA audit turned up about 25,000 fraudulent free rides in 2009, costing the transit agencies about $50,000, said Grace Gallucci, RTA deputy executive director.
Although this is a relatively small amount of revenue and ridership, RTA officials fear more widespread abuse of the free-rides program is taking place.Besides people using a dead person's card, RTA officials believe the program is also being abused by people improperly using cards issued to other seniors or to low-income disabled individuals who are eligible for free rides under the state's Circuit Breaker qualification.
"There's a greater risk of abuse" under the entire free-ride program, Gallucci said.
More than 426,600 senior citizens and more than 43,250 people with disabilities are currently enrolled in the free-rides program, according to the RTA. The number of participants is increasing each month.
The RTA has deactivated about 3,142 free-ride cards issued to people who have died. The agency cross-checked its cardholders against death records, spokeswoman Diane Palmer said.
Although the free-ride IDs contain the user's photo and are embedded with smart-card technology that flashes a signal on a turnstile or fare box, abusers are able to take advantage of a bus operators' inability to check each passenger's identity.
Bus operators and customer assistants "can't monitor every individual," said Noelle Gaffney, spokeswoman for the Chicago Transit Authority.
When CTA personnel believe a person is fraudulently using a pass, they can confiscate the pass. So far this year, the CTA has confiscated more than 500 cards, Gaffney said.
The free-rides program was initiated and hastily sent through the legislature by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The program costs the CTA,Metra and Pace between $38 million and $116 million last year, according to a report by the University of Illinois at Chicago.
On Monday, a House committee approved legislation that would scale back the free-rides program by setting income limits for seniors to qualify.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch or a free ride," Rep.Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said.
Gov. Pat Quinn has previously said he would veto legislation limiting free rides, but Currie said she is confident the proposal will have enough support for lawmakers to override a veto.
Tribune reporter Monique Garcia contributed to this report.
Old song about riding the T
Charlie on the MTA is a song from the 1940's about a man trapped on Boston's subway system unable to afford the 5 cents exit fare.
If I were Charlie, I'd be very upset when my wife handed me a sandwich every day at Scollay Square station. I'd be like, "Hey, how about a NICKEL Biatch!!"
If I were Charlie, I'd be very upset when my wife handed me a sandwich every day at Scollay Square station. I'd be like, "Hey, how about a NICKEL Biatch!!"
Charlie on the MTA
Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA.
Charlie handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel."
Charlie could not get off that train.
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.
Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels
Saying, "What will become of me?
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?"
Charlie's wife goes down
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin' through.
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.
As his train rolled on
Through Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed,
"Well, I'm sore and disgusted
And I'm absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride."
Now you citizens of Boston,
Don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O'Brien
And fight the fare increase
Get poor Charlie off the MTA.
Or else he'll never return,
No he'll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man (Who's the man)
He's the man (Oh, the man)
He's the man who never returned.
Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA.
Charlie handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel."
Charlie could not get off that train.
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.
Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels
Saying, "What will become of me?
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?"
Charlie's wife goes down
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin' through.
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.
As his train rolled on
Through Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed,
"Well, I'm sore and disgusted
And I'm absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride."
Now you citizens of Boston,
Don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O'Brien
And fight the fare increase
Get poor Charlie off the MTA.
Or else he'll never return,
No he'll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man (Who's the man)
He's the man (Oh, the man)
He's the man who never returned.
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