They have spent literally hundreds of billions of dollars in light rail around here as well. In the past they have made some routes completely free and encouraged “homeless” to sit on the trains all day and counted them at every stop to lie about how many people are using the train. It is pathetic! Anyone who sits in one of the seats and doesn’t pickup at least a few fleas, lice, scabies, bed bugs, or other unwanted hitch hikers is very lucky indeed. This is not to mention the crap you can catch from touching the same things that some poopy fingered bum just had his hands on, or sitting in spittle, vomit, urine, blood, or other bodily fluids. Yeah, public transit what a concept in a society that allows and encourages filthy animals to use it.
I will say, at least almost every day I ride, DART does check people for their pass and will fine them if they don’t have them.