Amtrak's ID requirements seemed quite excessive

Having served in government for the biggest part of my career, it was extremely frustrating to witness the bureaucracy of securing a picture ID for my wife’s 86-year-old developmentally disabled uncle. We were planning a train ride from Tacoma to Portland and back for my father-in-law's 90th birthday. When I purchased the five tickets, Amtrak said they required photo identification.

My wife’s uncle, mentally and physically disabled since the age of 2, has never had a picture ID. Two trips to the local Tacoma vehicle licensing office yielded no ID. Their agents and supervisor required FOUR pieces of identification. He had three, a certified birth certificate, a Medicare card, and a Social Security number - not good enough.

I don’t know if this was a state law or an administrative rule - shame on either. To the credit of a wonderful woman and ex-colleague, Department of Licensing director Pat Kohler came to the rescue. A well-placed phone call by one of her assistants and a third trip secured the photo ID.

We had a wonderful trip, and wouldn’t you know they never asked for ID.

This story was originally published August 24, 2015 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Amtrak's ID requirements seemed quite excessive."