Boston Considers Launching Municipal ID Program

Boston officials are considering developing a municipal identification program.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says city-issued IDs would give residents who might not have a license — like immigrants, the homeless and the elderly — a way to have some form of official identification.

"We have a lot of folks that live in the city, both immigrants and non-immigrants, that don't have a valid ID, and this would allow them the opportunity to have a valid ID," Walsh said.

Walsh says the program would also connect residents more effectively with city services and departments.

"It would help people apply for jobs, access to public buildings, open bank accounts," Walsh said. "It's also going to have opportunities for us to look at using the ID as a potentially kind of one-stop card to use at our different facilities."

The city announced Monday it's looking to hire a firm to "to assess the demand and study the feasibility" of implementing a municipal ID program, as well as make recommendations for how the program would work.

The announcement said the city hopes to hire a firm by the end of March, and anticipated such a study would take about six months.

Other cities with municipal ID programs include New York and Los Angeles.

With reporting by WBUR's Bob Shaffer