With the exception of a small shuttle system, they're all owned/operated directly or indirectly by a municipality, or Translink, which is a quasi-public government-owned corporation.
Right, I forgot about the government tie-in. This part of free rides is definitely dysfunctional. Bus drivers aren't obligated to do anything, for their own safety, except notify the transit police.
Nope. They just walk on through the front door, or sneak in the back one when someone is getting off. I just spent the last 1.5 years commuting down Vancouver's infamous Hastings Street on the bus, and there's not a day goes by where you don't see something messed up. I moved last weekend in part to get away from it.