Metro may end its “mystery rider” program less than a year after it began, as part of the transit system’s efforts to trim $154 million from the budget.

The Metro board agreed last spring to fund the program, modeled on similar mystery shopper programs in which undercover researchers are paid to shop at a store to assess its customer service. The transit service signed a $916,000 contract in June with Maryland-based Widener-Burrows & Associates for up to five years of quarterly reports.