More than 30 MetroAccess workers fired for using cell phones while driving have been reinstated even though they were caught under Metro’s new zero-tolerance policy for employees caught chatting or texting at the wheel.

Twenty-nine drivers and two mechanics were given their jobs back, with some picking up passengers as soon as they were rehired, according to their union. Another driver who had been caught texting was hired back to a job at the service’s call center.