Metro is allocating $1.5 million toward SmarTrip customer service improvements as calls to the agency’s customer service center have spiked to as many as 2,000 a day since the January fare increase.
“We’ve been experiencing unprecedented levels of call volumes,” Metro Director of SmarTrip Operations and Policy Gregory Garback said. “Ridership continues to creep up, but the number of people holding our SmarTrip cards continues to grow as well.”
Garback said the $1.5 million will pay for five more customer service representatives at the Regional SmarTrip Customer Service Center in Reston, bringing the number of staff members to 22.
Customer calls to the center, which is operated by contractor ERG, increased by 60,000 between 2006 and 2007 and spiked to between 1,500 and 2,000 a day since the Jan. 6 increase on rail and bus fare and Metro parking lots.
Garback attributed that phenomenon to Metro’s decision to leave bus fares at $1.25 for SmarTrip users while increasing the rate to $1.35 for cash payers.
“People are just very interested to make sure that the fare is computed correctly,” he said.
Metro officials said customers most commonly call the customer service center to report lost or stolen cards and to check their card balances, although customers can e-mail the center to receive those services as well.
The center gets occasional calls about faulty SmarTrip cards, which customers can bring to the center or give to a Metrorail station manager to send back to the center, Garback said.
