Metro is hoping to begin selling SmarTrip cards at 187 CVS pharmacies in the Washington area, more than tripling the number of stores offering the plastic fare cards.
The cards are currently available at Metro sales offices, some Metro stations, commuter stores and some Safeway and Giant markets. Riders also can buy them online.
The proposal to partner with CVS comes as the transit system is pushing to make the cards more widely available in time for its elimination of paper bus transfers Jan. 4. Riders would need to use the plastic SmarTrip fare cards to receive discounts on transfers made within a three-hour window.
Metro’s board of directors is slated to vote on a legal aspect of the proposed contract with CVS on Thursday.
“We have not signed any deal,” CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis told The Examiner Monday.
It is not clear when the cards would be available at CVS if the agreement goes through. But according to the proposal, the retailer would not add any markup to the cards. The rechargeable cards would be sold at 187 of the some 250 CVS pharmacies in the Washington region for $10 each, with $5 of that covering transit fares.
The cards themselves cost Metro $3.50, according to Metro spokeswoman Angela J. Gates, and the transit system pays up to 90 cents to prepare the cards and cover overhead. The 60-cent profit per card goes toward a revolving fund to buy more cards, she said.
But some systems such as Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority offer rechargeable fare cards free of charge so riders only pay the fare itself. Earlier this month, Metro Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman asked why Washington-area riders must “pay to play.”
“I see no reason to charge more than it costs us,” he said.
Still, the Metro system has no plans to reduce the cost of the cards, Gates said.
Metro distributed 50,000 SmarTrip cards to social service agencies so low-income bus riders can receive the $5 rechargeable fare cards for free. But as of early this month, 19,000 of the cards remain unclaimed.
