After months of delays, Metro officials are on the verge of cutting the price of SmarTrip fare cards in half — from $5 to $2.50 — and will not eliminate cardholders’ ability to exit the system with a negative balance.
SmarTrip users would still pay a minimum of $5 for a new card, but the card would come preloaded with at least $2.50 in fare value, according to Metro planning documents. SmarTrip cards in the past could be purchased with no preloaded value.
Metro leaders had planned to reduce the price of SmarTrip cards in August, but agency officials postponed the cost reduction because of concerns that the new lower price would open up room for graft.
Savvy scofflaws could have “gamed the system” by purchasing a SmarTrip card for $2.50, taking a ride worth more than the value of the card and then leaving the system with a negative balance, according to Metro project manager Steve Holland.
“They could just throw the card away and then do the same thing the next time they take that route,” Holland said last month at a meeting of Metro’s Riders’ Advisory Council.
Metro Chief Financial Officer Carol Kissal said the loophole could have cost the agency roughly $1 million a month in lost revenue.
But while troublesome, the debate over the SmarTrip price reduction may have expedited broader discussions about Metro’s aging fare collection system, which at one time was the vanguard among the nation’s transit agencies.
Metro officials are crafting plans to move to an “open” fare system, in which riders could use their bank-issued credit or debit cards, as well as existing SmarTrip or other preloaded fare cards.
“The same card you would use to buy groceries, the same card you would use to buy clothing, is the card you would use to ride transit,” Chairman Peter Benjamin said.
He said implementing the new payment system is one of the Metro board’s top priorities, and planning documents show the agency could begin its move to the new payment system as early as next summer.
Metro’s finance and customer service committees are scheduled to discuss the SmarTrip price change and the open payment system at committee meetings Thursday.
