Here’s some good news for those of us who regularly drive inbound on lower 14th Street in the District: The city is beginning a project this work to repave the road between the bridges and Constitution Avenue. This is one of those “gateway” roads that shape the impression many tourists have of the city as they sit in the back seat of a cab coming in from the airport. For the past couple of years, this road, especially the stretch from C Street to Independence, has been a bumpy mess.
As is the case more often than not anymore, this work will be done at night. Crews will block various lanes from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily and should have the job wrapped up in about a month.
Commuter benefits
On the subject of Metrochek transit commuter benefits Stanley writes: “The program has to make it optional because at least some cannot use SmarTrip cards for their commute. I take a Ride On bus for a portion of my route, and they only began this week to accept SmarTrip. Even though they have had the new farecard machines on the bus since last year, they have only figured out recently how to make it work. Nowthat RideOn buses will accept SmarTrip cards, I will switch to picking my transit subsidy up at my Metro station for the convenience.
“We will still have those who cannot do this because they ride the MARC train and must use the Metrochek cards to purchase monthly tickets for that. I suspect that VRE riders would have the same problem.
“I think once all forms of transit can accept SmarTrip, then the Metrochek program should distribute the subsidy exclusively through the Metro farecard machines. The sooner the better.”
The official response on the subject comes from Metro: “Once called Metrochek, it’s now known as SmartBenefits.
“SmartBenefits allows you to move beyond the original paper Metrochek to a SmarTrip card for use on Metrorail, Metrobus, DC Circulator, at Metro parking facilities or for a registered van pool. Under SmartBenefits, the employer assigns the dollar value of the monthly Metrochek benefit directly to the customer’s SmarTrip card right from a computer using our Web site.
The card is automatically reloaded by using a passes/farecards machine at any Metrorail station anytime during the benefit month.
“SmarTrip soon will be introduced on other local bus systems [Ride On in Montgomery County has started its roll out], and ultimately on MARC and VRE.
If a customer uses one of these transit providers (MARC, VRE and the other local bus systems), then they must continue to exchange their paper Metrocheks for their fares until SmarTrip is available.
“So, once MARC, VRE and all of the local bus systems take SmarTrip cards, we won’t have to issue paper Metrocheks anymore.”
We understand that the time frame for this regional roll-out to be completed is the early part of next year. At the same time, it’s not clear that this program will roll out all the way to Baltimore as was first envisioned. Still, for the Washington region, the ability to use one payment method should go a long way to increase the use of transit.
