Hector Julio noticed a problem when he took the bus early one morning this month. Metrobus wasn’t crediting him for a transfer from his recent train trip and instead charged his SmarTrip card a full fare.

It had been just over an hour since the 67-year-old retiree got on his first bus, then took Metrorail, so he should have been within the two-hour transfer window to receive a discount for his second bus.