Metro riders will gain new options for paying their fares under a $25 million project tentatively approved Thursday by the system’s board of directors.
The work, which will take four years to complete, includes upgrades to enable 550 machines to dispense SmarTrip cards. Currently, customers may purchase the plastic cards only from specific machines at rail stations with parking lots, Metro sales offices or the Internet. After the upgrades, passengers will be able to purchase SmarTrip cards at any station.
Also, the machines will be able to dispense a paper SmarTrip card that will be less expensive than the $5 riders pay for the plastic version. The new paper cards will be available in two to three years.
Passengers must use the plastic cards to pay the daily parking fee at most Metro lots, which upsets some riders who prefer traditional fare cards and do not want to pay for the plastic version. Metro began requiring SmarTrip cards be used to exit its lots in 2004 after an internal audit found the system had no way of accounting for the cash parking payments and could be losing as much as $1 million annually.
The paper SmarTrip cards “would cost less than the current $5 charge but have a shorter life,” said Dave Couch, director of infrastructure renewal projects for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. “We believe some riders, such as tourists, may prefer this type of card.”
The first changes to Metro’s fare card machines are scheduled to be completed in March, when all 900 machines will be altered so they can begin accepting the $1 coin and the redesigned $5 bill. Metro also plans to double the number of fare card machines that will accept credit cards in the next four years. Credit cards may be used at only 346 machines now, but within four years, 740 machines will have that capability.
A separate project is under way to improve the computer technology that runs Metro’s fare system. The work will allow riders to use their SmarTrip cards to purchase weekly or weekend passes.
