Smartrip

Metro is overhauling the office in charge of the popular SmarTrip electronic fare cards after internal audits found that failures by the main contractor and agency managers have added at least $2 million in costs and three years in delays for long-awaited, customer-friendly features. Continuing software issues and the office shakeup have slowed the project even more. As a result, features to make the plastic card more convenient and versatile, which were supposed to be ready next month, will not be working until 2010, officials said.

In its bid to push more people to use SmarTrip cards, Metro has been offering a $3 rebate to anyone who buys one. But since Metro started the incentive in September, most riders who have purchased new cards haven't claimed their rebates. While the transit agency sold nearly 352,000 SmarTrip cards during the last four months of 2012, just 67,112 rebates had been issued as of Jan. 4. It's not clear why four out of five riders who bought new cards are forgoing the rebates, though in the retail world, consumers...

The transit authority is pushing train and bus riders toward use of SmarTrip electronic Farecards by eliminating the paper bus transfers and by eliminating paper Metrocheks as a way of distributing transit benefits. That's fine, but Metro should have been doing more to anticipate the resulting surge in demand for SmarTrip cards and for places to add value to them. Dear Dr. Gridlock : I live near the Columbia Road Metro station, where there are two Farecard machines than can process SmarTrip transactions and five or...

After months of delays, SmarTrip card vending machines are now available at every Metrorail station. The transit agency has been installing new machines across the system, and with older machines in place in 47 stations, Metro now has at least one machine in each of the system's 86 stations. Installation of the 100 new machines was put on hold this year after disability advocates complained in August that the new dispensers did not comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Metro said it planned to...

Dear Dr. Gridlock : I'm a regular and heretofore satisfied Metrorail user. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped on my way home at Gallery Place-Chinatown to meet a friend for dinner, and when I attempted to pass through the fare gates following my meal, none of the sensors would react to my SmarTrip card. I attempted to get the attention of the attendant, who seemed to be having a personal conversation with some other patrons, and was eventually waved through the emergency gate without scanning my card.

After months of delays, SmarTrip card vending machines are now available at every Metrorail station. The transit agency has been installing new machines across the system, and with older machines in place in 47 stations, Metro now has at least one machine in each of the system's 86 stations. Installation of the 100 new machines was put on hold this year after disability advocates complained in August that the new dispensers did not comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Metro said...

If you are among the 200,000 who participate in the SmartBenefits program, talk to your boss. Metro is about to change the system under which transit riders download the benefits administered by employers. Here's the basic idea: Old way: Many government and private employers provide a monthly transit subsidy to their employees or allow them to divert a portion of their salary before taxes to pay for transit use. At the start of each month, the employees stand at fare vending machines to download their...

Metro on Thursday launched a long-awaited system that allows riders to add money to their electronic payment cards online. Using a major credit card, customers can visit Metro's Web site and log on to their SmarTrip account. They can then add value to their registered fare cards. The transit authority said it recently ran a successful pilot of the new feature with 150,000 customers. The payment option for customers comes as SmarTrip has experienced technical troubles , with some riders complaining that the cards...

Metro riders will soon see a change in how their SmarTrip accounts store value and may face a reduction in their pretax transit benefits if Congress doesn't take action. Commuters now can set aside up to $230 a month in pre-tax income for use in transit, but that limit is set to fall to $125 per month at the end of the year. Parking benefits would rise from $230 a month to $240 a month. Last year, Congress approved a last-minute fix that kept the $230-a-month...

In its bid to push more people to use SmarTrip cards, Metro has been offering a $3 rebate to anyone who buys one. But since Metro started the incentive in September, most riders who have purchased new cards haven't claimed their rebates. While the transit agency sold nearly 352,000 SmarTrip cards during the last four months of 2012, just 67,112 rebates had been issued as of Jan. 4. It's not clear why four out of five riders who bought new cards are forgoing the rebates, though in the retail...

Mitt Romney or Barack Obama? The nation hasn't yet decided, but that isn't stopping Metro officials from starting their Inauguration Day preparations. Members of Metro's Finance and Administration Committee are expected to be briefed Thursday on the transit authority's plans for the presidential inauguration, slated for January 21, 2013. Officials aren't expecting the record crowd that flocked to Washington in 2009 for Obama's swearing-in, when they had 1.5 million riders – 1.1 million of whom used Metro's rail service.

As part of Metro's campaign to push riders to ditch paper Farecards , every station in the system was supposed to have a SmarTrip card vending machine by now. The plan was to have at least one machine in each station by Sept. 1, two months after a raft of fare changes went into effect, including a $1 surcharge on trips paid for with paper Farecards. But in nearly half of the system's 86 stations, Metro riders still don't have a way to buy a SmarTrip card because Metro failed to ensure that the new...

ANACOSTIA FREEWAY CLOSURE The northbound lanes of the Anacostia Freeway/DC-295 will close between Howard Road and Pennsylvania Avenue SE overnight on Monday and Tuesday evenings. The District Department of Transportation plans to install a drainage pipe under the road. A single lane will be closed on northbound 295 at 8 o'clock each night, and all northbound lanes will be closed at 10 p.m. All lanes should reopen by 5 o'clock the next morning. Northbound traffic will be directed...

Advocates for people with disabilities say Metro's plans to make SmarTrip cards more accessible to riders by installing new vending machines at every rail station fall short in one crucial area: The new machines are not expected to be immediately accessible to all people with limited vision. The machines, which are scheduled to make their debut Sept. 1, have no audio feature. Riders who are blind or have impaired vision or those with cognitive impairments may find them difficult,...

Metro riders will pay more to ride starting Sunday, when bus and rail fares increase, along with fees for parking at Metro garages. This is the third time in five years that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority had raised fares, and under a policy that took effect in July 2010, riders face the prospect of fare increases every other year. Beginning Sunday, rail passengers will face average increases of about 5 percent, although the actual amounts will vary greatly depending on distance . The base rail fare...

Metro's fare increases on Sunday aren't the only financial hits looming for local commuters. Higher fares go into effect this weekend on some suburban train lines and county bus systems as well. Virginia Railway Express riders will see a 3 percent increase in the cost of daily tickets and monthly passes. For example, a trip from Fredericksburg to Union Station currently costs $10.30 for a single (one-way) ride and $285.50 for a monthly pass. The single ride will now cost $10.65,...

Many bus riders in the region are having trouble adding value to their SmarTrip electronic fare cards, a persistent problem that could affect some customers for weeks. Some passengers have received receipts from machines that say they can't add bus fare because their cards have expired, despite the cards having expiration dates far into the future. Others have discovered the problem when they tried to board buses, only to have the cards not work. Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said there was a "spike in...

Metro riders will pay more to ride starting Sunday, when bus and rail fares increase, along with fees for parking at Metro garages. This is the third time in five years that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority had raised fares, and under a policy that took effect in July 2010, riders face the prospect of fare increases every other year. Beginning Sunday, rail passengers will face average increases of about 5 percent, although the actual amounts will vary greatly depending on distance . The base rail...

Dear Dr. Gridlock: I need to know what's going on with the new $1 surcharge on the use of paper Farecards, and when it starts. I have a whole bunch of them. How do I get the most out of them when converting to SmarTrip cards ? Pat Reed, Rockville DG: On July 1, Metro will impose a bigger penalty on riders who use the paper Farecards, so the transit authority is also announcing some incentives to switch to the electronic SmarTrip cards. Until the end of...

Metro riders won't be done figuring out Rush Plus before they need to start calculating the effects of the July 1 fare increases . Rush Plus, the new service that will affect some trains but not other trains at some rush times but not other rush times, will be simple by comparison. Knock 20 cents off your rush-hour rail trip, because you won't pay the peak-of-the-peak surcharge anymore. Add a dollar if you use a paper Farecard. That's not all — not by a long shot — and you've got just two weeks to...