SmarTrip price drop to $2 on October 1

WMATA announced several weeks ago that they were going to cut the price for SmarTrip cards to $2 starting on October 1. The cards will still cost $10 to buy, but the card will cost $2 with $8 on the card for fares. This effectively replaces the $3 rebate program, which I suspect many people did not apply for. The Washington Post has more details in today's paper: Metro’s SmarTrip card fee to drop from $5 to $2.

One issue was that they allowed SmarTrips to rack up larger negative balances. After October 1, the maximum allowed negative balance to get through the exit gates will be $1.50. Once the faregates accept smartphones, credit and debit cards, I expect the paper farecards will be dropped entirely. Excerpt:

More changes in the fare system are coming, Sarles said.

By now, the SmarTrip collection system is about as cutting-edge as a rotary phone.

The transit authority plans to award a contract this year for a new payment system, something in addition to SmarTrip. Riders would then be able to pay at the fare gates by tapping a mobile phone or a debit or credit card.

Metro will eventually eliminate the paper Farecards entirely.

The $2 cost for a SmarTrip will help to simplify the choices for visitors and tourists. Just buy the SmarTrip card and be done with it. (and make WMATA happy by leaving town with funds leftover on their SmarTrip cards).

Note that WMATA was in effect buying your personal data for $3.00. What they did with it is undefined. Now at least you can buy spare cards for a fair price. It won't keep them from archiving all the travel made on each card, but at least it's not automatically connected to your NSA/Stasi dossier....

With a maximum negative balance of $1.50, a lot of people are about to get reacquainted with the exitfare machine. That was one of the nice things about the SmarTrip card - you never had to worry about getting caught short on fare.

I know the exitfare machines are already equipped with (unused up until now) SmarTrip readers, but are any of them equipped to accept credit cards? Not everyone carries cash these days.

jkovach wrote:With a maximum negative balance of $1.50, a lot of people are about to get reacquainted with the exitfare machine. That was one of the nice things about the SmarTrip card - you never had to worry about getting caught short on fare.

I know the exitfare machines are already equipped with (unused up until now) SmarTrip readers, but are any of them equipped to accept credit cards? Not everyone carries cash these days.

It has been a long time since I had to use a ExitFare machine, so I checked the WMATA website. The Exitfare machines still only accept cash:

The brown "Exitfare" machines are located near the Metrorail exit gates and only accept cash (coins and $1 and $5 bills). If you were prevented from exiting because your farecard had insufficient fare, then follow the instructions on an Exitfare machine to add the remaining fare. The machines provide up to $4.95 in change

So, yes, after the changeover to the new lower maximum balance, some people are going to get stuck if they don't have small bills or enough change on them or no cash at all. If you have a $10 or $20 bill, should be able to find someone to break it into some fives or ones. But those who are not carrying enough cash will be at the mercy of the station attendant for help to get out (legally). That is not always going to work out well.

WMATA really should update the Exitfare machines to handle credit/debit cards and larger bills. But then again, the Metro has 3 different types of farecard vending machines. If they are going to update the payment technology options, they should also update or replace the machines with 1 improved model with touch screens that provides all the needed features. Have a goal to make the fare system easier to use.

Another option (maybe this is what you're already suggesting) would be to replace the Exitfare machines, which only let you add the exact amount needed to exit the station, with regular fare machines that let you add any amount of money. This would allow them to take larger bills and credit cards without having to deal with change and ten cent credit card transactions.

However, if you read the Metro PR, it seems that Mr. Sarles is betting that the new fare system based around contactless credit/debit card payments will solve all these problems. This is not going to be a panacea for several reasons. Contactless cards have been available for several years now, but neither banks nor consumers seem to care all that much and very few issuers are actually sending them out (for example, Bank of America offers 2 contactless cards out of the 15 or so different credit cards they advertise on their website.) NFC payments on phones are the same deal - no one really seems to care besides a few tech journalists. On top of all this, not everyone has a credit/debit card! (Yes, I realize I just posted that not everyone carries cash... both statements are true, and Metro has to deal with both types of customer.) So they'll still have to keep some sort of fare card/fare machine infrastructure in place to handle cash fares and magstripe credit cards. Not to mention SmartBenefits...

Noticed today that (at least some of) the Exitfare machines have been updated with new signage. The posted instructions now refer to SmarTrip cards as well as farecards, the maximum change is now $9.95, and $10 bills (but not $20s) are accepted. No credit card readers though

The times, they are a-changing...

EDIT: Also just noticed that the WMATA website is selling Baltimore MTA CharmCards (interchangeable with SmarTrip) for $2.50. Given that, the SmarTrip price change a(nd exitfare policy) makes sense for consistency, if nothing else.