December 10, 2007
SmarTrip Cards to Get Smarter-ish
On Sunday the Post ran a big story on the future of SmarTrip cards containing some good news for DCist commenters who have long complained that the problem with SmarTrip is that you can't use them and take advantage of any of Metro's special discount passes. WMATA has announced that by the end of 2008, SmarTrip technology will allow customers to realize the benefits of its special passes like the 7-Day Fast Pass, Montgomery County's Ride-About and Alexandria's DASH Pass.
The new SmarTrip cards, which will include an upgraded electronic chip (so yes, you'll but you won't have to get a new card) will also allow customers to link their accounts to their credit cards, similar to the way drivers use E-ZPass.
Now if Metro would only take this opportunity to introduce monthly passes and bus-to-metro transfers ...
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Bus-to-Metro Transfers: Yes please
There I was thinking the problem with SmarTrip cards was that they broke if you looked at them funny.
Kudos to Metro for expanding the cards. And we only have to wait another year! Guess I'll have to trade in my autogyro and ZipZeppelin rent-a-dirigible membership. But I'm keeping the jetpack.
I am completely confident that Metro will not introduce any discounts either through transfers or passes....if it does it will be a cold day in hell.
Monthly passes: Don't currently use the weekly? Then you probably wouldn't benefit from whatever monthly WMATA would devise.
What people really want is just a cheaper fare, which isn't going to happen. Note that the new NYC subway fares (just proposed today) basically eliminate any cost benefit unless you use the subway for more than commuting. The current Metro weekly pass is the same way.
The Post story actually says people won't need to get new cards--the chips should upgrade automatically the first time you swipe after the changes are in place.
Having your smartcard linked to your debit card will rock. It always seems like I'm running low when I'm in a hurry to catch a train -- and it can take a long time to add money to your card using the machines.
This is from the WMATA chat on Friday:
Washington, DC: Why isn't it possible to transfer from a bus to the metro without paying twice? From metro to bus you pay only a transfer fee. The same should be possible in reverse. Isn't SmarTrip smart enough to figure that out?
Reply: Hi. Yes, the SmarTrip card is smart enough. Currently when someone takes a rail ride, the cost of the ride covers about 80 percent of the actual cost of the trip. When someone takes a bus trip, the cost of the ride covers even less, only about 35 percent of the actual cost of the trip. To offer a discount to go from bus to rail, we would have to increase the bus fares. The transfer discount that currently exists (from rail to bus) is currently built into the current rail fare structure.
Who cares about bus-to-metro transfers? This seems a policy decision, not a technology problem. It's like paying a toll in only one direction on the highway. This would just create another step in the process (having to use the transfer pass at a metro station). Since most trips are round trips, better to charge (or in this case, give the discount) in just one direction.
As for the cards themselves, is it the same people complaining that they break all the time in these discussions? Mine is as old as the system itself. Never had a problem despite it being warped for years in my wallet, I can't say the same for most of my credit cards. I suspect this is a case of the people who got the rare defective one making noise, while the vast majority with no problems don't... since there's nothing to complain about.
I'm with Politburo on this one ... everyone clamoring for monthly passes is doing so under the assumption that they would offer some sort of (fairly significant) savings. Since Metro is only marginally capable of handling the level of traffic they have right now AND is running budget deficits, they have absolutely no incentive to institute a pricing structure that encourages increased ridership and/or loses them money.
People who have been begging and pleading for these monthly passes will be sorely disappointed if and when they are ever implemented . . .
monthly pass? yes please. i think i've expressed my feelings on this before. and no, the weekly pass is not the same.
Ugh I don't want to get into this monthly pass discussion again. Nate and Politburo are right. There is no incentive for Metro to offer a monthly pass. They already have packed trains at the current fares. The distance-based system also does not work well with a catch-all pass. That's why we have a short trip and a fast trip pass now. If the system ever went to zones like London then it would be much easier to implement a pass. However, there is still no incentive for them to give people a discount. I think people would basically see a monthly pass priced at around 20 times the price of a round trip.
oops thanks jbean, I misread that part, and have noted a correction in my post.
I second everything that jamie wrote.
My card has been working fine for several years in my wallet, better than I can say for my credit and bank cards.
Bus to metro fares would be nice. So would everyone getting a pony on their birthday.
oops, I think I got cut off.
My SmarTrip card gets overwhelmed by cards with "stronger" RFID chips, and there also appears to be variability in the sensors in the stations. This could explain people's problems with SmarTrip cards and lack of problems with bank-type cards.
My proof: I have 3 RFID cards in my wallet, listed from strongest to weakest they are my work ID, my SmarTrip, and my Zipcard. I never had any problems with the latter two until I moved the ID from stupid ID clip retractable thingy to wallet. My Zipcard NEVER works if it's with my work ID but is fine with my SmarTrip. My SmarTrip always works with my Zipcard but only intermittently (and sometimes just more slowly, or only if I get the sweet spot just right) with my work ID. My work ID never, ever fails to go on the first try. Which card is closest to the sensor makes no difference.
Compulsive? Me?
I've said this before, but it bear repeating: Whatever large scale price changes they make should incorporate some type of "congestion" charge. The "peak" time is too long. There should be another category, like "near peak" or something, which would be cheaper than true peak. This would encourage more time-shifting. Right now too many people try to ride the metro from 8:30-9:00, when it is much less empty from 8:00-8:30. Since the "price" of packed trains does not seem to be enough of a disincentive for people to shift their schedules, maybe a fare system designed to encourage earlier or later travel will.
Certainly some people just can't shift their work schedules, but I bet enough people could if they were given a good enough economic incentive to do so.
While I'm glad Metro is finally giving a timetable for linking your SmarTrip card to a debit/credit card, it's inexcusable that it has taken this long. They've been promising similar functionality for years, and it will still be up to another year before it works.
I was able to add money to other similar cards almost 10 years ago. It's inexcusable that Metro couldn't make this happen sooner. Especially with SmarTrip being required for parking and the slow process of adding money at a fare machine (why can you only increase the amount $1 at a time when any trip costs more than that?!), it's an unnecessary strain on limited resources (fare machines).
If I recall correctly, when Metro used to offer the monthly bus pass, the savings was the same as the weekly. So as Politburo said, if the weekly doesn’t work for you, the monthly probably won’t either. That said, if all you do is ride the bus to and from work, the weekly passes are a bargain at $11 a week (a $1.50 saving each week, with each non-commuting trip saving even more, and the advantage of not having to carry change; I loved these when I lived in Mt. Pleasant and rode the S-line to and from work and parts south). Incorporating that into the SmarTrip card would be a boon to those folks who use the passes.
The two Metrorail weekly passes are only marginally useful for certain subsets of commuters – the ones who ride in a long distance during rush hour (for the Fast Pass) and those who live a medium distance out and use Metrorail for commuting and non-commuting trips (the Short Trip pass). If you commute normally within the $1.35-a-trip zone, neither of those will help you. If memory serves they used to offer a bus-and-rail combo pass, but again it was only a deal for those who commuted from further out, and it’s no longer available on Metro’s web site.
public transportation is so cheap, honestly.