January 8, 2008
Metro's Error Means Free Bus Rides for All
When the new Metro fare structure was put in place on Sunday, a problem emerged with Metrobus fareboxes -- a total of about 23,000 riders paying with a SmarTrip card who transferred to multiple buses were charged the full fare for each trip instead of a free or discounted fare all of Sunday and part of Monday. The problem has now been fixed, but to make up for their snafu, Metro has sent around an announcement that they will offer free bus rides this Sunday and until noon on Monday to anyone who has a SmarTrip card, regardless of whether they were overcharged this week.
“We apologize for the inconvenience, and to make up for it riders who show bus operators their SmarTrip cards Sunday, January 13, and Monday, January 14, until noon will receive a free bus ride,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe in a statement. “Considering the complexity of implementing a fare increase, this has been a minor glitch. Overall, it’s been a smooth implementation.”
To receive a free ride on Sunday and Monday morning, all you have to do is show your SmarTrip card to the bus driver == do not tap you card on the farebox during the
free period. Metro officials estimate the free rides will cost the transit agency $30,000.
Photo by chip py the photo guy
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So instead of refunding the riders the overcharge, Metro is instead giving a free ride to anyone who uses a bus Sunday and Monday morning and shows a SmartTrip card?
Ah, Metro. One step forward, three steps back.
Because of the way SmarTrip works, it is technologically impractical to refund the overcharges.
Theoretically it could be disbursed through SmartBenefits, but that would probably cost more than the $30k.
i hate that at the end of wmata's story about that, they say:
"Metro officials estimate the free rides will cost the transit agency $30,000"
they always try to make it seem like they're doing us a favor, when its really them who messed up.
It might cost them $30k, but hopefully this will spur a few more people to acquire a Smartrip by Sunday. I am still amazed at the number of people who pay with cash instead of getting an $11 weekly bus pass or a Smartrip.
They say how much Metro will have to cough up for their boo-boo, but there's no mention of how much they gained in the first place. I'm sure they'll still end up with a net loss.
Is this the same thing where we're not supposed to wear pants?
It says about 23,000 riders were affected. Assuming each rider was affected only once, at $1.25 that is about $29,000.
However, a number of those who were affected probably were round-trip riders and had to replicate their route on the way back home, so they were double-charged TWICE. So WMATA probably made more like $42,000 assuming that only half of the 23,000 affected riders were completing a round trip.
I was wondering what the heck happened. I think this happened to me when I transferred to a bus at Eastern Market because the train I was on was starting and stopping literally every 4 feet. Go public transportation! On the bright side its bike weather today...
In their stats, WMATA usually doesn't use "rider" to mean a single person, so I'm not sure if the assumption is correct.