DCist: Big Week for SmarTrip Cards

monkeyrotica

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:30:01 -0500

*Please allow 8-10 weeks for delivery. Thank you for using Metro!

Hop Along

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:17:38 -0500

Spoke with a Metro CSR over the phone, no Obama SmarTrip Cards being sold at the Sales Office until January but the Cards can be order online.

kcperlas

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:19:07 -0500

Yeah, now I won't have to endure Metro Center if/when I lose or break my MetroCard.

MikeB

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:24:58 -0500

Personally, I can't wait for DC parking enforcement to roll out their commemorative Obama car boot.

mkinne

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:30:08 -0500

Went down to Metro Center and asked for the Inauguration day SmarTrip card/Obama SmarTrip card, was given a weird look, then told that they will NOT be available for purchase from the sales offices in Metro Center until Inauguration day. No arguments, get out of the way for the next person, no she isn't talking about the paper tickets. :( WMATA.com doesn't say they sell them in advance at the ticket offices in those sales offices, but you'd think they would WANT to sell me an over-expensive commemorative SmarTrip card. Ah well, anyone else have luck getting one today at a station sales office?

Over the River

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:12:19 -0500

Let's copy the decal that says "SmarTrip sold here" and paste it on every store in town, or maybe on Metrorail cars. Gotta cause some confusion.

Over the River

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:09:16 -0500

I like the Cheney SmarTrip card stmove. Every time you use it, it says "Go Fuck Yourself".

dcgrrrl

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:57:31 -0500

I think it's a shame that they're not offering a Senior or Disabled SmarTrip Card. My mom is over 65 and entitled to pay half price Metro and bus fares, but can't do so with the commemorative card. boo.

monkeyrotica

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:10:55 -0500

If only the Feds and a regional taxing authority would give WMATA a googol bazillion dollars, maybe then they'd finally get around to fixing one or two of these niggling problems. Like why senior management can't book quality vacation time in Thai brothels.

Kev29

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:05:30 -0500

It's also funny how Metro can reap the cash from this event and charge a fortune to everyday riders, yet still remain in the sh*tter financially.

Wizzyliz

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:56:08 -0500

Isn't it ironic that WMATA has special inaugural SmarTrip cards but they are encouraging everyone to walk. Maybe I'll buy some special inaugural boots and slap Obama's face on it. The original Obamaboot. Get yours now before they run out. Run ... get it?!?!? Run.

talkingbird

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:46:08 -0500

Wait, I missed the news about bus-to-rail transfers, and don't see it on wmata's web site. What's the transfer cost?

Moose

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:35:57 -0500

Now they just need to put SmarTrip recharging stations, a la ATMS, in the CVS shops (and maybe grocery stores, too?) so folks can recharge their cards BEFORE they get on the bus and hold everyone up trying to get their wrinkled $5 bill to feed into the machine.

yonas

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:20:15 -0500

@Randy: Hahaha! That was a pretty pathetic trolling attempt. Better luck next time?

Randy

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:15:50 -0500

Bush may be a screw-up, but at least he did SOMETHING, like kill terrorists. The economy will come back unlike those shi*head terrs.

hillvada

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:12:40 -0500

I bought a special commemorative Metro pass for the Clinton's first innauguration, so this is nothing new. I do think that using Obama's face, rather than just the presidential or innaugural seal (as was done in the past) is a bit much. However, I have given up complaining about Obama hagiography.

monkeyrotica

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:04:35 -0500

Yeah, good luck with that. A Bush SmarTrip card would magically transform your wallet into a defecit sinkhole. And when you go to complain, WMATA arrests you and does the extraordinary rendition to the "GitMo of the District," Swampoodle. For your own safety, of course. The safety is also cursed. Now, I could totally get behind a Cheney SmarTrip card, just because it would make a cool sound on my bicycle spokes and has a gigantic wang.

stmove

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:01:00 -0500

I would like a McCain 08 card. I would take it out of my wallet just to hear the sound of his little face slapping the circle every time I go through the gate would be nice. Slap!

yonas

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:53:54 -0500

We definitely need a "Goodbye Bush, Thanks for Fucking Up Our Country" SmartTrip card.

monkeyrotica

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:53:21 -0500

So for $20, you get a card with NO value on it, apart from the President's face? Or for a mere $10, you get a card with $5 loaded on it? Why can't they sell a $50 card that has a negative balance of $20 that can only be paid for in shekels, zlotys, livestock, or a human pineal gland? SmartRIPOFF!

Politburo

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:51:06 -0500

Martin: That was more or less what I thought when they announced the card. Cause you know if they pull it out in 2012, they're going to demand a Palin card...

Kev29

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:51:02 -0500

They had special Inaugural One Day Metrorail passes in 2005. Probably just paper as SmartTrip wasn't as prevalent. This is pretty common practice for WMATA - even had a special Nats SmartTrip for Opening Night/new stadium.

welles

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:48:27 -0500

I won't be getting one of these.

Henry Krinkle

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:47:04 -0500

I might buy a few Obama cards and try to sell them on eBay in a couple of months.

Martin Austermuhle

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:43:58 -0500

I just bought an Obama SmarTrip card because I needed one and because it's way better than the normal design, but it does beg the question...why now, and why Obama? I understand how historic his election is, but I guess it seems a little overtly partisan for Metro to be putting his face on a SmarTrip card. (This is bound to piss off some Republican on the Hill.) Why not MLK? Lincoln? Any number of other historic figures? And why not start a whole line of commemorative SmarTrip cards like the popular 50 State Quarters program?

Caro13

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:41:31 -0500

Bus-to-rail transfers, here we come!

monkeyrotica

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:41:29 -0500

Maybe they can print his birth certificate on it so the crazies will STFU.

yonas

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:37:57 -0500

Commemorative Barack Obama SmartTrip cards?! LOL! Capitalism at its finest.