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"Aaaaauuuuuugggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!," writes NBC Washington's Asha Beh, vocalizing an emotion familiar to the District: that wretched howl of frustration you scream from the far corner of your soul when you miss a train because some jerk tourist couldn't figure out how to do the SmarTrip machine. Time is money, and the minutes of your life lost behind bumbling tourists examining those fare-trip charts would buy a lot of tchotchkes. Metro, it would seem, is not unsympathetic. Officials are considering an alternative to Metro and SmarTrip cards that would draw the money directly from a rider's debit or credit card.
Further, the technology is designed to work everywhere: D.C., Philadelphia, and L.A. transit authorities are evaluating the system, while the Metro Transportation Authority in New York is testing it now and Utah's already on it. In the near future, a single bank card could be used to take the L, metro, subway, city bus, and whatever Utah has. The Post reports that the board will decide this month whether Metro will solicit proposals to implement the new system.
Designed around the uniform microchip that's standard to all credit cards, the unified transit credit system sounds a little bit one-world-government. Why wouldn't it work in Paris or London next? Does the unified transit credit move us one step closer to the dread global currency?
Photo by jcolman
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"... and whatever Utah has."
lol @ nobody caring about Utah
Unless they can figure out some way for the funds to come out of my pre-tax income, like my SmartBenefits currently do, I'm not interested.
That was the problem in New York when I was there. You could tap a Citi card and do a single-fare, but no passes and no auto-loaded benefits from your job.
No offense, but that sounds like credit card fraud schemes waiting to happen.
This is great. You get robbed and the thief doesn't even need to slow down as he uses your debit card to make his get-a-way on Metro.
Shouldn't people who live in DC have the sense to no get tripped up by jerk tourists like this? You don't need a fancy credit card turnstile. It's really not that hard...
This is exactly why I always keep rubber squeaky dog toys that look like donuts and cupcakes. Roll one past a tourist and yell, "Look! Free pastries!" and watch them rapidly waddle after them and out of my way. Works every time.
the easiest thing (that would require no change in hardware) would be just linking smart trip cards to debit or credit accounts. not that hard, DC.
Exactly. Making it possible to go online and add fare to a SmarTrip, as Metro has been promising for a long time, would make life a lot easier.
Also, what is this uniform microchip that all credit cards supposedly have? Very few credit cards these days have a microchip in them. My Amex card has one, but I've never used it.
Im sure they will pass the savings onto me!
*sarcasm
Or they could make it more like EZPass...automatic debit when your balance gets low, but it's not coming directly from your credit/check card.
The transit payment system that all others strive to match:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_card
It is hard to put in words just how awesome Hong Kong's Octopus card is.
And it's a totally anonymous, cash-based system, not this bullshit identity-theft-waiting-to-happen credit-card system that our moronic US transit officials are starting to bleat about.
God, I'd almost forgotten the shock and despair I felt upon returning to Washington's third-world transit system after experiencing Hong Kong's gleaming 21st-century subway infrastructure. I need a drink ...
1. It's not fair blaming tourists for having problems with the machines. They are not intuitive.
2. Am I the only one creeped out by the privacy issues with the whole credit card/smarttrip thing? I just can't even bring myself to register my smarttrip
The old 1-2-3/Pay-add/subtract-get card machines worked great. The ones with a dozen options and variables are a pain. But this is WMATA after all; the company that would rather make $30k on website advertisements than allow Google Maps to help ALL their customers. I can't wait for them to replace all the trains with open-top rollercoaster cars. They need to make commuting a kickass, heart-attack-inducing adventure, complete with even more cotton candy vomit.
I just hop over the faregate. Problem solved.
DC metro fares work different than most subway systems, right? The fare in DC is determined by how far you travel. The quick zap in other subway systems would just be the flat fare, but here in DC would a credit card be able to store your point of entry and exit like the Smarttrip card so it would know how much to charge? Maybe a smartchip really is smart...
awesome, can i do debit cash back while we're at it?
London already has something like this called OnePulse -- it's a combination credit card, contactless debit card for small transactions and Oyster card that automatically reloads when your balance goes down and calculates the most efficient pass for the day you use it. It also does your laundry, walks your dog and tells you when your backpack makes you more likely to be shot at by a London Underground constable.
It's like EZPass for the sensible shoes set.
Two things:
1. Usually the credit card processing on the SmarTrip machine is slower than the tourists. I've had more trouble with tourists either trying to figure out how the turnstiles work, or standing in clumps on the wrong side of the escalator.
2. Metro is thinking about food & other kiosks at the stations and now this? Seems like they could be doing more to improve the service in other non-gimmicky ways, like maybe hire real, live people to help tourists with the SmarTrip machines, turnstiles, etc?