If there was one thing we knew for sure about the proposed reform which would have forbidden riders to exit the Metrorail system with a negative balance on their SmarTrip card, it’s that pretty much everyone thought it was a terrible idea. There were questions about what was wrong with the current system, how riders were supposed to exit if they carried a negative balance if they weren’t carrying any cash for the cash-only in-station fare machines, long backups at said fare machines during rush hour — there was even one person who suggested that the change might even push people back to using paper farecards so that they knew they weren’t dipping into the negative. The idea was derided from Glenmont to Franconia-Springfield and everywhere in between.

But maybe WMATA was listening. Or perhaps they just took a look at their revenue reports.

According to a report in The Examiner this morning, the transit agency is thinking about rolling back those reforms, leaving the price of SmarTrip cards at $5 and keeping things just the way they were. Citing the sizable backlash to the plan — and the fact that doing away with allowing negative balances could cost WMATA $1 million per month in revenue — Metro’s deputy general manager Carol Dillon Kissal told the Metro Riders’ Advisory Council that WMATA is developing new ideas.

WMATA officials will present alternatives to the SmarTrip reforms at a finance committee meeting on September 16, and the Board of Directors is expected to formally address the matter at its board meeting on September 30.