Photo by Jordan Barab.

Photo by Jordan Barab.

Update 3:
We sent DCist’s Christina Sturdivant to check the machine at Shaw/Howard University Metro station. Here’s her account:

I added $2 to my SmarTrip card via a Visa debit card. It worked fine. Since the machines still had ‘No debit/credit’ signs on them, I told the Metro worker that I tested the machines and it’s safe to take the signs down. He said: “I just got to work and my coworker said the machines are still down. It must have only worked for you because you’re pretty and special.” Therefore, he said, “I’m going to leave the signs up just in case.”

Update 2: “It’s fixed,” says Richard Jordan, a spokesperson for Metro. Now riders can again use their credit and debit cards to pay for their Metro rides after fare machines had systemwide issues with plastic throughout the day.

“I’m hoping now that it’s fixed we can work on” making public the reason for the issues, Jordan says.

Update 1: Metro is now saying that fare machines are not accepting debit or credit cards, and only cash works. This applies to online transactions as well as the machines in stations.

Metro says that it is “still working to diagnose the cause of the equipment malfunction.”

Original: Metro machines may be paperless, but they’re having trouble accepting some plastic.

Right now, riders cannot use debit cards to pay for their rides. The issue is occurring throughout the system, says Richard Jordan, a spokesperson for Metro. “Credit cards work for $20 or less, and cash works,” he says. He did not know whether any circumstances have arisen in which riders had neither of those options, and what happened to them as a result.

Since the morning commute, riders have complained about issues with using their cards in the fare machines in a number of stations.

In the most recent survey of customer satisfaction, Metro train riders reported an average of two problems per trip.

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