Metro riders consider converting from paper to plastic, avoiding fare surcharge

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

I need to know what’s going on with the new $1 surcharge on the use of paper Farecards, and when it starts. I have a whole bunch of them. How do I get the most out of them when converting to SmarTrip cards?

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Pat Reed, Rockville

DG: On July 1, Metro will impose a bigger penalty on riders who use the paper Farecards, so the transit authority is also announcing some incentives to switch to the electronic SmarTrip cards.

Until the end of this month, the surcharge for using a paper card is 25 cents, although Metro tends to refer to it as the “discount” for using SmarTrip. Starting July 1, the date for all the fare changes, people who use the paper cards will pay $1 more for their regular fares than those using SmarTrip cards. Seniors and people with disabilities will be charged 50 cents more, because they get a discounted ride.

This was what the Metro board approved after first considering General Manager Richard Sarles’s proposal to go to a flat fare system for the paper cards, charging $6 for a peak-hours ride and $4 when off-peak.

For years, Metro has been waging a fairly successful campaign to shift riders from the paper cards to the rechargeable SmarTrip cards, which are easier for Metro to administer and generally easier for riders to use — as long as they don’t try to add value on a moving bus.

But charging $1 extra per ride just for choosing paper over plastic is a serious escalation of the campaign, so Metro is doing some things to make the transition easier.

The transit authority has raised the limit on the value that riders can transfer from a paper card to a SmarTrip card at a fare vending machine. It was $7. The new limit is $20. (The limit was a security measure, intended to block fraud.)

One big concern raised during the public hearings over the fare increases: If Metro is going to charge this much for paper cards, it should make the $5 SmarTrip cards easier to buy.

The transit authority says it is installing SmarTrip vending machines in all rail stations, but it won’t be done until September. Metro did announce that many stations will have them by July 1, including the top 10 stations where paper cards are sold. Among those are Foggy Bottom, Union Station, Smithsonian and Rosslyn.

People who register their SmarTrip cards can add value to them online, rather than having to do all their transactions at the station vending machines.

As of July 1, riders will be able to load one-day rail passes and 28-day rail passes onto SmarTrip cards. As of Sept. 1, Metro will offer $3 rebates to people who register their cards online. The card still will cost $5 to buy, but the $3 credit will be issued to the card five days after you first use it.

Starting in the fall, riders who have online SmarTrip accounts will be able to set up an automatic reload for their cards, which kicks in whenever the balance drops below the amount specified by the rider. This will be similar to the way some E-ZPass accounts work. The user will have to link the SmarTrip account to a credit or debit card.