Whatever Happened To . . .

Metro hardly ever launches a program without first testing it as a pilot. Sometimes, the pilots become permanent. Others never make it beyond the experiment phase. Here are updates on several pilots begun in the past two years:

Credit Card readers for exiting Metro parking lots

In April 2007, six Metro station parking lots started accepting credit card payments: Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, Shady Grove, New Carrollton, Largo Town Center, Franconia-Springfield and Anacostia. Until then, the only way to exit a lot or garage was to pay with a SmarTrip card. But tourists and other infrequent riders had complained for years that a SmarTrip-only system was inconvenient, unwieldy and unfair. (The minimum purchase for the reusable SmarTrip card is $10, including $5 for the card.)

Update: Metro officials say three additional credit card readers will be installed at the Huntington station parking lot by the end of October. The agency would like to install 33 additional credit card readers at 28 more Metro lots and garages, but that will cost $3.2 million. That $3.2 million for the credit card readers is on Metro's long list of $11.3 billion in unfunded capital needs for the 10 years beginning July 2010.

SmarTrip Express fare gates

Two years ago, Metro introduced SmarTrip-only express lanes at five stations: Anacostia, New Carrollton, Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, Bethesda and Pentagon City. The stations were chosen because 80 percent of riders using those stations pay with smart cards. Shortly before the new ballpark opened, Metro added express lanes at the Navy Yard station.

Update: Metro officials say there are no plans to expand express lanes to more stations because a significant number of riders aren't using the express lanes exclusively. At the Navy Yard station, the express lanes have been configured back to accept paper farecards (even though the signs still say SmarTrip express) because too many riders were trying to go through using paper farecards.

Carpetless rail cars

Metro officials have said for months that they want to remove carpet from inside rail cars to reduce costs and maintenance and improve appearance. It costs Metro $5,200 to replace carpet in each rail car. Metro has been testing four types of hard flooring in its newest series of rail cars to see which kinds hold up the best. (Readers of this page have favored black with speckles over black and white speckles, gray or gray with speckles).

Update: Officials say they are talking to vendors and hope to make a decision shortly.