A Broken SmarTrip Card Elicits Listless Response

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

I'm a regular and heretofore satisfied Metrorail user. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped on my way home at Gallery Place-Chinatown to meet a friend for dinner, and when I attempted to pass through the fare gates following my meal, none of the sensors would react to my SmarTrip card.

I attempted to get the attention of the attendant, who seemed to be having a personal conversation with some other patrons, and was eventually waved through the emergency gate without scanning my card. When I asked how I would exit at my stop, I was told, "You'll be able to get out."

This scenario repeated itself: Card doesn't work, attendant is unresponsive, and I'm waved through. While I won't complain about the free rides, it seemed like the Metro employees would do anything they could not to address the problem: my nonfunctioning card.

When I finally convinced an attendant at Rosslyn that my card had not worked in days, I was handed an orange envelope and told to mail my card in for a replacement.

When I got home to mail the card, I realized that there was a section to be filled out by the attendant at the station and the envelope, it seemed, was to be mailed from the station.

Instead, I called a phone number on the envelope and an automated answering service gave me an address to which I could mail my card with an explanation of my request. I did so sometime in the middle of last week, and I have yet to hear back from Metro.

-- John M. (Jack) Nank, Washington

A SmarTrip card can't be demagnetized, as can happen with a paper Farecard. The SmarTrip card contains a microprocessor and antenna that communicate with the fare gate or the vending machine.

Great when it works. Unfortunately, the electronics make the SmarTrip more susceptible to damage than a credit card.

Nank's card was defective, but some things are more or less under the user's control. Bend it, and it breaks. It doesn't like extreme temperatures, either. Don't leave it out in the sun for a long time, because it can warp. Intense cold makes it easier to crack.

It's starting to sound like one of our billion-dollar bombers.