FREE RIDE

SmarTrip Cards Available at More Giant Stores

Courtesy WMATAIN AN EFFORT TO INCREASE the use of its SmarTrip electronic fare cards, Metro has expanded sales of the $5 cards to 26 Giant supermarkets across the area. Only a handful of Giant stores sold the cards previously, and beyond that, the only place to secure the cards were at official Metro sales offices or at Metro's Web site.

A list of the stores that now offer SmarTrip cards is available at the end of this post.

General Manager John Catoe has wanted to increase the use of SmarTrip cards among commuters. While SmarTrip use is high among Metrorail users, most Metrobus riders still rely on paying individual fares and obtaining paper transfers.

As The Post's Lena H. Sun reported last month:

Sixty to 65 percent of weekday rail trips are paid with the card. Only 21 percent of the approximately 440,000 weekday bus trips are paid with SmarTrip. On any given day, about 55 percent of Metrobus riders board in the District.
Metro spends about $345,000 to print and distribute paper transfers for Metrobus.

As Metro works to close a budget deficit, the agency is considering different proposals to structure fares in a way that encourages SmarTrip use.

» Giant locations offering SmarTrip cards:

THE DISTRICT
1050 Brentwood Road, NE, Washington
1414 Eighth Street, NW, Washington
1345 Park Road, NW, Washington
3336 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington
4303 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington

MARYLAND
6524 Landover Road, Landover
7074 Allentown Road, Temple Hills
12051 Rockville Pike, Rockville
16837 Crabbs Branch Way, Derwood
5463 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase
7546 Annapolis Road, West Lanham Hill
6000 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt
7142 Arlington Road, Bethesda
3104 Queens Chapel Road, Hyattsville
3521 East-West Highway, Hyattsville
20 Audrey Lane, Oxon Hill
4119 Branch Avenue, Marlow Heights
6451 Marlboro Pike, District Heights
11221 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring
1280 East-West Highway, Silver Spring

VIRGINIA
3450 Washington Boulevard, Arlington
2901-11 South Glebe Road, Arlington
7137 Columbia Pike, Annandale
6426 Springfield Plaza, Springfield
3115 Lee Highway, Arlington
3480 South Jefferson Street, Falls Church

» EARLIER: "Metro Considers Free Farecards for Low-Income Customers" [WaPo]

Image courtesy WMATA

ALSO IN FREE RIDE
COMMENTS (4)

  • Using a farecard on the bus is exactly like that Visa commercial where everything works smoothly and efficiently until one person decides to write a check or use cash. Takes forever. While I was sad to lose the ability to pay bus fare in pennies, having folks use farecards rather than cash on the bus is a great thing.

    By Phil , Posted November 1, 2007 3:45 PM

  • So will there ever be a function to check your balance online? I don't want to hop on a bus with no cash if my card doesn't have some cash on it. Plus, I don't carry a high balance, in case it's stolen or lost...

    By adubyailkinson , Posted November 2, 2007 9:42 AM

  • I had a SmartTrip card years ago - was one of its early adopters. But my wallet was stolen back in 2005 including my SmartTrip card in it with $200 in metrofare on it!

    Was I able to retrieve my card and more importantly the $200 in metro fare? Nope! Because I did not send WMATA my password which you set up on some form AFTER you receive your SmartTrip card and you have to mail this form back to WMATA for their files. Oh well it was only $200 afterall.

    I never bothered to get another one because the customer service line at Metro Center has either been soooo awful long or flat out closed. Glad to know I can get a new SmartTrip card at the Tivoli Giant and can load it with up to $300 this time.

    KTHXBAI

    By GreenLiner , Posted November 2, 2007 5:02 PM

  • They should implement SmartCard use in Taxis.

    By Sean , Posted November 5, 2007 9:03 AM
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