After a certain point, the paper tickets should be considered to be a tourist tax, and the price disparity increased to fares of $2/bus ride, $3-$6/metro ride. The tourists will pay (the demand for touring DC is price inelastic relative to intracity transit costs; people price out hotels and airfare), and it's hard to imagine they'd consider renting a car to be a better deal...

-RS

by RS on May 6, 2009 10:29 am  

Short of giving smarttrip cards away, which there are good reasons for not doing, what else can they do? There's some segment(s) of the population that either doesn't want a card because they fear they'll lose it (or it's otherwise inconvenient) or can't afford to put more than 1 fare on a card at a time, so they have no interest in it.

by ah on May 6, 2009 10:30 am  

@ah, I talked to someone from Metro that used to give Smartrip cards away personally. He found a lot of them in the trash later on.

by Michael Perkins on May 6, 2009 11:00 am  

How about priority boarding for SmarTrip customers?

How many times have you stood outside the bus in the rain with your SmarTrip card at the ready while someone pays with nickels?

Change the boarding structure so that SmarTrip riders get to board first. It's the path with the least net delay for all customers. Plus it makes SmarTrip customers more likely to get a seat.

Ok, that was tongue-in-cheek. I know there's no way to enforce that, although just last week I stood in the rain while someone paid using enough coins that they must have been nickels.

Why not make every 10th trip with a SmarTrip free? You don't have to have 10 trips loaded to get the discount, just use of the card. With the computer programming, you could limit the eligible number of added trips to 1 every 6 hours to keep people from just passing the same card around.

It would still be an incentive to dispense with the cash.

by Matt' on May 6, 2009 11:24 am  

I understand the advantages for metro if everybody used smartrip, but why would you punish infrequent riders with higher prices? Cash is legal tender folks. If you sell a product you have to accept it.

Smartrip has one enormous disadvantage for consumers that metro never talks about. You pay *ahead of time*, which means you turn from a potential customer, that metro needs to be nice too, to a liability, where metro has an advantage to gain if you do *not* use your balance.

by Jasper on May 6, 2009 11:30 am  

I think that a tourist tax on paper is smart, but I still know people at school who pay with cash (in the few times that I've taken the bus), I guess because they are afraid of losing it. However, being able to add value online will definitely make Smartrip a more attractive sell.

by Alex on May 6, 2009 11:35 am  

Jasper -- there are plenty of rewards for frequent use, including Metro's now discarded 10% bonus on $20 farecards and EZPass toll discounts. It's not necessarily "punishment". That said, I don't think that charging higher prices to cash customers on buses would be the best PR.

Has Metro figured out why people don't use SmartTrip on buses? Why not hire some firm to do a survey. Sit on a bus, and every person who pays with cash is asked 4-6 questions about using smarttrip, if they know about it, and why they don't. It may reveal what's needed to push use.

by ah on May 6, 2009 11:42 am  

Matt's idea of priority boarding isn't so far fetched. Install a SmarTrip reader at the back door of the bus and allow SmarTrip people to board there, while requiring people paying cash to board at the front. Threaten people with a fine if they try to board without paying - if the fine is stiff enough, you wouldn't even need to enforce it very often.

I also like the idea of raising the cash fares, say, to $2 on a regular bus and $5 on an express bus.

by Johanna on May 6, 2009 11:44 am  

Metro has been promising these enhancements "real soon now" since the smartcard was introduced.

by kenf on May 6, 2009 12:32 pm  

@ ah: Of course it's punishement for not paying cash. These "rewards" are advertised as incentives for people to use the electronic option. BTW: EZPass is less bad, because it's not pre-paid.

@ Johanna: Go to Europe and see how far people will go for a free ride. You can all be very happy here that the US is a fairly polite country in that aspect.

by Jasper on May 6, 2009 12:51 pm  

@Jasper, it's not "punishment" ("a penalty for wrongdoing"). Economically speaking, it's price discrimination, which allows a seller to charge different prices for essentially the same good or service. It's a perfectly acceptable pricing scheme in other contexts (coupons, reward cards, airline tickets, etc). If some people are less elastic with respect to price (tourists, those unwilling to get a $5 card that's reusable), it makes sense to charge them more.

And EZ Pass is pre-paid, or at least so my account statement tells me. I put money in account, EZ Pass deducts on use. Same as Metro.

by Michael Perkins on May 6, 2009 12:58 pm  

Most of all, I'd like a pass that combines the short trip rail & bus together (& an all-rail & bus)- that way I wouldn't have to choose which mode to take, I'd always be able to catch the most convenient service at the time.

by james on May 6, 2009 12:59 pm  

Does London count as Europe? Because on some of the bus routes there, they do exactly what I suggested (allow Oyster card riders to board through the rear doors) and it works out fine, as far as I can tell.

Actually, in my experience, "honor system" type payment schemes seem to be far more common on transit systems in Europe than on ones in the US. For example, on the intercity trains in the UK, it often happens that nobody checks your ticket going in, going out, or while you're on the train. Sure, there are probably some people who game the system to get free rides, but it does not appear to be a big problem - at least, not so big that it offsets the increase in efficiency.

by Johanna on May 6, 2009 1:05 pm  

@Johanna I heartily endorse honor systems. They allow for much better station designs, interfere with passengers less, allow for much simpler technology for fare collection, etc.

by Michael Perkins on May 6, 2009 1:07 pm  

Of course, if WMATA can't enforce the no-eating rules, what are the chances they could enforce an honor system for ticketing?

As for discount/penalty for cash, more than price discrimination there's a fair argument that it costs metro less to handle fares electronically than with cash. Someone has to bag all those nickels.

by ah on May 6, 2009 1:23 pm  

Actually, I wonder whether some people gaming the system for free rides wouldn't increase the overall efficiency of our transportation network. Metro runs mostly-empty trains all of the time. Would having a handful of non-paying riders be that bad if they were people who otherwise would not take the subway? Would the possibility of getting by without a fine by a control officer (a risky bet, but one people make) make people not drive places?

If that meant cars being 2% fuller with ride-thieves and the roads emptier it could be a boon. Might be wrong, but I wonder if you could run actual numbers to see where freeloaders become a burden.

by цarьchitect on May 6, 2009 1:38 pm  

@ah, I think they'd have difficulty with at least the appearance of discriminatory practice. They might even have a problem with assaults of fare verifiers. They already have a problem with bus driver assaults, and the bus drivers don't currently have authority to slap you with a ticket.

There's also a lot of potential for jurisdictional infighting if you were to start this process (why are you ganging up on "my" riders as opposed to theirs).

Additionally, WMATA is a fairly conservative organization and doesn't like to "upset the apple cart" so to speak unless there's really a clear and convincing benefit that can be proven.

The benefits I've seen for systems abroad have basically been that your stations are "gate-less", they just have a red line painted on the ground, and if you're inside the line it's presumed you have paid the fare and can prove it. This went for underground metro stations as well as for larger tram stops too. Made for very quick boarding of buses and trams because you could get on at any door and use the validator. Most of these systems I saw a lot of photo id passes. My wife had one for Madrid that was good for the whole year (imagine that, pay once [it was around $500] and all of your transit is free for the rest of the year).

by Michael Perkins on May 6, 2009 1:44 pm  

Hey, not to be a one-tune band, but any chance we can get the Farragut Virtual Tunnel idea back on the radar with these upgrades to SmarTrip? Who is in charge, and are they aware of the idea/opportunity to integrate this transfer in?

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=1368

by Steve on May 6, 2009 1:49 pm  

Put blue add fare machines near the bus waiting areas at stations so I don't have to go all the way into the bowels of the station to add money. Yes, I know it can be done on the bus, but that's about as fast as standing behind a family of tourists paying with nickels.

Also, put a hole in the card so it can fit on lanyards with all the other card keys I have to carry around.

by other side of the river on May 6, 2009 1:51 pm  

#honorsystem

They use the honor system on the Houston light rail. I was on a car that was checked once. There were two or three officers, and they detained one person who was trying to ride for free. The penalty is $50 I think, so it's a fairly big risk to try to free ride. Having several officers work together would reduce the likelihood of assault. Also, they blocked all the doors simultaneously at a station stop, so no one could try to sneak out another door.

by Steve O on May 6, 2009 1:54 pm  

Not so sure that would work, цarьchitect. During rush hour it's likely that enforcement would be more difficult (how can an inspector get through the car?), so I suspect the freeloaders would be most likely then, which would only exacerbate crowing.

As for driving comparison, I think a better one is to speeding. Every speeder risks a fine of a decent amount. Yet nearly everybody speeds (to greater or lesser degree). In part that's because the risk of getting caught is relatively low, since "everybody" does it. If everyone else is not paying a fare, why should you pay either? You're a chump for doing so, and besides the fare officer will be busy writing tickets to the other guy.

by ah on May 6, 2009 2:01 pm  

Ah,

You are correct that it would be difficult to move through a car during rush hour. However, there are solutions.

When I was last on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in New Jersey, I was kontrolled off-vehicle. Everyone has to buy a ticket for this honor-based system. However, no one came through my car. As I exited, at the last stop, Hoboken Terminal, a major transfer point to commuter trains, a line of 5 or 6 transit police officers stood across the entrance point to the station. Everyone had to show a card. This didn't slow down the crowd anymore than faregates do here. Anyone in violation would be asked to wait until the train's passenger load had cleared. They would then be ticketed.

by Matt' on May 6, 2009 2:06 pm  

Matt -- out of curiosity, are the fares zoned? Because I imagine that would complicate things, as the enforcement has no way to know where you're getting on.

Anyway, I don't mean to pooh-pooh the idea--I've seen it work in Europe--it's just that I don't have much faith in the honesty of americans and don't find the faregates to be that much of an encumbrance while assuring me that everyone has paid their fare.

by ah on May 6, 2009 2:13 pm  

@ Michael Perkins: I stand corrected on EZpass. Didn't know it was pre-paid. However, punishment, price-discrimination, poteyto, potahto.

It's a perfectly acceptable pricing scheme in other contexts (coupons, reward cards, airline tickets, etc).

No, it is not. It is not because it punishes/price-discriminates you for using legal tender, the form of government-provided money as opposed to a company-provided, fine print riddled form of credit.

That is fundamentally different from coupons, discounts and other variable pricing schemes. They are independent from the form of payment.

To illustrate my point. It is one of the very few consumer protection rules that the credit card industry enforces itself on their merchants. Merchants are not allowed to charge credit-card-paying customers more than cash-paying customers.

@ ah: there's a fair argument that it costs metro less to handle fares electronically than with cash

This is true for all cash transactions. Should we just abolish cash, and get seperate pre-paid cards for every single merchant you deal with? No, that's what we have cash for. It is a false argument. By pre-paying, you turn from a potential customer, that needs to be treated nicely, to a liability. If you look as the way customers are treated in industries where pre-paying is common (gift cards, airlines, phone cards), you can clearly see that pre-payment leads to defunct customer service. If yo upre-pay for a service, there is no incentive for the manufacturer to treat you well anymore. They have the money, they have the power. Furthermore, it's pretty annoying to customers that I now have to carry my pre-paid metro card, my pre-paid employer card, my pre-paid parking card, a credit card, and cash. [I don't like this argument, but it's very true] Every form of pre-payment is bad for the poor.

@ Johanna: No, unfortunately, the UK doesn't count, because they have the same anglosaxon politeness that Americans have, which is one of those things that makes the Brits so different from continental Europeans. The Parisian metro system has had to go to NY style man-high turn-styles because freeloaders would simply jump over the old DC-style turn-styles. Rotterdam is building turn-styles in all of their metro stations because the general public was getting too discontent with the high number of non-paying riders in buses, trams and metro there.

@ Architect: Might be wrong, but I wonder if you could run actual numbers to see where freeloaders become a burden.

Freeloaders are thieves. No reason to accommodate them.

by Jasper on May 6, 2009 2:37 pm  

will we be able to load the 7-day unlimited metro pass on the smartrips also? I'm talking about the $39 cards that are good for unlimited trips anywhere in a 7-day period

by Mark on May 6, 2009 2:40 pm  

Jasper -- I don't think the credit card example really works, since their rule of "same as cash" pricing is designed to ensure merchants don't pass the interchange fees on to customers, which would hurt the credit card business.

I'm not sure the customer service/prepay connection is a strong one. Most of those industries have repeat customers. How many customers can't figure out that if the service is bad the first time maybe they shouldn't go back? Airlines keep getting business because people would prefer to pay less and get less service. Metro has the same repeat play issue--people aren't going to keep using it if service falls below some level.

by ah on May 6, 2009 2:45 pm  

@ ah: Metro and airlines do have the same repeat-customer trap. Customers do not have a viable alternative. If you want to get from DC to LA, there is only one reasonable way: flying. If you live in Vienna, and need to get to downtown DC, there is only one viable way in rush-hour: metro. However low customer service gets, people will come, because they do not have a viable alternative.

I can go on about this, but then we're getting too far away from the original subject. That debate rages on on the Consumerist.

by Jasper on May 6, 2009 3:21 pm  

Jasper, accommodation is not what I'm after. I merely wondered out loud whether the practically unavoidable moocher would secretly benefit the general transportation situation.

One complaint against it would probably be based in some perception of inefficiency, so if there were hidden efficiencies, they would be great to argue with, legal and ethical issues aside.

by цarьchitect on May 6, 2009 3:25 pm  

I hate to say this, but Metro is always late in implementing ideas. The concept of checking recent trips online or auto-reloading your balance are practices already in use on other transit systems around the world - notably the London Underground.

by Arch on May 6, 2009 3:27 pm  

@Jasper,

I don't fly Aitran anymore. I did it once, from San Francisco to Atlanta. Never again. But I still fly. You see, while Airtran mistreated me, other airlines aren't too awful.

However, Metro does have a monopoly on the transit market, to some degree. Every jurisdiction that Metro serves also has its own transit service, even little Falls Church. So even people like me, who are transit dependent, have some options, although none so viable as Metro.

I still see no problem with Metro charging a discount for an activity it wants to encourage. After all, the government does the same things for marriage and homeownership.

Use of SmarTrip speeds bus boarding. Faster bus boarding means faster trips. Faster trips mean fewer vehicles needed and less gas used idling. Fewer vehicles and less gas means less expense for Metro - and that's good.

SmarTrip also speeds travel times for all passengers. Even those paying with cash. Because SmarTrip does have a downpayment, it would not pick up users unless there were other advantages.

These advantages include balance protection, SmarTrip-only faregates, faster processing of payment at the faregate, rail-bus, bus-rail, and bus-bus transfers, and others.

Yet some don't use SmarTrip. A 10 cent discount on bus fares is not discriminatory. It just encourages a certain type of behavior - use of SmarTrip.

Credit Card companies do the same thing. Everytime I buy something, I get 1 Amtrak mile. I'm much more likely to use that credit card. When I spend cash, I don't earn miles.

A SmarTrip discount is the same thing. Over time, it amounts to benefits. Since SmarTrip fare on buses is $1.25 but cash is $1.35, think of your SmarTrip card earning you 1/13th of a bus trip every time you use it. Every 13th trip is free with SmarTrip.

by Matt' on May 6, 2009 3:30 pm  

@ Matt

"Use of SmarTrip speeds bus boarding. Faster bus boarding means faster trips. Faster trips mean fewer vehicles needed and less gas used idling. Fewer vehicles and less gas means less expense for Metro - and that's good."

Wrong faster trips does not mean fewer vechiles needed; does faster rail trips equal fewer trains nope.

"SmarTrip also speeds travel times for all passengers. Even those paying with cash. Because SmarTrip does have a downpayment, it would not pick up users unless there were other advantages."

I give you that but the paper passes are still faster than the smartrips, sometimes the machines mess up and you have to wave the card over many times before anything happens or the buzzing sound will occur, sometimes the machines just dont work and you have to go back to the machine so its not faster

"These advantages include balance protection, SmarTrip-only faregates, faster processing of payment at the faregate, rail-bus, bus-rail, and bus-bus transfers, and others. "

It may have been an advantage but WMATA didnt make said advantage known I knew about the plan to get rid of the transfers for the longest but had no clue about the raise the rail to bus fare to $.50 because it was not stated anywhere on brochures or the webpage they made for the new fares you had dig on the site to find it. We already had bus-bus transfers and i never ever recall them being actually using 2 hours I know I had used a smartrip card and getting on another bus before and it was after 2 hours and they never deducted $1.25 off the card.

I recall once where i was on a bus that takes over 1 hour to get from one end to the other and it broke down was almost the 2 hour limit if it was actually enforced people would have got screwed out of a transfer if they were going from one end to the other.

by Kk on May 6, 2009 3:46 pm  

@ Jasper: That example doesn't apply everywhere — for example, some gas stations charge different amounts for cash vs. credit transactions.

by Ian on May 6, 2009 3:47 pm  

KK: Faster buses absolutely mean fewer buses needed. If a bus gets to the end of the line 5 minutes early, it can turn around and head back the other way earlier. Each bus can make more trips back and forth in one day. Therefore, Metro could provide the same frequency of buses with fewer actual buses and drivers. And yes, it's the same for trains.

by David Alpert on May 6, 2009 3:55 pm  

@Kk,

Actually, faster trips require fewer buses, although the savings has to be in the several minute range to matter. E.g. saving 35 seconds doesn't matter, but saving 10 minutes over the route consistently, actually does mean fewer vehicles required, both for rail and for bus.

For instance, let's say we have a route that is 5 miles long. A bus traveling from the beginning to the end of the route takes 15 minutes. At the end, the bus lays over for 5 minutes. It then returns, taking 15 minutes to reach the start. After laying over for 5 minutes, it can repeat.

The elapsed time for this pattern is 40 minutes. If we have only one bus available, we can have headways of only 40 minutes.

Let's say we have 4 buses. They leave the terminal at 10 minute intervals, meaning 10 minute headways and wait times at each stop.

If through faster fare payment, signal priority, bus lanes, or some other innovation we reduce travel times in the corridor to only 10 minutes, we only need 3 buses to maintain 10 minute headways. Or we could use 4 buses and have headways of 7.5 minutes.

Regardless, the transit agency saves money.

by Matt' on May 6, 2009 4:00 pm  

Good story. Many welcome changes and improvements, but why would one want to relive recent trips on Metro? Aren't those best forgotten?;)

by unsuckdcmetro on May 6, 2009 4:09 pm  

@ Matt & David

Lets say a bus such as the 70 or X2 those going faster wouldnt make for less buses; since the buses are always full it would just result in a faster trip but you would still need the same amount unless they buses can actually fit more.

It may a fact for some buses but it wouldnt fit into the situation of some buses due to the amount of people and depending on if there are wheelchairs and blind users some buses have more disabled users than others so saying it would make the buses faster is not 100% true, it can be 100% but not always.

by Kk on May 6, 2009 4:36 pm  

I'm guessing the 5$ cost of the SmarTrip card has to do w/ the possibility of negative fares, but it does seem to be a sticking point for some. The card itself cant cost more than 25cents.

I also wonder what the cost of accepting cash on the buses is. How much cheaper could a SmarTrip only bus be in capital costs?

by shy on May 6, 2009 4:37 pm  

@Kk,

Buses have a fixed capacity. There are only so many seats, and beyond that so much standing room. On a regular 40', non-articulated bus, the capacity, according to WMATA, is around 70 (it varies from model to model). On an articulated bus, like those operated on the X2 and 70s lines, the capacity is around 100.

If we assume that the example I cited earlier uses 60' articulated buses with a crush capacity of 100, the scenario where the trip takes 15 minutes means that in one hour, the 4 buses go southbound 6 times in one hour (1 every 10 minutes). This means that under scenario 1, 600 transit "seats" are available in each direction.

Under the second scenario, where trips are reduced to 10 minutes, using the same number of buses (4), the headways are reduced to 7.5 minutes. This means that every hour, in each direction, there are 8 trips. This means that there are 800 "seats" available to riders.

So even though the buses didn't get larger, the same number of buses can serve stops more frequently resulting in a net gain of 200 places for transit riders. If the supply of riders is infinite, this won't matter. The buses will still be crush-load. However, if there are only 600 riders, each bus will be less than 100% full.

Now, on to your second point.

Handicapped boarding does take longer. However, those passengers are going to be boarding whether everyone else uses SmarTrip or no one uses SmarTrip. Therefore, if we save time with 90% (or even just 10%) of passengers, we're still saving time.

Let's assume (for argument's sake) that it takes someone paying with cash on average 20 seconds to board. Someone in a wheelchair takes 60 seconds. Someone with SmarTrip takes only 10 seconds. (I know that the real times may be different, but I like round numbers).

SCENARIO 1:

Under a scenario where at one stop 6 people board, all able-bodied, cash-paying customers, the bus stops for 2 minutes.

At the next stop one wheelchair user boards. This stop takes 1 minute.

We're now up to 3 minutes of stopped time.

SCENARIO 2:

Under this scenario, 6 able-bodied, SmarTrip-paying customers board. This time, it only takes 1 minute (instead of 2).

At the next stop, a wheelchair-bound customer boards, still taking 1 minute.

This time our stopped time totals only 2 minutes.

A savings of boarding time for any passengers, and especially a bunch of them, saves time. Whether or not other people still take a long time to board.

by Matt' on May 6, 2009 4:55 pm  

Whether or not faster buses increase overall system capacity isn't the sole advantage.

Faster buses get people there faster, and reduce all passengers' waiting time. That alone provides better value for whatever fare is charged.

Unfortunately, other than either preferential queuing (which would have real enforcement problems) or a rear-door smart-trip-only entry, buses pose a problem not posed by rail, where multiple faregates can be used. It doesn't seem like there's a great solution other than penalizing/rewarding people for using cash/smartrip through fares.

by ah on May 6, 2009 4:58 pm  

@ah,

I've never seen this in the United States, but in Europe (Italy, I think), I saw a bus with two sets of adjacent doors in the front. With two doors, the right door could be used for cash customers and the door to the left could be used for SmarTrip customers. This way the driver could still supervise fare payment.

And I neglected to respond to an earlier comment: No, fares on the Hudson-Bergen LRT are not zoned. WMATA's graduated fare system would be almost impossible to use with an honor system.

However, zone systems aren't too bad. In most German cities, there are zones and no faregates. You would buy a ticket that included every zone you'd be passing through. If you're kontrolled at any point, they just check the zone you're in at present. It doesn't matter where you're coming from or going to, because you don't know when you're going to be checked - to be safe, you need to have a ticket for each zone.

by Matt' on May 6, 2009 5:05 pm  

Of note is that LA is beginning to implement fare gates, starting with new construction.

by цarьchitect on May 6, 2009 5:29 pm  

The trend in the UK has been for greater ticket inspection on trains and buses combined more ticket gates at railway stations. In the cost cutting British rail era, many stations were destaffed at quieter stations and the buying of tickets was done on the train from the guard. But over time this lead to an increase in ticket evasion and increased crime in urban stations as there was no supervision on the station platform. In London many inner city stations are being gated and staffed. This mainly due to the drive to roll out the oyster card smart card to the commuter rail system.

The Oyster card has made a big difference to bus boarding times in London. At first the made it impossible to buy a ticket on a bus in Central London by installing road side ticket machines to speed up boarding. Then the price differential between cash and card began to widen. When they suddenly increased the difference to £1 bus fare on the card or £2 for cash card use increased to 95% in a couple of months. Now when you get on a bus all you here the rapid beeping of the card reader. Almost no one pays cash.

I really notice the difference in my Suburban town outside London, where it's cash only for the bus. When you stuck behind a bus at a stop for 30 seconds and can't get passed and you think 'but only two people got on'. Compared to a London bus where it pulls to side of road and is off again before you know it.

by Rational Plan on May 6, 2009 5:53 pm  

kk's analysis of bus priority is correct. Savings can be achieved by reducing running times on major lines by a just a few minutes.

Load factors can be adjusted by limited stop or express buses, keeping the overall headways the same but decreasing the loads in congested areas.

The time savings ultimately attract more riders and service has to be added back in--but that's not a bad thing.

by kreeggo on May 6, 2009 6:47 pm  

Short of giving smarttrip cards away, which there are good reasons for not doing, what else can they do? There's some segment(s) of the population that either doesn't want a card because they fear they'll lose it (or it's otherwise inconvenient) or can't afford to put more than 1 fare on a card at a time, so they have no interest in it.

THANK YOU

How about priority boarding for SmarTrip customers?

How many times have you stood outside the bus in the rain with your SmarTrip card at the ready while someone pays with nickels?

Change the boarding structure so that SmarTrip riders get to board first. It's the path with the least net delay for all customers. Plus it makes SmarTrip customers more likely to get a seat.

Ok, that was tongue-in-cheek. I know there's no way to enforce that, although just last week I stood in the rain while someone paid using enough coins that they must have been nickels.

OH MY GOD! THE HORROR!!

Cash is legal tender folks.

THANK YOU!

Has Metro figured out why people don't use SmartTrip on buses?

Doesn’t take a genius to figure this out. Most people don’t use them because they are best used when you can load lots of money onto them, and most people do not have lots of money at one time to load their smarttrip cards. Most people budget for MAX the week ahead for bus trips, and more probably two trips a day, which is what? Nearly $3. Most people are not nearly as wealthy and resource-rich as the users of this blog. I’ve said it a thousand times. Sorry.

Matt's idea of priority boarding isn't so far fetched. Install a SmarTrip reader at the back door of the bus and allow SmarTrip people to board there, while requiring people paying cash to board at the front. Threaten people with a fine if they try to board without paying - if the fine is stiff enough, you wouldn't even need to enforce it very often.

Can’t wait for the bus boycott on that one!

Put blue add fare machines near the bus waiting areas at stations so I don't have to go all the way into the bowels of the station to add money.

THANK YOU!

If you look as the way customers are treated in industries where pre-paying is common (gift cards, airlines, phone cards), you can clearly see that pre-payment leads to defunct customer service.

Not at all in my experience. No blanking way am I ever getting on a telephone (cel) monthly plan. I pre pay minutes by going into the store. I pay cash. They do it for me. Nice as can be. I have other such experiences.

There really are people who believe it or not use debit not credit cards. Up until 3 years ago, I refused to get a credit card. It’s possible. Life does go on. It really does.

by Jazzy on May 6, 2009 7:27 pm  

Wait, there are stand-alone retail SmarTrip machines? I've never seen one.

I think that having stand-alone SmarTrip fare machines would make SmarTrip use easier for bus riders, and therefor make the switch from cash a lot easier. Currently, when a bus rider wants to load more money on to his/her card, he/she has two options: 1) annoy everyone and take a half hour to refill it with cash on-board or 2) go down into a Metro station just to wait in line for one of the machines, and go back out.

Put them at major bus stops. Put them in stores. Put them near ATMs. Put them at street level at Metro stations. Put them everywhere!

by Tim on May 6, 2009 8:02 pm  

Put them at major bus stops. Put them in stores. Put them near ATMs. Put them at street level at Metro stations. Put them everywhere!

Yes. Certainly an easy (i.e., low cost) start would be to locate a few at the high-traffic downtown bus termini, like Farragut Square.

by ah on May 6, 2009 8:20 pm  

Jazzy: Being a luddite isn't a stand of principle, just fear.

Smartrips allow you to dip negative without interest charges - a useful feature for anyone who thinks $3 is a significant amount of money (which isn't most people; surely a bottle of MD20/20 or whatever is more than busfare? Anyone who's willing to waste money on that has money to burn..).

by RS on May 6, 2009 11:31 pm  

Forget low-hanging. All the fruit that's fit to eat:

Subscription-based, heavily discounted passes.

On the people subject of nickels - meh. All the more reason to eliminate the nickel - which until the recession could actually be melted down for a profit.

by Squalish on May 7, 2009 6:14 am  

Jazzy: Being a luddite isn't a stand of principle, just fear.

You're a real sweetheart.

by Jazzy on May 7, 2009 7:40 am  

@ RS: Smartrips allow you to dip negative without interest charges

It had better! The whole thing is a freakin' interest free-loan to metro! Individually, this is not something to worry about, but with 300.00 riders, that's a lot of money that metro gets in the first few days of the month.

by Jasper on May 7, 2009 11:33 am  

I wonder if this is the next step in being able for the Smartrip cards to be compatible with the MTA Maryland fare system, which has the option for daily, weekly, monthly passes. They have upgraded the entire system for the Maryland Transit Pass smart card since 2006, but haven't implemented it yet

by Chris on May 8, 2009 9:35 am