How is a one time visitor supposed to travel around the DC Area?

[Tritransit Area]

An associate of mine went to DC for a day trip and was quite disappointed that there was  no daypass or even transfers for WMATA any longer.  This brings me to this question.  What is a one time visitor, who really would have no use for a $5 Smartrip, supposed to do if he wants to ride around the area?  Are there any special tourist passes out there sold at Visitor's Bureas that a tourist can go to?

WMATA really should bring back such a pass, even if the price is jacked up to 6 dollars.  It would be best to have a combo Metrorail/Metrobus/Circulator pass.  I'd imagine this would be a concern...I mean, were the daypasses rarely used when they did exist?

[79MetroExtraMD]

An associate of mine went to DC for a day trip and was quite disappointed that there was  no daypass or even transfers for WMATA any longer.  This brings me to this question.  What is a one time visitor, who really would have no use for a $5 Smartrip, supposed to do if he wants to ride around the area?  Are there any special tourist passes out there sold at Visitor's Bureas that a tourist can go to?

WMATA really should bring back such a pass, even if the price is jacked up to 6 dollars.  It would be best to have a combo Metrorail/Metrobus/Circulator pass.  I'd imagine this would be a concern...I mean, were the daypasses rarely used when they did exist?

I've never really seen any tourists with daypasses riding the buses. The majority of them would ride the rail and get the rail day pass. Most regular riders would probably get them to not get short transfers or would get them on the side whenever they ran out of transfers. I once found a book of day passes at Twinbrook and used that to ride around (albeit it was the evening). For me, I just use my MARC monthly for Metrobus and Ride On and my CharmCard for the rail.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

I also don't see tourists with day passes for the train, it is easier to just walk between sites than it is to take the Metro enough times to justify the cost of a pass. 

A joint rail/bus/Circulator pass is an interesting idea, but with the trains at capacity during PM rush during tourist season, does WMATA want to possibly advocate for more tourists to be riding the trains for short trips that they could otherwise walk? 

[WayneNYC]

I guess they can walk if the places they want to visit are relatively close.  In October 2009 I had folks (3 of them) in town who wanted to see The White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, "Exorcist Stairs" in Georgetown, National Cathedral, and eat at Ben's Chili Bowl.  There was no way they were going to walk to all of those places.  My wife and I used our Smartrip cards and we purchased a farecard for one person and made sure we had extra change and singles for bus trips.  It turned out we were a bit lucky in that we have 2 extra Smartrip cards as I had purchased 2 of the Obama Inauguration Smartrip cards.  Had there been a day pass I would've certainly purchased them for our guests.  The next day we piled into my wife's SUV drove around to various places.     

[Nabinut]

Funny this topic has come up as I visited DC yesterday and only spent $8.75 ($6.00 was on the B30) and rode 11 buses and 1 train. So for as little as a $1.25, a person can get around town all day.

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

Funny this topic has come up as I visited DC yesterday and only spent $8.75 ($6.00 was on the B30) and rode 11 buses and 1 train. So for as little as a $1.25, a person can get around town all day.

yeah that's why I love SmarTrip. although...isn't the smartrip fare like $1.45 or something? I lost track after all those fare hikes.

and yeah I really wish they brought back the one day bus passes, I know I can get them on Ride On, but it's really annoying being denied by Metrobus drivers (especially in DC and VA) because they think if they don't sell them anymore, then they don't accept them either.

if someone were to visit for like a week or so, the best thing would be to buy a weekly pass.

[Nabinut]

It's $1.50 but a free transfer from the B30 in both directions.

[Flxible]

I'm going with the Smartrip on this one.  It's accepted anywhere in DC/MD/VA, you can reload it at your leisure...and if you're like me and plan to visit again on occasion, it's nice to know that stored value is right in your wallet whenever you'll need it. 

[Tritransit Area]

Yeah, Flxible, I bought my Smartrip card 5 or 6 years ago (primarily for easy and fast Metrorail access, then for the buses when the paper passes disappeared) because I knew I'd be back in the DC Area to use the system from time to time.  That's also why I have a PATCO FREEDOM Card and a New York MTA Metrocard with value.

I just find it hard to convince someone to justify spending $5 for a pass (with no value) if they are coming from VERY far away (like out of the country or the west coast) for a very short trip and likely won't be returning anytime soon.  It's almost a deterrent to use public transport to get around town (which should be encouraged if you can't walk there).

Thanks for your tips and ideas, though!  Do the fareboxes have the ability to print passes like other similar boxes?

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

Thanks for your tips and ideas, though!  Do the fareboxes have the ability to print passes like other similar boxes?

yes, the fareboxes do have a small slot where passes can be printed from, and a small slit in the upper right corner where you can slide the magnetic strip of the pass, but apparently WMATA doesn't use them. I know this because the South Florida buses have the exact same fareboxes, but instead of having cards like smartrip, they use this printed pass thing.
I don't think it would kill WMATA to bring back the 1-day pass, it would especially work better with the magnetic strip slider thing because you can tell from that whether or not the pass is valid, so it would actually save as opposed to waste money.

[Tritransit Area]

Oh yes, I've seen card printers on other fareboxes of the same model - I just wasn't sure if WMATA actually had one because I think they are an older version of that model?

Printing the passes would be great and save on those books of paper.  You wouldn't have to buy more paper than needed (i.e, throw out the extra).  Link it up to the Metrorail Daypass somehow and your golden.  It's time for WMATA to be one system.  So fare, for some reason, the rail and bus division are only linked the Smartrip (I think they got rid of the transfer machines at the stations, right?)

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Yes, the transfer machines have been removed.