My issues with Smartrip and eliminating transfers

[Tritransit Area]

I saw 4399 again on the K6.  A suburban.  I'm wondering if this is interlined with an express bus route, because this isn't the first time I saw this bus in service on this route.  I think it was around the same time I rode it on the route as well!

Also, after many embarrassing moments and sheepish grins today while attempting to use my Smartrip on the bus (like holding up an entire C2 busload of people at Wheaton), I finally figured out how to get mine to work!  I think I was tapping it the wrong way, holding it down for too long.  If I hold it horizontally and barely touch the target, I'm welcomed with a beep.  I must say that Smartrips read much better at the Metrorail turnstiles, though.

So, no need to buy a new one, although I just purchased an Obama Smartrip card as a collectible...just wanted to share that with those who witnessed my Smartrip issues today, lol.

I don't know what your issues were, but I've also found that my Smartrip is registered faster on Metrorail than on Metrobus.  I've also discovered that other cards can cause problems for Smartrip (Smartrip wouldn't register at all when my Oyster from London was in my wallet for a few days after I got back from Europe in June), so it helps to have Smartrip near the outside of your wallet, or to remove it entirely.

Wow, that's a good point - are you referring to general storage of the Smartrip or just when I'm about to use it?  Nowadays, on the buses, I just take it out of my wallet and scan it, since it seems to work better that way.

Today on the [Ride On] 10, though, I did notice that another gentleman was having issues with scanning the card.  He had taken the card out of the wallet.

Just from my observations riding transit, however, I'm really concerned with the fact in less than a couple weeks, the elimination of transfers is going to take effect.  Here are some serious issues I've been finding.

1) In my travels on this trip, I've noticed that a few Smartrip readers just weren't working (was waved on before I had a chance to tap) or the boxes were essentially dead.  These machines aren't THAT old...

2) I find it somewhat alarming that with transfers about to go out the door in a couple of weeks, it seems like the majority of riders (or at least a heck of a lot of them) are still paying cash fares.  I think it has a bit to do with cost and getting the Smartrip out there.  CVS was a start, but they need to continue to push those Smartrips into neighborhood supermarkets and maybe post offices too - places where everyone has to go.  Plus, recognizable "Smartrip" logos should be placed in visible locations on these stores, so people know where to buy/reload cards.

Also, they should really consider offering the Smartrip at no cost for a limited amount of time, especially for those lower income riders that rely on these transfers.  I think it was noted somewhere that some riders don't have these cards because they balk at the price of $5 for a card which has no value.  Even lowering the price may help.

Yes, the cards have been out for a while now, but I think that WMATA has been doing too little to get these cards out there (outside of Metrorail, of course), and there will be major issues/meltdown when the transfers disappear.

But I imagine they thought of that...hopefully...

[79MetroExtraMD]

Metro has mail-in applications to get a Smartrip card for free. I've seen them on buses. I should grab some and just hand them out to people. That would help in reducing the burden for some. As for those paying with cash, they really need either Weekly passes or the card itself. They ride the bus every single day and pay with cash. If you are a frequent rider, then people should consider getting a Smartrip card or a flash pass. 11 dollars is the cheapest in the region and with the new transfer period extending to 3 hours, that gives plenty of time to ride on a single transfer without paying an extra 1.25. They need to target those people paying with cash aggressively to push them to get the card to have that transfer advantage otherwise they'll be wasting their money just paying for a one-way ride.

[Antozilla]

Those paying cash should pay more due to the added costs of handling cash.  They also slow the rest of us down

[79MetroExtraMD]

Those paying cash should pay more due to the added costs of handling cash.  They also slow the rest of us down

They pay 1.35 while the rest of us with Smartrip pay 1.25. It really inconveniences people with Smartrip having to wait for someone paying with cash because you can't tap the target until the transaction clears. Hopefully, after the 4th, things will get a bit easier.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

I agree with you Brandon, it is extremely difficult to get the cards, especially since they've been in use for almost 10 years now.  In London, they have machines at all stations that vend empty Oyster cards that can then immediately be filled.  Oysters can also be purchased at neighborhood convenience stores or online.  There should be a Smartrip vending machine in every station, and the CVS program is only a few years too late.

Offering Smartrip for free for a limited time isn't exactly fair to those of us who had to pay 5 dollars for it.  However, I believe Chicago has made the cards free around the times of fare increases sand had a way of refunding people who had paid to buy their cards. 

I'm not sure what envelopes Ken is referring to, because WMATA is not handing out Smartrips for free.  WMATA did give a supply of Smartrips to social service agencies that the agencies could distribute on their own using their own criteria, WMATA isn't taking care of that.  As to how many people know that the social service agencies are doing that I do not know.  The overall public outreach effort for this upcoming change, in my opinion, has been quite poor.

[Tristan]

There are applications on buses but I don't think the cards are free, you probably have to give them a credit card # or slip a check in the envelope.

[Tritransit Area]

Those paying cash should pay more due to the added costs of handling cash.  They also slow the rest of us down

They pay 1.35 while the rest of us with Smartrip pay 1.25. It really inconveniences people with Smartrip having to wait for someone paying with cash because you can't tap the target until the transaction clears. Hopefully, after the 4th, things will get a bit easier.

Back when I used to get daypasses with the new machines on the buses, I found it very difficult to insert money, particularly the dollar bills.  In fact, I lost a dollar bill due to a faulty box...it didn't register and of course, the driver couldn't see it like with the old boxes, so I ended up paying 4 dollars for a daypass rather than $3.

Fortunately, they put that little cover thing over the coin slot to make it easier to insert dollar bills, but still...

I never really liked the new GFI boxes anyway, even the ones without targets that print out the passes.  You have to go to the far right corner of the box to slide the pass through.  IIRC, the Smartrip boxes have this corner slot as well for some reason.

Despite all the preparation for changes, I think that WMATA should work on the public outreach of the Smartrip program and hold off canceling transfers for a while.  I dunno about WMATA, but when SEPTA tried to abolish transfers, it apparently had extras to go around after then cut-off date when it was dealing with the lawsuit from the city.

[79MetroExtraMD]

There are applications on buses but I don't think the cards are free, you probably have to give them a credit card # or slip a check in the envelope.

Yeah. I looked it through. The bus advert inserts are a bit misleading. They give the impression that you can mail in for a free card. One odd thing I noted about the application, the mailing address is in Baltimore.