Traffic & Transit
Metro Urges Customers To Replace Old SmarTrip Farecards
Starting March 1, old SmarTrip cards will no longer be accepted at fare vending machines in stations, bus fareboxes and parking facilities.
WASHINGTON, DC — Metro is nearing the halfway mark in its program to install new faregates at its stations across the D.C. area, the transit system announced Wednesday. The new faregates, along with new fareboxes on Metrobuses, will make it easier for customers to tap and pay for their rides.
The transit system said it expects to complete the fare modernization program by late 2022. The new faregates and fareboxes come with technology upgrades that will allow customers to use mobile pay on Apple iOS and Android.
The faregates getting replaced are more than 25 years old, making them more difficult to repair due to parts that have become obsolete, Metro said. The new faregates will also be faster.
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Metro is planning to phase out older SmarTrip cards purchased prior to 2012 because they contain outdated chip technology that does not work with the new faregates being installed at Metro stations.
Beginning March 1, the old farecards will no longer be accepted at fare vending machines in stations, fareboxes on buses, parking facilities and retail locations. Also, starting Feb. 7, customers will not be able to add value to old cards online.
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Metro already has begun to discontinue the ability to add money to the old cards at fare vending machines in all stations currently with new faregates. Labels will be added to indicate which machines no longer process the old cards.
“We encourage customers to replace their old SmarTrip cards today and not to wait,” Metro General Manager and CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a statement Wednesday.
Customers can replace their old farecards by mail, online, phone, or in person, and transfer any balance to a new or existing SmarTrip card or virtual card through SmarTrip mobile pay for iOS and Android.
Customers should check the serial number on the back of the SmarTrip card. If the serial number does not start with “0167,” it needs to be replaced.
Metro has a SmarTrip Card Replacement webpage that offers instructions on how to replace old cards or transfer balances to another card.
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