The Irony of SmarTrip
I hadn't ridden the DC Metro in quite some time. I'm not sure why - I think the excessively long time it takes to actually get in to the city by Metro, even from Arlington, combined with the not-so-cheap cost usually loses to a quick drive or a more expensive cab ride. But the circumstances this last Friday made taking the Metro seem like a good idea. You can probably see where this is going, but just in case, it turns out that taking the Metro was a bad choice.
The evening started with me and a friend (we'll call her Jo-Jo) parking in the long term parking lot at the Van Dorn Metro station. When I had last ridden the metro awhile back parking at long term lots was free after 10pm any night and on weekends. If you did have to pay it was with cash upon exiting. But as of June 28th, this is no longer the case, and despite there being signage present, I didn't totally understand how things had changed (more on this later). The evening continued with about an hour long metro ride that, by car, would have taken 25 minutes. However, we didn't have to deal with driving through the city or parking in the city, so this really wasn't all that big of a deal - just annoying.
The evening was fun - music and drinks were both present - and at the end of the night, Jo-Jo and I headed home via Metro. Another hour went by (during which we realized we spent about 2 hours total on the metro and only 2.5 hours total actually enjoying our evening) and we arrived back at the Van Dorn station. We hopped in the car and drove to the gate to leave, only to find it down, and another car in front of us unable to get out. That car backed up and headed towards the station and I pulled up to the gate.
No longer. Now, weekends are still free, but during weekdays, as long as the Metro is still running, parking fees apply. Lame, but fair enough. But unlike the "old days," to pay for your parking you need what is called a SmarTrip card (the card is apparently smart enough to take your money, but not smart enough to have the correct amount of the letter "T"). A SmarTrip card is basically a plastic card that you hold on to and can put money on and use to ride the metro and pay for your parking. If the money on the card gets low, you recharge it. In theory, you buy these at any metro station through a SmarTrip kiosk. A lot of things work in theory...
So I was at the gate, when the gruff attendant "explained," through mumbles, that I needed to go back to the station because the only way out was by paying with a SmartTrip card. I quickly backed out and returned to the station. I saw the woman that was in front of me, standing at what I assume was a SmarTrip kiosk, looking perplexed. We began to discuss how we both thought parking was still free after 10pm and that we hadn't heard good things about the SmarTrip. Then she noticed that the machine wouldn't accept her credit card. By this point, the station attendant had walked over to see if he could be of assistance (this time a nice man). The woman tried to use her card again when the attendant explained that, for some reason, if you have used your credit card anywhere that day, the machine won't accept it. When I say "anywhere" I don't mean at any other station, I mean anywhere in the world. Why, he isn't sure, but he's just the messenger.
She pulled out some cash, bought her card and was on her way. Then I began my efforts to purchase a SmarTrip card. First thing I noticed is that your only option is to purchase a card for $10. The machine excepts dollar bills, fives and tens. There is no place to return change of any sort and the station attendant explained to me that, while the machine will accept twenty dollar bills, it will not give you anything back but a receipt saying that the machine has eaten your twenty - no SmarTrip card with twenty dollars on it and no twenty dollar bill back. Metro has dealt with this problem by taping two signs, printed on an office laser printer and white printer paper, explaining that the machine does not take twenties. Fabulous.
The only cash I had on me was $3 in ones, and even though I might have been able to dig up 7 more dollars in change in my car, the machine won't accept change, so that is not an option. I tried my first credit card: DENIED. I tried my second credit card: DENIED. I tried my debit card: DENIED. I tried my debit card as a credit card: DENIED. So that was 3 of my credit cards, plus the woman in front of me, all denied. I know that I used none of those cards anywhere else that day, but you can't explain this to the machine, and though the station attendant is quite sympathetic, there is nothing he can do. But I looked to him anyway. "What do I do?" I learned later on that the solution he came up with was only presented because he thought I looked like a "trustworthy person."
The station attendant gave me a twenty dollar bill and said that if I could pay him back tonight (at this point is is 2:30am), I can borrow the twenty to buy a card. Remember that a twenty dollar bill does me no good at the machine so I had to go to the cabs waiting outside and ask for change. Three cabs were waiting: two of them didn't have the change and after waking the third driver up he politely gave me the change. I returned to inside the station and purchased my SmarTrip card.
Meanwhile, Jo-Jo had called me twice, worried that I had gotten mugged on my way from the car to the station. I told her that I was on my way, thanked the station manager, and ran back to the car. We cruised over to an ATM, got some money, returned to the station, and paid back the station manager (I thanked him, shook his hand and this is when he informed me that I looked trustworthy).
Jo-Jo finally got dropped off around 3am, about an hour after we had actually returned to Alexandria. Around then I realized the best solution might have just been to wait for an hour in the parking lot until the gates went up.
But this whole process makes me wonder, what was Metro thinking when they instituted this SmarTrip card requirement to exit the parking lot? How could they not thoroughly test these machines before rolling the system out? How can they have a machine that eats your twenty dollar bills? And, last, but probably most important, are they doing anything to fix these problems, because I would be willing to bet that I am not the only person that has run across some kind of a problem like this.
The evening started with me and a friend (we'll call her Jo-Jo) parking in the long term parking lot at the Van Dorn Metro station. When I had last ridden the metro awhile back parking at long term lots was free after 10pm any night and on weekends. If you did have to pay it was with cash upon exiting. But as of June 28th, this is no longer the case, and despite there being signage present, I didn't totally understand how things had changed (more on this later). The evening continued with about an hour long metro ride that, by car, would have taken 25 minutes. However, we didn't have to deal with driving through the city or parking in the city, so this really wasn't all that big of a deal - just annoying.
The evening was fun - music and drinks were both present - and at the end of the night, Jo-Jo and I headed home via Metro. Another hour went by (during which we realized we spent about 2 hours total on the metro and only 2.5 hours total actually enjoying our evening) and we arrived back at the Van Dorn station. We hopped in the car and drove to the gate to leave, only to find it down, and another car in front of us unable to get out. That car backed up and headed towards the station and I pulled up to the gate.
| Now, this is where I will explain how things have changed since I had last been on the Metro. As I said, anytime after 10pm or on the weekends, Metro parking was free. |
|
So I was at the gate, when the gruff attendant "explained," through mumbles, that I needed to go back to the station because the only way out was by paying with a SmartTrip card. I quickly backed out and returned to the station. I saw the woman that was in front of me, standing at what I assume was a SmarTrip kiosk, looking perplexed. We began to discuss how we both thought parking was still free after 10pm and that we hadn't heard good things about the SmarTrip. Then she noticed that the machine wouldn't accept her credit card. By this point, the station attendant had walked over to see if he could be of assistance (this time a nice man). The woman tried to use her card again when the attendant explained that, for some reason, if you have used your credit card anywhere that day, the machine won't accept it. When I say "anywhere" I don't mean at any other station, I mean anywhere in the world. Why, he isn't sure, but he's just the messenger.
She pulled out some cash, bought her card and was on her way. Then I began my efforts to purchase a SmarTrip card. First thing I noticed is that your only option is to purchase a card for $10. The machine excepts dollar bills, fives and tens. There is no place to return change of any sort and the station attendant explained to me that, while the machine will accept twenty dollar bills, it will not give you anything back but a receipt saying that the machine has eaten your twenty - no SmarTrip card with twenty dollars on it and no twenty dollar bill back. Metro has dealt with this problem by taping two signs, printed on an office laser printer and white printer paper, explaining that the machine does not take twenties. Fabulous.
The only cash I had on me was $3 in ones, and even though I might have been able to dig up 7 more dollars in change in my car, the machine won't accept change, so that is not an option. I tried my first credit card: DENIED. I tried my second credit card: DENIED. I tried my debit card: DENIED. I tried my debit card as a credit card: DENIED. So that was 3 of my credit cards, plus the woman in front of me, all denied. I know that I used none of those cards anywhere else that day, but you can't explain this to the machine, and though the station attendant is quite sympathetic, there is nothing he can do. But I looked to him anyway. "What do I do?" I learned later on that the solution he came up with was only presented because he thought I looked like a "trustworthy person."
The station attendant gave me a twenty dollar bill and said that if I could pay him back tonight (at this point is is 2:30am), I can borrow the twenty to buy a card. Remember that a twenty dollar bill does me no good at the machine so I had to go to the cabs waiting outside and ask for change. Three cabs were waiting: two of them didn't have the change and after waking the third driver up he politely gave me the change. I returned to inside the station and purchased my SmarTrip card.
Meanwhile, Jo-Jo had called me twice, worried that I had gotten mugged on my way from the car to the station. I told her that I was on my way, thanked the station manager, and ran back to the car. We cruised over to an ATM, got some money, returned to the station, and paid back the station manager (I thanked him, shook his hand and this is when he informed me that I looked trustworthy).
Jo-Jo finally got dropped off around 3am, about an hour after we had actually returned to Alexandria. Around then I realized the best solution might have just been to wait for an hour in the parking lot until the gates went up.
But this whole process makes me wonder, what was Metro thinking when they instituted this SmarTrip card requirement to exit the parking lot? How could they not thoroughly test these machines before rolling the system out? How can they have a machine that eats your twenty dollar bills? And, last, but probably most important, are they doing anything to fix these problems, because I would be willing to bet that I am not the only person that has run across some kind of a problem like this.
7 Comments:
Adam, I've figured out the problem. You have been reading the sign wrong. You've been assuming that "Smartrip" is supposed to be "Smart Trip", without the second 'T'. I think it's actually supposed to be "SmartRip", as in "Smart Rip Off"
--Voodoo Child
I should have known something was up when I saw that Metro executive greedily rubbing his hands together and cackling as I put my $10 in the machine!
You need to keep us updated on this SmartRip drama. I want to know if DC will riot.
-wagonchris
As a fellow pseudo-Washingtonian, I know the motivation behind the SmarTrip parking decision.
Last year the metro lost an estimated 3 million dollars to dishonest attendants. Thus a decision to make the system automated.
That's actually great information to know, and the decision actually makes sense. It just seems that the plan was not fully thought out before it was implemented: SmarTrip card kiosks don't work properly; early on they ran out of these required cards; there is no fail safe in case the machine at your station breaks down (note earlier comment makes this a common problem); the machine doesn't accept $20 bills! So while I understand why they felt it necessary to go to the SmarTrip card (now, thanks to your comment) I still think they could have implemented the system much better.
Found this posting through a Google search, after I went through a very similar StarTrip ordeal in returning home from a Washington Nationals baseball game. I only had $5, the SmarTrip machine requires a minimum of $10, but it doesn't take twenties. The worst part was that the rude station attendants with whom I had to take up the matter seemed to feel it was entirely logical that one had to fork over $10 to pay a $3.75 parking fee-- and they also acted as though I was the first person they'd seen who had ever had this problem. In all likelyhood, they have to deal with this sort of situation at least ten or twenty times a day. Ugh.
I was bitten by this as well. It was maybe 2 years ago, coming home pretty late at night on a Friday. It used to be that after 10pm on Friday, you'd get out for free. Nope, and the smart trip insult to boot. I was quite upset about it, and so was everybody else. There was a long line at the smart trip machine, and people coming back from a sporting event were cursing like crazy about it.
The worst thing about the smart trip ripoff was that $5 of the smart trip cost is just for the card itself! So, I paid more for the f-ing card than I did for the parking fee! What a load of crap.
Two years later, I'm kind of glad that I have the smart trip because I get the metro check subsidy from work and those checks don't work on buses. However, if I load the smart trip up with the checks, then that will work on the bus, so it has saved me a lot of money out-of-pocket. I just don't see why you have to penalize occasional riders by forcing a $5 fee on them. Sell a card for exiting parking only for the occasional riders so they don't have to waste $5 for NOTHING!
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