Metro hopes to begin offering “express lanes” for SmarTrip users at three test stations by October — a concept transit officials said is similar to the E-ZPass lanes on the highways.
The new aisles will accept only SmarTrip cards and should improve the speed at which customers using SmarTrip cards move through the system — especially during the busy summer tourist season, officials said.
Metro has issued more than 1.7 million SmarTrip cards since they were introduced in May 1999 and more than 1 million remain in active use, said Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The cards now account for 53 percent of all trip fares and can used to pay for rail, bus and parking fees.
If approved by the Metro board next week, the pilot program would begin at the Anacostia station on the Green Line, and New Carrollton and Vienna stations on the Orange Line. The three stations — which all average 80 percent SmarTrip usage — would have fours of their eight aisles convertedto express lanes. Special graphics and overhead signs will alert customers to the new lanes, officials said. The paper magnetic cards will not work at the new lanes.
Commuters were slow to adopt the SmarTrip cards with just 500,000 sold in the first five years after they were introduced. When the agency mandated all parking fees be paid with the card — following allegations of theft from parking lot attendants — usage tripled in less than two years.
While the program has eventually caught on for rail, just 18 percent of all bus riders use the cards.
Metro officials are considering several options to increase bus SmarTrip. Officials said eliminating cash transactions could speed boarding times and help keep buses on schedule.
Officials said the cost of program would be minimal considering most of the cost would be for new signs and graphics.
