Metrobus riders will soon have the ability to use credit and debit cards to pay for rides.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is adding the same “Tap-Ride-Go” ability to its buses as it currently has on the rail system, creating an alternative to cash and physical or phone-based SmarTrip cards.
The initiative debuted on Metrorail in May and quickly won fans, Metro leaders said.
“It was almost immediate acceptance,” said Paul Smedberg, a Virginia representative to the WMATA board, speaking at the Nov. 6 Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) meeting.
It is particularly beneficial to tourists and infrequent riders, WMATA officials said at the time of introduction.
It is expected Tap-Ride-Go will be extended to buses by mid-month.
“After that will be the [Metro] parking garages,” said Walter Alcorn, a Fairfax County supervisor who also serves on the WMATA board.
He gave no timetable for use in garages connected to some stations, but “that will come soon,” Alcorn said.
Despite the forthcoming change, Metro officials say they anticipate SmarTrip cards will remain the main payment option for the foreseeable future.
To date, the new Tap-Ride-Go effort does not connect to employee transit benefits, but work is ongoing to enable that, Metro officials say.
The news about Tap-Ride-Go came as NVTC officials got a look at ongoing transit-ridership improvement.
While currently impacted by the federal shutdown, transit ridership across Northern Virginia had been running at about 2.1 million riders per week in the first half of the year.
That’s up about 15% year-over-year.
About 1.3 million of those trips were on Metrorail, 706,000 on Metrobus and local bus systems, and 47,000 on Virginia Railway Express, said Sophie Spiliotopoulos, a data-visualization manager for NVTC.
“We’re not talking recovery anymore; we’re talking growth,” Spiliotopoulos told NVTC members.
