Metro planning $2 fee for all future fare cards as current system costs it hundreds of thousands

Metro’s long-planned upgrade to its fare system remains on pace for a summer launch but will come with a cost for anyone wanting to replace their Q card.

Meanwhile, the outdated and error-prone system it will replace is costing Metro hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid fares.

Pending approval Thursday by the agency’s board of directors, Metropolitan Transit Authority will charge $2 for a new fare card once the new system is in place.  The change would apply to everyone — current card holders and newcomers alike, including elderly and disabled riders — and apply every time a new card is issued.

“We want customers to simply not throw their card away,” said Russ Frank, Metro’s vice president of customer service.

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The new system, expected to take over in the summer, allows bus and rail passengers to pay for rides with their smartphone via Apple Pay or Google Pay, as well as any touchless chip-enabled credit card. Users, once the system is operational, will simply tap their Visa or Mastercard the same as they would a Q card.

Not having a more modern system is one reason Chad Nguyen, 26, said he rides infrequently.

“If I could hop on and pay with my phone, without downloading some app or paying upfront, I might use it more,” Nguyen said of the Red Line that runs near his Midtown apartment.

Along with charging for fare cards, Metro’s board will be asked to approve a change to its free fare program, reducing how many trips it requires to receive a benefit. Q card users now have to tap 50 times before they can receive five free fares. The change, if approved, would give a rider a free ride after 10 paid trips.

Metro currently issues Q cards for free, but it charges once a customer loses a second card. To receive a third card linked to the account, Metro charges $10 as a lost card fee.

Frank said that for those who have lost a card, the $2 upfront cost is actually cheaper.

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Not charging for the initial cards, however, leads to some losses for transit officials, Frank said. Cards cost about $1.80 to acquire, he said, leading to a sunken cost currently. The other cost, meanwhile, is related to negative balances, Frank said.

As a courtesy for riders, and to make sure they can make return trips, Frank said, Metro allows for a negative balance. For example, if someone has only $1 left on their card, Metro will allow the person to tap for a $1.25 fare, thus creating a 25-cent balance.

“Then they just throw the card away and come get a new card,” Frank said. “We want to cut down on that.”

He said that since the Q card system launched in 2008, there are more than 1 million cards with a negative balance, totaling $818,000 lost to the agency. Many of those cards, Frank said, could be lost, or the person simply never rode the system again and doesn’t realize they are short.

Many transit agencies across the United States charge for a transit card. In Washington, D.C., cards are sold with a preset amount, so someone pays $2 and the card comes loaded with $8, for a total of $10.

The proposed changes in fare policies come as Metro nears implementation of a new fare system that expands payment options. The current system, which dates to 2008, is outdated and difficult to maintain, as machines often break.

“It is pretty much falling apart,” Frank said of the current system of Q card scanners, cash machines and ticket vending machines at rail stations.

Officials on Monday also blamed the system’s ineffectiveness for potential fare losses. Despite Metro’s ridership increasing over the past year — as it rebounds from the COVID pandemic — fare revenue has not followed. Overall bus ridership is 13% above this time last year, while fare revenues are down 1%.

Across Metro, fare revenue is up 1% from last year, far trailing the 13% jump in transit trips.

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In past months, Metro officials chalked up the difference to less park and ride use, where fares are more expensive, and potentially changes in who was riding.

On Monday, officials said the lack of revenue stems from riders not being charged for trips, either because fare collection systems are broken and drivers simply allow people to hop on because they cannot tap a card or because of malfunctioning systems.

Once officials noticed that fares were not rebounding with ridership, they discovered that broken or defective machines could be costing the agency an estimated $1 million to $2 million annually.

“It is hard to go back and say what we have lost,” Metro’s chief financial officer, George Fotinos, said. “We are trying to mitigate as best we can.”

Fotinos said more study of the systems and charges is needed to fully assess how much Metro is losing, but observers said it could be significant in some scenarios.

“If you have card readers that don’t work on major routes, that is where you are losing revenue, major revenue,” said Dominic Mazoch, a frequent commenter on Metro matters.