[MD-Sligo] FW: Metro begins phasing out older SmarTrip cards as part of upgrades to faregates and fare payment technology

[Deborah]

-----Original Message-----
From: Metro News [mailto:pressrelease at metroalerts.info] 
Sent: Friday, April 9, 2021 1:16 PM
To: Metro News Subscriber <archive at metroalerts.info>
Subject: Metro begins phasing out older SmarTrip cards as part of upgrades to faregates and fare payment technology

Metro’s original SmarTrip® cards will soon become a relic of the past, as Metro invests in new faregates, fareboxes and fare payment options that will make it quicker and easier to pay but won’t be compatible with the old cards. Customers are encouraged to replace their old SmarTrip cards now to avoid issues later.

The first generation SmarTrip cards contain outdated chip technology and were produced prior to 2012. Metro is phasing out use of the cards in conjunction with the year-long rollout of new faregates in stations starting as early as June and new bus fareboxes next year. As many as 400,000 of the old cards were in active use prior to the pandemic, affecting a small percentage of the six million SmarTrip cards that were in active circulation at the time.

Metro is offering customers several convenient options, including mail-in, online, phone or in-person, to make the switch and transfer any balance to a new or existing SmarTrip card or virtual SmarTrip card on a mobile device..

For additonal information view news release:
https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Metro-begins-phasing-out-older-SmarTrip-cards.cfm
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