Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC
From WMATA:
Metro today launched SmarTrip® Auto Reload, a new convenient feature that allows customers to have value automatically added to their cards when their balances drops below a minimum threshold. By signing up for SmarTrip® Auto Reload, customers can avoid the hassle of stopping at farecard vending machines or repeatedly going online to add more value.
Similar to EZ-Pass, the Auto Reload feature allows customers to have a pre-defined dollar value automatically added to a registered card whenever the balance on SmarTrip® drops below $20 on a full fare SmarTrip® card or below $10 on a Senior/Disabled SmarTrip® card.
For customers who use a 7-Day Bus or Rail Pass, Auto Reload will add a new pass when three days remain on the pass. Similarly, for the 28-Day or 30-Day Pass, Auto Reload is triggered when seven days remain on the active pass.
The launch of Auto Reload follows a successful testing period with more than 1,300 customers using the new feature.
To use the Auto Reload feature, customers must register their cards and have an online SmarTrip® account. Upon logging into their online account, customers are able to link their SmarTrip® cards to a credit or debit card that will automatically add the pre-determined value that the customers chooses.
Thanks for the heads-up. Just signed up.
My value barely ever goes over $20 anyways.
I only like to keep around $20 on it anyway. If I could get it to add $10 or $20 when it goes below $10, that would be nice.
Yeah, I assumed it would be something like it adds $20 when it gets below $2 or something.
+1
this sounds like a sneaky way for wmata to get $20 from people who sign up. You are never going to use the $20 as it will always add more.
It will only be considered “sneaky” by people who can’t see the flaw in your logic.
I have to agree, this $20 minimum is quite high for a reload threshold. $5 or $10 would make more sense in comparison to the typical WMATA fares.
So anyone else wondering why Metro is investing time and money on these Smartrip cards when as I understand it, they will be defunct in a year or two? I remember reading that the manufacturer of the card was not going to make them anymore and DC couldn’t find anyone to make them Did this change and I didn’t hear about it?
The new cards are supposed to be a drop in replacement, so ll of the infrastructure they are doing now will continue to work. That’s the theory, anyway, but with Metro who really knows?
Gotta love these Bain’ers, enough to make me drop the card except that I gotta have it – I like to fire my vendors