Second Phase of Metrorail Fare Adjustments Begins Today

The second phase of Metrorail fare adjustments will take effect today, Sunday, August 1, with the implementation of a new 20-cent peak-of-the-peak fee during afternoon weekday travel periods, an increase in the cost of three Metrorail passes and a 25-cent increase in cost for Metrorail customers who use a paper fare card instead of a SmarTrip® card.

Metro says that, "Due to unforeseen system programming limitations of technology in implementing the new peak-of-the-peak pricing, Metro will implement peak-of-the-peak pricing in two steps. The first step will take effect tomorrow, Monday, August 2, with a 20-cent fee applied to afternoon trips taken between 4:30 and 6 p.m. weekdays. The second step is expected to occur by the end of August, with a 20-cent fee applied to morning trips taken between 7:30 and 9 a.m. weekdays."

A Metro press release adds that the two-step implementation approach is being taken because of memory limitations of fare gate technology and paper fare cards due to the format of magnetic fare cards. The required number of fare levels for magnetic fare cards is not able to accommodate all of the time periods and fares for peak-of-the-peak pricing until reprogramming takes place.

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