DC Weekly Metro Pass vs. SmartTrip Card?
 

Hello,

My wife and I are going to be in D.C. from from December 22-January 4 (13 nights). I'm trying to determine the best strategy for Metro fares.

It seems like the bst thing would be to get SmartTrip cards, make a low estimate what we'll need initially, then recharge them as needed.

There is also the 7-day Short Trip Metro pass, good for unlimited rides up to $3.05. It looks like most/all of our travel would fall into the $1.60 rate. If I understand it correctly, this pass is only good on the Metrorail, not the Metrobus or Circulator, but the SmartTrip card does work on all three.

It's hard to say exactly how often we will ride - depends on weather for one thing - so the 7-day pass may or may not save us money. That, plus the convenience and I'm leaning towards the SmarTrip card.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom on that strategy?

Thanks

This is pretty hard to predict without knowing where you are staying or what you want to see. Just factor into your calculus that the Smart Card costs $5 just for the card - i.e., you will pay $5 on top of whatever money you choose to add for fares. You are not getting any kind of discount, so you would simply be paying for the convenience of pre-loading your card. An alternative strategy would simply be to pay cash (on the bus) or purchase a metro ticket each time you wish to travel. Less convenient, but no money "wasted." The 7-day pass, by contrast, could potentially save you some money in comparison to purchasing single fares, if you thought you would be doing at least one RT trip per day, and more than one on some days. (Are you sure, btw, that none of your travel would fall within peak hours, where the minimum fare is now $1.95 each way?) Weather wise, for planning purposes, you should count on it being cold and possibly precipitous during that week (and then be pleasantly surprised if it isn't). Good luck!

Thanks MoonGirl. We are staying in Foggy Bottom and the "usual suspects" as far as what we want to see. The farthest we will go would most likely be to the zoo. (We are going to Mount Vernon, but my brother will be there that day with his car).

Based on city trips we have done in recent years, I suspect will take at least two rides per day, maybe more, so the 7-day short trip pass may make sense. At least we can do that for the first week then decide what to do for the second.

With the unlimited pass there is a sense of freedom in jumping on whenever you want.

Thanks for your help.

Fares are lower using a Smartcard as opposed to paying cash. Not sure about how it works with the 7 day pass.

Hmmm, yestravel, that's not my understanding, can you explain?

It is true that having a SmartTrip will allow you free rail-to-bus or bus-to-bus transfers within two hours, so in that sense, a SmartTrip will save you money if transferring to a bus is part of your travel plans. I hadn't factored transfers into my initial response above. (Probably not so much of an issue for someone staying in Foggy Bottom, in any event).

Otherwise I'm not aware of fares being lower as a result of using a SmartTrip card. But things are always changing with Metro, so I'd be happy for some updated information if I'm wrong!

If you use a smart tripcard instead of paying cash the fare is reduced. check out the Metro website http://www.wmata.com/fares/metrorail.cfm

Very interesting, a 25 cent reduction for Metrorail trips. I was not aware of this development - thanks for following up yestravel! Metro does not seem to be doing a good job of advertising this discount -- interestingly, it is not mentioned on the webpage that discusses the benefits of using SmartTrip: http://www.wmata.com/fares/smartrip/

Metro started it back this summer I think - when they did one of their several fare increases.

No wonder I was a bit confused! Thanks for the info.

At the moment I'm leaning towards getting the 7 day Metrorail pass and paying as we go for the bus. At least we'll out start that way. Unless I'm missing something it looks like the bus pass is good Sunday-Saturday, but the Metro pass is good for any 7 days:
http://prostores2.carrierzone.com/se...art_id=6976498

Our first full day is a Wednesday, so we can just wait until Saturday to decide if we are riding the bus enough to warrant a pass starting Sunday.

Nelson, The Circulator does a great job of covering the most heavily touristed areas (including Georgetown where there is no subway stop) and my guess is that it will be far more useful to you than the metrobus whose route system & timing can be fairly dense. Lots of non tourists use the Circulator. Rides are $1 or .50 if you're a senior or have a Metro Smartcard. Circ rides are free if you're a senior with a Smartcard.

obxgirl, Thanks much. In fact 5 minutes ago I looked at the Circulator site and decided that was the ticket, so to speak. They also have a weekly pass so I just need to decide SmartCard vs Pass. Probably can't go too wrong either way.

If you ever plan to return to DC for a future trip (after this one), then go for a SmartCard.

No need to clutter you wallet with it when you return home - just keep it with your passports, Euros, maps, and other "travel stuff".

Quite honestly, just how much you might need to use the bus may be questionable and a lot will depend on just what you want to see; there are actually some things within walking distance of Foggy Bottom (yes, I know there are people whose legs stop walking from 1 Dec until 1 April but just saying.

Personally, and living here, I would simply opt for the peace of mind knowing you can get on and off whenever you want and can use the various types of transport interchangeably..and BTW, just how much difference in price are we talking about here?

True, Dukey1, we are not talking about a lot of money either way. Mainly I wanted to make sure I was getting the various options correctly figured out. As noted, can't go too wrong.

Planning to get Circulator and Metro weekly passes as those two will get us to virtually everything on our list. Our feet should do the rest (even in December), as we do enjoy walking. If the weather is truly bitter then we are not opposed to spending a long time in a single museum or ... a bar!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, much appreciated.

Hello Nelson, I live near DC and work there M - F; I can get you 2 of the weekly DC train (Metro) fare cards for about half the full cost of $32.00, one for you and one for your wife. These would be brand new and never used fare cards which would activate the first time you use them. I get them through my business and have some left over that have never been used. If interested go to ebay and search me out under my e bay name of "joseppig" - you can then send me a note via ebay message system and we can talk further. Joe

Joe,

Thanks for the offer, but I already used the online service to buy them and the passes arrived at my house a couple of days ago. I'll keep this in mind for next time though!

- Nelson

Hi, I know we can get a $ 10 Senior paper metrorail farecard. I suppose it will get activated
the first time we shall use them ..
Since every ride might have a different value ,my question is how do we get track when it is about to expire,specially because I would like to have a valid farecard on the last day going to the airport since we shall have to get the train very early in the morning.

The amount remaining prints on the paper farecard

Sometimes, it doesn't show up -- this happens rarely but it does happen. If that happens take your fare card to a machine to add fare and it will display the amount.