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SmarTrip
SmarTrip is a contactless stored-value smart card payment system managed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) uses a compatible payment system called CharmCard, although MTA is phasing out CharmCard in favor of the CharmPass smartphone app by the end of 2025. A reciprocity agreement between the MTA and WMATA allows either card to be used for travel on any of the participating transit systems in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Unlike traditional paper farecards or bus passes, SmarTrip/CharmCard is designed to be permanent and reloadable; the term "SmarTrip" may refer to both payment systems unless otherwise noted.
WMATA began using SmarTrip for payment on Metrorail in 1999 followed shortly by Metrobus and Metro parking lots. It was later extended to other public transit systems throughout the region. Although WMATA initially drew criticism due to the limited number of SmarTrip sales locations, distribution has expanded to local convenience stores and supermarkets. By late 2012, all Metrorail stations were equipped with SmarTrip vending machines.
In October 2010, WMATA announced that it was working on a replacement card system because the company that makes SmarTrip cards had stopped producing the existing generation. A new generation of the card with modernized chip technology was launched in 2012. In 2022, WMATA phased out first-generation SmarTrip cards purchased before 2012 as new faregates were installed that do not support the earlier technology.
In 2014, WMATA began a pilot program with Accenture to revamp the SmarTrip payments, with the goal of an open payment system working with contactless credit cards, government IDs, new transit cards, and more. However, the pilot was terminated and the full proposal was cancelled due to lower-than-expected mobile payment adoption and budget constraints.
Instead, in 2018, WMATA announced that contactless mobile payments would be coming to Metro, this time through a closed system that emulates the physical smart card and works with current fare collection equipment. The reduced scope of the project lowered costs dramatically, while constraining users to loading a balance on a SmarTrip account instead of paying directly from a credit/debit card. Mobile payments through Apple Pay were added in 2020, with Google Pay support following in 2021.
Metrorail stopped accepting paper farecards on March 6, 2016, making SmarTrip cards the only method of payment from that date until May 28, 2025 when Metro introduced contactless payment by credit or debit card or mobile/smartwatch payment, which allows riders to tap a contactless card or device without having to preload funds or calculate the fare in advance.
SmarTrip cards are 3+3⁄8 by 2+1⁄8 in (86 by 54 mm), the same size as a credit card or driver's license. The card is brought into close proximity with a circular target on the top or side of each faregate rather than inserted into a slot. Because the card has a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip inside, it does not need to be touched directly to the target, just held near it; thus the card can be scanned while still inside a wallet or purse passed over the target, affording some speed and convenience over the paper farecards which were physically inserted into a slot. Unlike some systems in which only the card number is stored on the chip and is linked to an account on a network which contains the remaining value, in this system, the remaining value is stored on the card itself, not on a network. Therefore, the card must be present to reload it, and when adding the card to a smart device, the card must remain in close proximity to the device during a process in which the data is deleted from the card and stored on the device. This means that once the card is added to a device, the physical card becomes unusable, and only one device can carry it at a time. In the Metrorail system, using the card to activate the target by will display the value remaining as the faregate opens, both when entering and exiting. On Metrobuses, the farebox will audibly beep and display the remaining value. In all cases, the appropriate fare is deducted automatically, accounting for any applicable transfers and discounts.
In an effort to reduce fraud and waste, Metro announced in October 2008 that it would be eliminating paper bus transfers effective January 4, 2009. All riders who wished to take advantage of reduced-fare transfers were required to pay using SmarTrip. Paper bus passes were eliminated in January 2011 and passes are now only available on SmarTrip.
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SmarTrip
SmarTrip is a contactless stored-value smart card payment system managed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) uses a compatible payment system called CharmCard, although MTA is phasing out CharmCard in favor of the CharmPass smartphone app by the end of 2025. A reciprocity agreement between the MTA and WMATA allows either card to be used for travel on any of the participating transit systems in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Unlike traditional paper farecards or bus passes, SmarTrip/CharmCard is designed to be permanent and reloadable; the term "SmarTrip" may refer to both payment systems unless otherwise noted.
WMATA began using SmarTrip for payment on Metrorail in 1999 followed shortly by Metrobus and Metro parking lots. It was later extended to other public transit systems throughout the region. Although WMATA initially drew criticism due to the limited number of SmarTrip sales locations, distribution has expanded to local convenience stores and supermarkets. By late 2012, all Metrorail stations were equipped with SmarTrip vending machines.
In October 2010, WMATA announced that it was working on a replacement card system because the company that makes SmarTrip cards had stopped producing the existing generation. A new generation of the card with modernized chip technology was launched in 2012. In 2022, WMATA phased out first-generation SmarTrip cards purchased before 2012 as new faregates were installed that do not support the earlier technology.
In 2014, WMATA began a pilot program with Accenture to revamp the SmarTrip payments, with the goal of an open payment system working with contactless credit cards, government IDs, new transit cards, and more. However, the pilot was terminated and the full proposal was cancelled due to lower-than-expected mobile payment adoption and budget constraints.
Instead, in 2018, WMATA announced that contactless mobile payments would be coming to Metro, this time through a closed system that emulates the physical smart card and works with current fare collection equipment. The reduced scope of the project lowered costs dramatically, while constraining users to loading a balance on a SmarTrip account instead of paying directly from a credit/debit card. Mobile payments through Apple Pay were added in 2020, with Google Pay support following in 2021.
Metrorail stopped accepting paper farecards on March 6, 2016, making SmarTrip cards the only method of payment from that date until May 28, 2025 when Metro introduced contactless payment by credit or debit card or mobile/smartwatch payment, which allows riders to tap a contactless card or device without having to preload funds or calculate the fare in advance.
SmarTrip cards are 3+3⁄8 by 2+1⁄8 in (86 by 54 mm), the same size as a credit card or driver's license. The card is brought into close proximity with a circular target on the top or side of each faregate rather than inserted into a slot. Because the card has a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip inside, it does not need to be touched directly to the target, just held near it; thus the card can be scanned while still inside a wallet or purse passed over the target, affording some speed and convenience over the paper farecards which were physically inserted into a slot. Unlike some systems in which only the card number is stored on the chip and is linked to an account on a network which contains the remaining value, in this system, the remaining value is stored on the card itself, not on a network. Therefore, the card must be present to reload it, and when adding the card to a smart device, the card must remain in close proximity to the device during a process in which the data is deleted from the card and stored on the device. This means that once the card is added to a device, the physical card becomes unusable, and only one device can carry it at a time. In the Metrorail system, using the card to activate the target by will display the value remaining as the faregate opens, both when entering and exiting. On Metrobuses, the farebox will audibly beep and display the remaining value. In all cases, the appropriate fare is deducted automatically, accounting for any applicable transfers and discounts.
In an effort to reduce fraud and waste, Metro announced in October 2008 that it would be eliminating paper bus transfers effective January 4, 2009. All riders who wished to take advantage of reduced-fare transfers were required to pay using SmarTrip. Paper bus passes were eliminated in January 2011 and passes are now only available on SmarTrip.