After a recent upgrade to its fare collection technology, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (DC) is warning commuters that their SmarTrip cards may take slightly longer to register at the fare gate. The upgrade will allow more complex fare transactions, such as calculating Metro’s new peak-of-the-peak surcharge, but the additional sophistication may catch regular commuters by surprise. “Customers may notice that if they quickly pass their card over the target, as they have become used to doing, the card or target may not receive all of the data and the transaction may not be completed as quickly as it was done in the past,” according to Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. “Customers should touch their card to the target and hold it there until the fare gate opens.” Will it make a different to commuters? Washington Post columnist Robert Thomson (aka Dr. Gridlock) thinks it will: “Slight as the delay is, I think it’s going to annoy the regulars…This new idea of pressing and holding the card is going to ruin their day.” Link to full story in The Washington Post.
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