PlanItMetro

Metro first rolled out SmarTrip® on rail in 1999, breaking new ground as the first contact-less smart card used for transit in the United States. Metro began rolling out SmarTrip® on bus in 2002 and then to Metrorail parking facilities in 2004.   While the utility of SmarTrip® was immediately obvious to many customers, others required a bit of encouragement to switch to the fare media that is most cost-effective for Metro and customers alike.

Usage of SmarTrip® on rail has been growing steadily since its launch, but use on bus seemed to plateau around 20% on bus starting in about July 2006 until about January 2008.  That was the date when Metro began its first major initiative to encourage people to move to SmarTrip by implementing a $0.10 surcharge for using cash on bus.

Since then, Metro has rolled out new SmarTrip features and additional incentives to continue the increase in SmarTrip use rate.

The chart below illustrates the changes in SmarTrip use rate on both bus and rail, overlaid with the dates of the initiatives and feature releases that helped motivate customers to switch to SmarTrip.  The usage rate now is nearly 90% on both bus and rail! Read more…

Momentum builds upon and advances a number of regionally significant planning studies that are either recently completed – or underway. They include:

• Region Forward: A vision for the DC region created by the MWCOG. It addresses the interrelated challenges of population growth, aging infrastructure, traffic congestion, energy costs, environmental impacts, affordable housing and sustainable development, as well as disparities in education, economics and health (2010)
• Economy Forward: A companion piece to Region Forward that reinforces the importance of transit to the region’s overall competitiveness (2012)
• Financially Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan (CLRP): The region’s official long-range transportation plan that outlines the priority projects to be implemented in the region between 2012 and 2040 as prioritized  by the Transportation Planning Board (TPB) and local jurisdictions (2012)

Read more…