Metro plans to stop charging riders for SmarTrip cards next year as part of the transit system’s plans to encourage more riders to pay their fares electronically. Passengers will also be able to get the cards at supermarkets next year. Currently, passengers must pay $5 for a card and can only buy them at Metro customer-service centers, at rail stations with parking lots or via Metro’s Web site. There are about 1.4 million SmarTrip cards in use, according to the transit agency.

Metro General Manager John Catoe said he wants to give the cards out for free as part of his plan to eliminate paper transfer slips.

Riders receive the slips so they can switch buses without paying another fare if they need multiple routes to reach a destination.

Passengers wanting to receive a discount for riding the rail and bus to a location also would have to pay their fares with a SmarTrip card.

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Catoe has proposed spending $6 million in the fiscal 2009 capital budget for the free cards and the dispensing machines that will be installed in supermarkets, but thinks the actual costs will be much less.

“If we are going to require people have the cards to transfer, we thought it was fair that we not charge for the cards,” Catoe said.

Passengers can pay bus and rail fares with the cards simply by swiping them over a sensor and having the cost debited from an account.

At most Metro parking lots, riders must pay their daily parking fee with the SmarTrip card.

“Metro should be doing everything it can to get more people to use SmarTrip cards,” said Michael Snyder, chairman of Metro’s Riders Advisory Council. “As long as the cards are free, it is a great idea to require them for transfers. Using the SmarTrip cards saves Metro money and gives them more information about ridership patterns. From a rider’s standpoint, it is easy and efficient to use a SmarTrip card.”

Metro spends $345,000 annually on the paper transfer slips.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com