Customers taking the Metro in DC will have convenient new ways to pay their fares in 2025.
WMATA announced in a news release that it has plans to introduce an Open Payment fare system in the next year. That means that riders can use their credit or debit card, mobile wallet, or smartwatch to pay the fare instead of having to use a SmarTrip card.
The change will first come to Metrorail stations in May 2025. It will then be implemented by summer 2025 in Metrobus and in late fall 2025 in parking facilities.
Currently, Metro has an option for riders to add their SmarTrip card to their mobile wallets.
There will be no fare increases in 2025.
In other news for Metro riders, WMATA has introduced automatic train operation functionality. ATO operations began on December 15 on the Red Line and will expand to the rest of the system in 2025.
The automated systems aim to help Metro trains run on a more efficient schedule and with more precise acceleration and braking. They operate on a semi-automatic mode, meaning there will always be an operator on each train.
This is the first time Metro will use ATO since the 2009 crash on the Red Line that killed nine. Metro says that the system has worked on “educating customers and training operators for better operational safety and efficiency” in the 15 years since that incident.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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