WASHINGTON – Metro riders must trade in old paper farecards by Thursday, or lose all of the money left on them.
Last year, Metro announced that paper farecards would lose their value after June 30.
That means the farecards will simply be souvenirs beginning July 1.
Originally, Metro had hoped to be moving forward with a next-generation fare system; however, the contract for that has now been cancelled.
Instead, all riders have been required since March to use SmarTrip cards, and that is projected to continue for years.
Riders must pay $2 to buy a SmarTrip. Official Metro fare displays at farecard machines still tell riders that they will get a $1 discount per trip with a SmarTrip card off the displayed paper farecard fare, even though paper farecards have not been accepted at faregates in months.
The paper farecards used the same technology for nearly 40 years, since the system’s opening in 1976.
