Free rides over: DC Circulator fares go back to $1 starting Tuesday

The DC Circulator, which has been free since February, will go back to costing riders a dollar beginning Tuesday.

The District Department of Transportation said in a statement Friday that the D.C. Council ordered the reinstatement of the $1 fare beginning Oct. 1, the first day of fiscal year 2020.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had announced the suspension of the fares in February, and later planned to continue the free fares indefinitely.

DDOT said in the statement that while Bowser had set aside $3.1 million in her budget proposal for fiscal 2020 to pay for continued free rides, the council rejected it, which forced DDOT to reinstate the fare.

You can use a SmarTrip card, or pay exact change with cash or coins.

Senior citizens and mobility-impaired people pay half fare; kids under 5 ride free with a paying adult. Students should use their Kids Ride Free SmarTrip card.

Rick Massimo

Rick Massimo came to WTOP, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child. He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."

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