September 16, 2010 | 1:30 PM | By

Poor Information, Poor Planning, Poor WMATA

FILED UNDER: Public Transportation, Metro, SmarTrip, WMATA

Ah, the continuing saga of SmarTrip and WMATA. Will they discount the $5 cards and make them more affordable to strapped commuters who are already smarting from a fare increase? Will they allow riders to exit the station with a negative balance? Will scofflaws abuse the system? Who cares, the situation is even worse than we thought. An “embarrassment”, even! Via WTOP:

Metro says it has no idea when — or even if — it will be able to put a SmarTrip discount in place.

During a tense board meeting Thursday, Metro Board members talked about the issue, but could not find a solution.

“This is an embarrassment,” said Board Member Jim Graham, who represents D.C. “I think we should move off this agenda item. With every passing minute, this looks worse.”

I’m concerned about Metro Board considering changes when they are on the receiving end of “bad information”:

More trouble was revealed during the meeting. Metro Board Chair Peter Benjamin said that the decision to lower the price of the card was based on bad information. Initially, board members thought that the cost (to the transit agency) of producing a SmarTrip card was around $2 or $2.50. Benjamin revealed that the actual cost is more like $3.40.

So…the proposed discounting of the cards to $2.50 wouldn’t even cover the cost of  manufacturing it. Got it. That’s nothing compared to this shocking news:

Benjamin also said the current inventory of SmarTrip cards will last only for the next two years. After that, the technology used to produce the cards of today will be no more. No solutions for a transition to a ‘next generation’ SmarTrip card were presented.

I’d keep writing but I need to go to CVS to stand in an extra-long line so that I can start hoarding SmarTrips.

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DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →