Metro News Release
For immediate release: November 1, 2007
SmarTrip® cards sold at more Giant stores
Buying a SmarTrip® card just got easier as 26 Giant stores throughout the region now sell the plastic, rechargeable farecard that customers can use on Metrobus and Metrorail.
Giant is the first traditional retailer to sell SmarTrip® and previously, only a handful of Giant stores sold the $5 SmarTrip® card. The expansion of card sales makes SmarTrip® more accessible to riders from Landover and Rockville to the District of Columbia, Arlington and Vienna. Giant shoppers should visit the customer service desk at the selected Giant stores to purchase a SmarTrip® card.
“We want to encourage our riders to use SmarTrip® on Metrobus and Metrorail. It’s convenient and speeds up the boarding process on buses and movement of passengers through faregates in rail stations. By making SmarTrip® cards more widely available through our partners at Giant, we hope to get the cards into the hands of more and more customers in the neighborhoods we serve,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe.
Area grocery and other merchants sell Metro fares, including bus passes and discounted senior fare cards, and Metro will look to expand sales of SmarTrip® cards to other retailers in an effort to make the cards easier to find and easier to purchase.
SmarTrip® cards also can be purchased on www.MetroOpensDoors.com, at Metro sales offices, commuter stores and vending machines at Metrorail stations that have parking facilities.
Metro first introduced the SmarTrip® card in 1999 and in 2004 expanded the SmarTrip® capability to Metrobus riders. SmarTrip® cards also are required for payment at most Metro-operated parking facilities. Currently, 63 percent of Metrorail riders and 21 percent of Metrobus riders use SmarTrip®.
In addition to Metrobus and Metrorail, commuters can use their SmarTrip® cards to pay for travel on regional bus systems including ART, CUE, DASH, Ride On, Fairfax Connector, Loudoun County Transit and the DC Circulator.
Giant stores selling SmarTrip®:
Maryland
6524 Landover Road, Landover
7074 Allentown Road, Temple Hills
12051 Rockville Pike, Rockville
16837 Crabbs Branch Way, Derwood
5463 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase
7546 Annapolis Road, West Lanham Hill
6000 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt
7142 Arlington Road, Bethesda
3104 Queens Chapel Road, Hyattsville
3521 East-West Highway, Hyattsville
20 Audrey Lane, Oxon Hill
4119 Branch Avenue, Marlow Heights
6451 Marlboro Pike, District Heights
11221 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring
1280 East-West Highway, Silver Spring
District of Columbia
1050 Brentwood Road, NE, Washington
1414 Eighth Street, NW, Washington
1345 Park Road, NW, Washington
3336 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington
4303 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington
Virginia
3450 Washington Boulevard, Arlington
2901-11 South Glebe Road, Arlington
7137 Columbia Pike, Annandale
6426 Springfield Plaza, Springfield
3115 Lee Highway, Arlington
3480 South Jefferson Street, Falls Church
For more information about Metro and SmarTrip®, visit www.MetroOpensDoors.com.
News release issued at 12:00 am, November 1, 2007.