Metro News Release

For immediate release: June 13, 2003

Metro’s Fiscal Year 2004 Rail-to-Bus transfer policy and fees

Yesterday, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) Board Budget Committee recommended the fiscal year 2004 budget (effective July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004) which included a 10 cent increase in the base fare for Metrobus and Metrorail, from $1.10 to $1.20, starting June 29. If approved by the Metro Board of Directors at their June 19 meeting, it will mark the first Metro fare increase in eight years. As part of the fiscal year 2004 budget, there has been some confusion as to whether the Metrorail to Metrobus paper transfers will be eliminated effective June 29th. The policy regarding the rail-to-bus paper transfer is as follows:❏ Pending final Board approval, transferring from Metrorail to Metrobus with a paper rail-to-bus transfer will increase from $0.25 to $0.35, because of the $0.10 rise in the base fare. The value of the $0.85 transfer discount remains the same.❏ Metro plans to eliminate the $0.85 discount rail-to-bus paper transfer, but only after installation of the new SmarTrip fareboxes on all buses in the Washington region is complete. Metro expects to have its entire fleet of Metrobuses retrofitted with the new SmarTrip fareboxes by the end of 2003, and the region’s buses by summer 2004. ❏ Upon installation of all SmarTrip fareboxes on Metrobus, Metro will institute a balanced transfer policy worth a discount of $0.40 in each direction with the SmarTrip card for a total discount of $0.80. If customers have any questions on rail-to-bus transfers, or any other fare changes effective June 29, please call Metro at (202) 637-7000, TTY, (202) 638-3780, or visit Metro’s Web site for additional information at www.metroopensdoors.com

News release issued on June 13, 2003.