Metro News Release

For immediate release: May 21, 2004

Firm to assist Metro customers in SmarTrip-only parking lots

Metro officials today awarded a contract to LAZ Parking Mid-Atlantic, Inc., to assist customers who park in Metro lots as the transit agency converts its parking payment system to a method that has customers paying for their parking fees with a SmarTrip card instead of cash. The new SmarTrip-only system will go into effect June 28. The LAZ Parking contract is for 13 months at $3.1 million with three one-year options. The Connecticut-based firm has its Mid-Atlantic Regional Office in Baltimore and has experience with similar parking operations in Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Georgia and Massachusetts. LAZ employees will focus on customer service as they work in the Metro stations that have park-and-ride lots. The company will begin training their employees in mid-June and begin working in parking facilities on June 28. Seven firms submitted proposals for the contract, although Penn Parking, the contractor which currently operates Metro parking lots, did not submit a proposal. The LAZ parking customer assistance representatives (PCARs) will be able to respond to customer inquiries, ensure that SmarTrip vending machines are operating properly, monitor the parking lot faregate/arm, conduct customer surveys and alert the Transit Police of any cars that park overnight. The PCARs will not handle any cash. Metro is in the process of moving to the SmarTrip parking payment system that will have customers pay their daily parking via a SmarTrip card starting the last week of June. Currently, approximately 75 percent of parkers in Metro lots use SmarTrip cards to pay for their daily parking. The other 25 percent will need to purchase a SmarTrip card prior to the launch of a SmarTrip-only parking system on June 28, the start of Metro’s 2005 fiscal year. SmarTrip is a rechargeable farecard that can be used to pay for parking, Metrorail rides, and some Metrobus routes (soon expanding to all Metrobuses). The card is plastic" like a credit card" and is imbedded with a computer chip that keeps track of the value of the card and facilitates electronic communications with SmarTrip " targets." Parkers simply tap the SmarTrip card on the target to enter or exit the parking lot; the parking fee is deducted from the card and the gate is lifted, allowing the car to enter or exit the lot or garage. Customer parking assistance representatives who work for LAZ Parking will be on hand to assist customers who have questions. To ensure the availability of SmarTrip cards to parking customers, Metro is in the process of installing vending machines that sell the cards for $10, which includes $5 in fare value, in its stations with parking facilities. The first of those SmarTrip card vending machines are expected to be installed within the next two weeks. Customers will then need to add fare value to the SmarTrip card by taking it to a fare vending machine. Once loaded with value, SmarTrip can be used seamlessly to pay for parking fees as well as for fares to ride Metrorail and some Metrobuses. All Metrobuses will be outfitted with new SmarTrip-accepting fareboxes later this year. Currently only a few hundred Metrobuses have the SmarTrip fareboxes installed. SmarTrip cards cost $5 each, plus the amount of fare the individual wants to purchase on the card. Cards purchased in vending machines in stations are $10 apiece and include $5 in fare value. Customers may add up to $200 in value on a SmarTrip card, so it can last a long time between charging. SmarTrip is available for purchase by cash or credit/debit card at any of three Metro sales offices; via an order form available at all station kiosks; at any of 11 commuter stores; at special retail outlets; via U.S. mail; at any of six specific Metrobus divisions; or online at http://www.wmata.com/riding/smartrip.cfm. Locations of SmarTrip sales locations are also available online or by calling 202-637-7000. If someone loses a SmarTrip card, they don" t lose the value. For a $5 fee to replace the card itself, Metro will reissue a new SmarTrip card with the value on the card at the time the customer notified officials that it was lost. For this valuable replacement feature, customers must register their card, either at the point of purchase, via the mail or online. Currently, customers who park in Metro-owned parking lots pay if they exit the parking lots between 2 and 10 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Under the new plan, the payment hours would be expanded from 9 a.m. until closing Mondays through Fridays. Weekend and Federal holiday parking at Metro lots will remain free.

News release issued on May 21, 2004.