Metro News Release

For immediate release: June 8, 2006

Metro puts an end to the numbers game

Metro riders will need to know just one phone number—202-637-7000—to plan their next trip on Metro, get schedule and fare information, reach a Metrorail line manager, make a suggestion or report a lost item.

Metro aims to consolidate more than a dozen phone numbers into a single number by the fall to make it easier for riders to get the information they need.

“Dialing 202-637-7000 will be one-stop shopping for Metro riders,” said Metro Interim General Manager Dan Tangherlini. “Having a single phone number for customer service and information about Metrobus, Metrorail, MetroAccess, SmarTrip® cards, parking, escalators and elevators, and all other Metro-related inquiries streamlines information-gathering and eliminates confusion for riders.”

Metro’s Board Budget Committee today gave preliminary approval to reprogram $150,000 to consolidate the various phone numbers into a single Metro phone number. The full Board of Directors is expected to vote on the measure on June 15.

Currently, more than a dozen phones numbers appear on Metro’s Web site, in brochures, on bus stop signs and bus maps, and in other published Metro materials. Riders currently dial different numbers to reach customer service, customer assistance, and Metrorail line managers, and different numbers to get information on bus schedules, rail delays, lost and found, parking permits, bike-on-rail and other Metro-related inquiries.

In addition to creating a single phone number for customer service and information, the reprogrammed funds will help pay to enhance and redesign the Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) menu that plays when customers call. Regrouping and reordering the IVR menu into a more logical fashion will make it easier and faster for callers to find the information they seek.

For example, once the single access phone number is in place, the prompt to reach the Trip Planner will be placed up front because most of the calls received to the customer information phone line are for the Trip Planner.

“The change to one phone number is driven by our goal to provide ultimate convenience to our customers,” said Metro Assistant General Manager for Customer Communications Leona Agouridis. “We’re streamlining the phone system and at the same time will be adding new services this summer, including automated trip planning services in Spanish.”

Though riders will be encouraged to call the single, published phone number, 202-637-7000, for Metro customer information, the other individual phone numbers will still work.

###

News release issued on June 8, 2006.