School Transit Subsidy Program

[Anonymous]

My DC and I went to a metro station to renew his student pass. Yesterday I called DDOT and confirmed that this could be done at [b]any[/b] metro station as stated on their website (vs. one of those three Metro Sales Office). I was told that it could be done at any metro station, so we went and tried, but... The metro farecard machine doesn't let you specify for what you are adding value to your Student ID. It simply says add value, as if you are just adding $30 to your SmarTrip card. We were confused so we asked the clerk in the booth, but he had absolutely no idea... We didn't want to risk losing $30 if it were not to be meant for the Student Pass value, so we came home accomplishing nothing. We do not have a metro station near where we live, and it was work for us to take two metro buses to get to a metro station to do this, and yet we couldn't get it done.

Has anyone done this on the farecard machine at a metro station other than Metro Sales Offices? If you successfully accomplished it, could you tell me how to renew/reload the student pass on the Student ID? Additionally, if anyone has renewed the Student Pass on the WMATA SmarTrip website (as if you are adding value to your SmarTrip card), please let me know. I would call DDOT and ask about this again next week, but that means we will miss the end of the month deadline for renewal if we are actually required to go to a Metro Sales Office to do it (due to my work schedule).

[Anonymous]

Back when I was in HS (10 years ago), we purchased from either Metro Center or the Metro office on U street. I would be surprised if you could renew at any machine since you have to prove that you're a student and they've had issues with fraud in the past. My youngest brother is still in HS, so I'll check with him to see if anything has changed.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply. Here's the excerpt from DDOT website:

Future monthly passes can be renewed by going to any Metrorail station before the end of the month.
Use the Passes & Farecards machines in any Metro station and pay to load your discounted monthly pass onto your card. Specific details about renewing a pass are listed under the Frequently Asked Questions section at ddot.dc.gov/schooltransitsubsidy
Renew the pass before the end of the month. Otherwise, you will be required to print out the Eligibility Letter again and return to a Metro sales office to buy a pass.

http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/Services/Transit+Subsidies/DC+Student+Guide+for+the+School+Transit+Subsidy+Program


Luckily, the program intends to be more user-friendly, but it sure didn't feel that way when we were at a metro station trying to accomplish this at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning.....

[Anonymous]

Our child loads on to his DC ONE card. He had to prove he was a student when he got the card. I think now when he loads at any machine he gets the student rate. he got the ONE card at our local parks and recreation. good luck!

[Anonymous]

Question for OP - have you activated your child's OnePass to receive the monthly pass yet? You have to do that before you will be able to renew the pass at any metro station. The initial activation has to be done in person, with the OnePass card, at one of the sales offices (such as Metro Center). Only after making that initial activation visit can you renew at any metro station.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply, everyone. Yes, my DC's Student ID has been activated by visiting the Metro Sales Office in December. His Student ID has been loaded with a Student pass already. So that means we can visit ANY Metrorail station and use the farecard machine to reload the Student fare, right? The thing is, when you go try to do that, the farecard machine gives you absolutely no information that you are adding $30 as Student Pass fare. I don't want my $30 to go to a regular SmarTrip fare, where money will be deducted as if you are using the metrorail/bus everyday. My question is, if I add $30 to my son's Student ID, will it know that it is for the Student Pass?

[Anonymous]

No, you don't want to just add money. There is supposed to be an option on the machine to buy a pass. It's different from just adding money. They had the right kind of machine at Metro Center, but we haven't looked at our local metro station yet to see if they are everywhere. Sorry to hear about your experience.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP, for clarifying that there is indeed a special farecard machine to load the Student fare to your Student ID. I'm glad I didn't just add $30 to my DC's Student ID this morning. There was no special machine or an option to load Student fare at the metro station we visited this morning. Certainly the clerk couldn't point us to the right direction - he had no idea what we were talking about. Now that you said there was such a special machine at Metro Center, I wonder if such machines are at all the metrorail stations, since DDOT website says you could renew your Student fare at ANY metro station..... I do hope they have published the correct information on their website. Otherwise, it makes no sense since we all would have to make a trip to Metro Center where the Metro Sales Office is. Perhaps DDOT intends to equip all the metro stations with the Student fare option/machine, but it hasn't happened yet....? While their website states that their FAQ shows how to renew the Student fare, there is no such thing. At least it doesn't say anywhere that you do have to find a special machine or an option on the machine to renew your Student fare. I'm glad you've clarified that for me. Thank you. Now the challenge is to find that special machine without having to go to Metro Center.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and I'm sorry I don't have better advice than that. We have just done the initial activation and purchase, and haven't renewed yet. I have a vague recollection that it might have been one of the bigger machines, that lets you use credit cards, that had "buy a pass" as an option. Good luck. This whole thing has been really cumbersome, and my experience has been that the instructions from DDOT have been totally inconsistent and unhelpful.

[Anonymous]

14:53, could you tell me if that special farecard machine actually states if that machine is equipped with the capability of renewing/reloading the Student fare? There are 3 buttons, A, B, C, to choose from, and would one of that be an option to load the Student fare? Thank you very much. I would rather know as much as I could in advance, than being confused again at the metro station, and worse yet, come home accomplishing nothing!

[Anonymous]

One more thing - I think I remember that under the "buy a pass" you could choose either buy a student pass or buy a bus pass. So, you might ask the metro clerk where the machine is that lets you buy a bus pass. The one thing that makes me a little nervous is that, why I look at the wmata site for info about buying bus passes, it lists the metro sales centers. I am going to be super-duper hopping mad if we can only renew these passes at the sales centers, which would require my middle-school child to travel downtown during the week, with her onepass card, every month.

[Anonymous]

The whole thing is nuts. I went to the Metro Sales office on 14th to activate my DDs DCOne card and load it for the month. The clerk told me that I would have to come back to the sales office to load it again. She indicated that I wouldn't be able to load it in any station and that the system was not working yet. This was in early January. I planned to go back to the sales office on 14th to load it for February.

[Anonymous]

See this link for some instructions here for loading the pass at the fare machines once you have activated the One Card. Scroll down about halfway through FAQ on the page. I also inserted the instructions below. My teen tried to to this yesterday (before she read the instructions) and found it confusing and will try again on Monday.

http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/Services/Transit+Subsidies/DC+Student+Passes#13

RENEWAL STEPS:

To renew your monthly Bus/Rail Pass, you must already have an unexpired monthly Bus/Rail Pass on your DC One card. You may renew at a Metro Sales Office or at Farecards & Passes Machines. You may renew your pass at any time in the month when you have an unexpired monthly Bus/Rail Pass on your DC One card and the new pass will be valid for use in the next month.


RENEW YOUR REGULAR SESSION MONTHLY PASS AT FARECARDS & PASSES MACHINE:

Touch your card to the card reader (circular target) at Farecards & Passes Machine. Press the C button: “RENEW PASS”.
A SMART BENEFITS
B ADD VALUE
C RENEW PASS
The next screen will show the student pass. Press the B button: “DC MNTH R”
A
B DC MNTH R
Follow the prompts to purchase the pass and add it to your card.

[Anonymous]

17:41, thank you for the precise instruction on how to renew the Student pass. I wish I had seen this before I left the house. I did go out to yet another metro station to try renewing my son's pass because I had to take care of it today, or we'd have to pay cash for the metro fare starting Feb. 1.

When I got to the metro farecard machine, again I didn't see any indication that it would give me an option to renew my son's student pass. I put the One Card (Student ID) on the circular thing and the screen only showed "buy pass" or Smartbenefit. I tried almost all the machines, until the last machine showed "renew pass"! Then I was very skeptical but did it anyway, hoping that this was what I was supposed to do. I asked the metro clerk in the booth again, but he had no idea. After a long, few transfers ride of metro bus, I came home to see your post and was more confident that I probably did it right this time. Thus I wish I had seen your post before I left the house, and I would have known what to do. Thank you.

So if anyone out there is trying to renew your child's Student pass at a metro station, you may have to try all the machines until you find the right one equipped with that option. Or, perhaps only some metro stations have the machine with it, despite the fact that DDOT's website says you could do it at ANY metro station. This process really didn't have to be this difficult. It has taken me 10 bus rides and 2 metro stations until I was able to make it happen. I hope nobody else has to go through what I have had to go through. Thank you, everyone, for trying to help me!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting. I had no idea that things were changing. Unfortunately our Elementary school forgot to inform the parents and children. So, now I guess I am going to have to stress about getting my 1st grader a card and have it reg. before Feb 1st so that we can still participate in the program.