[embolalia]

NYC Subway fares are always $2.50. Really, as confusing fares go, this is nothing compared to DC's Metro. At the top of the machine, above the head of anyone who can actually fit in the train, there's a massive listing of fares to each other station in the system (on and off peak, which are different). In order to fill your card perfectly, you need to know exactly which stations you'll be using and when. Granted, most tourists will be traveling within the distances that get the minimum fare, and off-peak, so they could just go by that minimum fare. There's just no actual indication of that fact.

Oh, and if you want a plastic RFID card rather than magnetic paper that will fall apart within 3 trips, you need to spend $10 for $8 of fare. (EDIT: And another commenter mentioned something I'd forgotten: those paper farecards also come with a $1 surcharge per trip.)

[mazelife]

Seconded on the DC Metro. Flat fares would improve the experience greatly. Not only would it make it easier to calculate how much you need, but it would avoid the hideous backups that occur at many stations when the flow of people exiting the station is constrained by the fact that everyone has to scan their card again before they can get out. The idea gets proposed quite often, but it never goes anywhere. I recall reading something a couple years ago though that said for a flat-fare system to be revenue neutral in DC, the fare would have to be $2.90. Apparently the concern is that that would end up decreasing ridership, particularly among people who are just traveling around the urban core of DC.

[oh_sigh]

There could be an "unlimited ride" card, like NYC has. It would work out to be about $125/month if that $2.90 is accurate compared to the $2.50 for NYC and everything else being equal.

[Scoundreller]

The system being implemented on the commuter trains in Southern Ontario Canada allow for riders to set a "default exit", so when a user doesn't tap-off, the system assumes that's where they got off the system.

[munin]

each ride with the magnetic paper also costs $1 extra, to incentivize using the RFID, but the RFID cards stop working after a month and when they do you have no way to get the balance off of it the way you do with a paper card. yay!

[JosephHatfield]

I was one of the first people in DC to get the Smart Card. That original card lasted for more than ten years. The first (much thinner) replacement card failed after two months. The second failed after three months. I complained to WMATA and they completely denied any change in the card design. I've been back on paper fare cards ever since.

[pikewood]

The original SmarTrip cards came from a company that went out of business, but used proprietary technology. WMATA eventually found another company to create the cards, and I believe this came about the time when new SmarTrip cards reduced in price from $5 to $2. So perhaps not a change in the design, but definitely a change in the manufacturing.

http://wamu.org/news/10/10/15/metro_board_replacing_smartrip...

[palidanx]

I was just in DC and I noticed that on the buses some times you have to swipe 3-4 times just to get it to work? Is it just a weird software glitch or my bad luck?

[tedks]

I've had DC Smarttrip cards last years. Actually, I've only ever owned two since they were introduced. They definitely don't stop working after a month.

[mikeash]

Odd, my wife and I have both had ours for many years and they still work fine.