[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.