On Thursday morning, Metro's board of directors received a briefing about a program launching in a few weeks that will dramatically cut prices for low-income riders.
Metro first made public Monday the details of a new program in which low-income riders can use trains and buses for half-price starting later this month.
The program, called “Metro Lift,” will be available for residents who are enrolled in the food assistance program SNAP.
Metro estimates 471,000 people are enrolled in SNAP in the DMV, and about a fifth of them are Metro riders who do not currently get any discounts on their fare.
Metro Lift will launch Tuesday, June 20, when Metro says riders who qualify can begin enrolling online or schedule an in-person appointment. Three in-person enrollment centers will open on Monday, June 26.
Metro says the program will in some ways be comparable to a current half-price discount for which seniors are eligible, with a major difference being that low-income riders will not receive a separate kind of SmarTrip card. Instead, the half-price discount will be applied to physical or smartphone-based regular SmarTrip cards after a person enrolls.
Riders applying for themselves or their households will be asked to submit their contact information, SmarTrip card number or numbers, an image of a federal or state ID, and an image of an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card.
Metro says the discount will take effect immediately for riders who enroll in-person, but will take 48 hours for those enrolling online.
The half-price discount will expire after one year, but Metro says riders will be able to re-enroll.
The in-person enrollment centers opening June 26 will be at:
- Metro Center Rail Station Mezzanine (12th & F Street NW)
- Metro Office Building at L’Enfant Plaza (300 7th Street SW)
- Metro Office Building at New Carrollton (4100 Garden City Dr.)
They will be open Monday – Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Metro recommends making an appointment to avoid having to wait.
Metro’s board of directors passed the half-price discount as part of the transit agency’s budget for the fiscal year that begins this summer. Metro projects that Metro Lift will cost about $4 million during its first year.