Metro Strives to Ease Fare Shock: ‘Q Card’ and New Fees Will Be Phased in Over Several Months

By Rad Sallee, Houston Chronicle

Jan. 15–To work out the expected bugs and soften the shock to transit riders, Metro says it will phase in its new fare structure and “Q Card” payment system over several months and hopes to complete the changeover this summer.

“We’re planning a rolling start rather than dumping an entire new system on patrons at once,” said Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman Raequel Roberts.

“It’s just such a massive thing that to start Feb. 4 (the previously announced date) and expect everybody to be on board would have been too overwhelming,” she said. “We don’t want people getting on the bus and having all kinds of problems.”

Metro announced last year that the new fare structure and stored-value Q (for “quick”) Cards will replace the complex existing system of discounts and passes. Because of those discounts, the average fare per ride is 48 cents. That average will rise under the new structure as Metro attempts to increase the portion of its revenue that comes from the fare box.

After a series of meetings among Metro staff and consultants to review equipment performance and plan the rollout strategy, Metro vice presidents George Smalley and Erik Oistad laid out the tentative schedule Friday.

To start with, Metro has recruited about 600 riders from all parts of the transit system — including local bus, Park & Ride bus, MetroRail and MetroLift — as part of an eventual sample of 1,000 who will use the new cards and report any glitches.

This cross-section of riders, dubbed “Q Boosters,” are being issued Q Cards with $10 of stored value on them and will receive partial refunds for charging the cards up again when that runs out, Smalley said.

Oistad said these riders will use the new system and fill out forms about their experiences.

Among other things, they’ll be surveyed about use of the card readers on buses, error codes they may observe in the reader window, whether they were able to transfer within a route, and when and where they rode.

The group also will test new fares, Smalley said. “If you’re a student, for instance, the fare will go up from 25 cents to 50 cents, and we’re testing to make sure the card reads 50 cents.”

Vending machines in place

All Q Boosters should be on the job by Feb. 4 and will continue to report during the phase-in. Also by then, Oistad said, new ticket vending machines will have been installed at all MetroRail stations. Q Card readers, which deduct fares from the cards’ stored value, are already installed on Metro buses and will be on trains.

The new rail ticket machines, like the present ones, will accept cash, credit and debit cards to issue single-ride tickets for $1. The popular 24-hour passes that provide a day of rides for $2 are being discontinued.

The ticket machines also can be used to add stored value to Q Cards.

The next phase, starting in early March, will widen the program to large employers, such as government, corporations and hospitals, that sponsor transit rides for their workers.

About 10,000 riders take part in such programs now, Oistad said. “Participation will be voluntary on the part of the sponsor and will be drawn largely from Park & Ride customers,” he said.

Unlike the Q Boosters, these riders will not be obliged to fill out reports, but the group will be large enough that major glitches should come to Metro’s attention, Oistad said.

Flexible deadline After any kinks are worked out, it will take about 30 days to extend the changes to the system, Oistad said.

“We will announce a date for full conversion and launch an aggressive public awareness program to get the Q Cards and Metro Money (disposable fare cards with a fixed value) into the hands of our riders,” he said.

Officials would not set a date for that, but Smalley said it will probably be this summer.

“Our CEO, Frank Wilson, has made it crystal clear that the most important thing is the convenience of the customer and that if we encounter something unexpected, we are not going to rigidly adhere to a particular date at the expense of the customer,” Smalley said.

“Ridership has been on an upswing, and we want to keep it going in that direction.”

In November, however, Metro’s Chief Financial Officer Francis Britton told the agency board that ridership will likely fall by around 11 percent when the changes occur.

Some riders are likely to be discouraged by the unfamiliar payment system, and fares for many will increase even though the base fare for local buses and MetroRail will remain $1.

What about old cards? Several Houston Chronicle readers have asked what will happen to their time-activated passes and stored-value cards when the changeover occurs.

This is a substantial group. Last year, Metro sold 9,283 of its 365-day passes, whose cost varies with trip length and discounts for particular groups.

Metro stopped selling the passes Oct. 1 and will do the same for shorter-term ones as the change date nears. “Individuals will be able to come to the Metro ride stores and exchange their cards, but there should be enough overlap so that you can use (the shorter-term passes) to the end,” said David McMaster, director of customer service and sales for Metro.

McMaster said value remaining on the cards when the changeover occurs will be credited to the customer.

For example, he said, if a rider paid $1,000 for a 365-day pass and half the time had expired, there would be $500 in credit remaining.

rad.sallee@chron.com

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