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Metro Rolls Out 100 More SmarTrip Dispensers

By: Ashley Dejean // November 7, 2012
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Smarttrip cards will be easier to get than ever with the rollout of new dispensers.
Andrew Bossi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thisisbossi/4785832026/
Smarttrip cards will be easier to get than ever with the rollout of new dispensers.

After months of waiting, it's now a little easier for Metro commuters to purchase SmarTrip cards.

"We're in the process of rolling out 100 new SmarTrip dispensers so that customers can purchase a SmarTrip card at any Metorrail station," says Metro spokesman Dan Stessel. "And actually, the rollout of those 100 new machines is pretty much complete. We're about a day away from the very last one."

While all stations now have a SmarTrip dispenser, not all of the units are new. Stessel says the new machines are more reliable, user-friendly and accessible to customers with visual impairments.

"There's a second 100 machine batch that's on order and expected to be delivered early next year," says Stessel.

Stessel says the second batch of dispensers will be installed by the middle of next year, replacing units that have been in service for nearly a decade.

SmarTrip cards enable riders to avoid the hefty $1 surchage levied this summer on paper fare cards.

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