You know, I used to have a lot of faith in the Metro. Coming from Hartford, a city that has no real public transportation other than a mediocre bus system, the extensiveness of the Metro has been enlightening. For the most part, the Metrorail runs on time, it's clean, easy to use, you always know when the next train will arrive, etc. Granted, it's not the cheapest mode of transportation around, but it gets the job done.

I've been commuting to work using the Metrorail since EchoDitto's office is now in Farragut West. My fare from Rosslyn to FW (2 stops) is $1.35 each way, even during rush hour. (Usually rush hour fares are about $0.35-$0.85 more than reduced fares.)

Anyway, I left Rosslyn this morning with a $9.00 balance on my SmarTrip card. When I exited the Farragut West station, something strange happened. The displays on the exit faregates show two things - the fare that was charged, and your SmarTrip balance. After I touched my card to the panel on the faregate, the display blinked twice - first showing a $7.65 balance, then a $6.30 balance. Whaaaat?

To make sure I wasn't hallucinating, I checked my SmarTrip on the farecard machine. Sure enough, my balance was $6.30… which makes absolutely NO sense because the fare was $1.35. What the hell? The faregates can't (well, aren't supposed to) take more than one trip off your card… so technically you could press it on the panel 100 times and it wouldn't take off more than the single fare. Apparently there was a glitch, because this one definitely took of two fares - $1.35 x 2 = $2.70.

Being officially pissed that I got ripped off by the Metro system, I ask the station manager what the $#*% is going on. He checks my card on the computer, and shows me that the last fare charged was $1.35. Yes, that's right, but it charged my fare twice! (Unfortunately, it only shows the last fare charged, not the last 2+ times.) Station manager guy says that's not possible, but honest to god, I saw it happen with my own eyes.

I honestly wanted to start yelling about the WMATA being facist, like the crazy drunk guy I posted about earlier. Seriously! Just when I started to have some faith in pubilc transportation, I get screwed over. SCOUNDRELS, I tell ya!