I just returned from ten days in Washington DC, where I got around solely by walking and public transit (bus and train). It was awesomely efficient. One of the more difficult things to suss out prior to visiting was the use of the SmarTrip app. The short summary: you don’t need it if you’re a tourist. Just use the Wallet function.
The app does three things:
- Lets you buy a multi-day pass. The pricing was extremely confusing with multiple agencies and “unlimited.” I’m sure this would make more sense to a local, but it was simpler and cheaper to just buy the fares we used.
- Set up auto-reload. Again, for a short visit, your balance is in the wallet. If you need more money, just add a few bucks.
- Asks you to give up name, date of birth, address, email, and three security questions. Supposedly this is to secure your balance in case ?? happens.
I should note that the app has a lot of mostly negative reviews and a rather thin-skinned developer responding to them. I’m not sure why it really exists, but it’s not the worst app I’ve used. This one is.
All you need to do is create on in the Apple wallet. Go to Wallet. Tap +. Tap Transit Card
Next, select SmarTrip
Then follow the steps to add an initial balance:
The first time you create a card, you’ll put a balance on it, plus a $2 fee to set everything up. At no time do you need to create a login.
When you’re about to go through a scanner, double-click the button to pull up the wallet, select SmarTrip, and scan. It’s not smart enough to just figure it out when you scan, and when I didn’t have SmarTrip up, the scanner got grumpy.
If you install the separate SmarTrip app — again, you probably do not need to do— you’ll have to input name, address, birth date, and choose three security questions and answers from a list. It’s super-tedious. The app can then figure out you have a wallet set up and use that.
- The wallet lets you add smaller amounts in dollar-increments, the app has $10 increments.
- The wallet gives you a full transaction history. The app is limited to the last 10 items.
- The wallet is what’s actually used to add money.
You can take the train to DCA Reagan (Blue or Yellow trains) or IAD Dulles (Silver train)