SmarTrip 4+

It’s hard to overstate how terrible this app is. TL;DR: after I finish this review I’m deleting it. I found it significantly easier to just use the plastic card and even gave up my attempt to use the app to recharge my card: going to a station and using a credit card was so much easier. For the nerds who care, the reason is that the input checking is buggy and rigid. For example, I had to give “today” as my date of birth, since it simply rejected my attempt to enter my birth month. Later, with some help, I figured out if I tried to enter my birth month, a few months later than the present month, the app would think I was trying to choose a birthday in the future and reject it. You can only reliably enter a birthdate if you start with the year (which is on the right) and work back to the month. This is only an example: the app is riddled with this kind of bad coding. And everywhere instead of letting you correct something it doesn’t like, it wipes the entry and makes you start over. In summary, stay away: got a stored value card and recharge it at stations. It’s a stinker

our app uses. If you have any additional questions please give us a call at 888.762.7874 (M—F, 7 am—8 pm) -KB

Asks for way more personal info than it needs for metro rides, in my opinion — there’s no way you need my address, phone number, and email just to sell me a train ticket, not to mention only the email actually needs to be accurate to get in and buy a ticket (leading me to believe it’s the only thing you should actually ask users to enter — why take the risk of storing additional PI if you don’t need it? Maybe phone is fine for MFA, but there isn’t MFA, so ??). Lack of autocomplete is frustrating — should just be an additional attribute you add to inputs, no? Had to suffer the registration forms twice because the validation on the email field broke when I tried to use Apple Hide My Email, and it wouldn’t let me continue even after entering a valid email. Bought two tickets because the UI was super unclear where my purchased ticket landed.

You can buy a virtual card directly in Apple Wallet. When you register your card, you are protecting your balance by providing the optional security information. Thanks for the additional details. Our developers use this feedback for future updates. -KB

This app requires way too much personal information. Just buy the Smartrip card at the kiosk and add money when needed.
- Why is it necessary to know my birthday, home address, phone number, and require 3 security questions?
- Why do I have to type in my location when location service is on? Other apps like Waze or Yelp does this automatically.
-Also why is it so complicated to add money to the Smartrip card via credit card? I ended up just using the kiosk.
My friend also struggled with these issues. An app should be intuitive and simple to use.

All good questions Jess. Registering your card and providing account information allows us to protect your balance in case your card is lost. If you lose your card and it isn't registered were unable to view the balance or transfer it to a new card like we can when it is registered. Your location is needed when planning a trip. This allows for you to plan a trip from anywhere rather than assuming it is your current location. Lastly, once you have a virtual card you can add value immediately to your virtual card in Apple Wallet. If you add value through the SmarTrip app, processing times still apply similar to adding value online. After you select stored value or a pass, you can tap to add your credit card information and save it for future use or use Apple Pay to use a card you have saved on your device. If you have additional questions, please chat with us weekdays 7a-7p at wmata.com/chat -KB