Paying To Ride
There are two ways to pay your fare on METRO - Q Card or cash
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Fare Costs |
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What is the Q Card?
Think of the Q Card as an electronic wallet for METRO riders. This unique card contains a computer chip that stores your cash balance directly onto your card. Fares are automatically deducted from your card each time you ride, just like a debit card.
The Q, which stands for “quick,” also provides free transfers and tracks your progress toward earning five free trips for every 50 paid rides. Just touch your card to the Q Box on your bus or at METRORail platforms, and you’re on your way.
How the Q Benefits You
Q Card holders will enjoy a variety of benefits:
- Five free trips for every 50 paid trip
- Faster boarding
- Free transfers (valid two hours in one direction)
- Balance is protected (when you register your card)
- 50 percent discounts for students, seniors, disabled and Medicare cardholders
Patrons with questions about transferring remaining balances on Stored Value Cards are asked to call METRO’s customer service line, 713-635-4000.
Please remember that:
- The decision to transfer remaining amounts will be made on a case-by-case basis.
- Customers must have their Stored Value Card or non activated 30-day pass. No transfers will be made if a card/pass has been lost, stolen or thrown away. No exchanges will be made on 30-day passes which have been activated.
- METRO will make no cash refunds. Unused balances will be transferred onto a Q Card.
- METRO will only transfer the remaining balance of the Stored Value Card up to its retail value. Bonus fares will not be transferred.
- Customers who received Stored Value Cards from their employer, or whose company participates in the Ride Sponsor Program, should contact their Transit Coordinator first for company procedures, then METRO.
Q Card Q & A
Q: How do the Q Cards really work?
A: When you tap
the Q Card on the Q Box, the reader instantly interacts with the chip in the
smart card - and the appropriate fare will be debited from your balance. You
will be able to add money to your Q Card by visiting a participating retail
location, METRO RideStores, METRO Ticket Vending Machine (TVM), a Credit Vending
Machine (CVM) at Transit Centers and some Park & Ride locations and a bus Q Card
Reloader will be onboard local buses.
Q: How secure are Q Cards?
A: The data is
encrypted. The equipment to read the card has to be properly programmed to read
the encrypted information. It’s not absolutely impossible, but it’s extremely
unlikely that someone would be able to read a Q Card with homemade equipment.
There’s minimal information located on the Q Card. When you register your card,
all the information you submit during registration will not be on the Q Card. It
will be in a highly secure database.
Q: What is stored on the card?
A: Basic
information: the type of passenger you are (full fare, senior, student,
disabled) and the stored value on the card – how much money you have loaded on
the card, and a card ID number.
Q: Who has access to the database?
A: Only
authorized individuals at METRO.
Q: Will the information in the database be
regularly shared with law enforcement?
A: No.
Q: Will a warrant be required?
A:
We will comply with the law.
Q: Can someone use my Q Card to make fake ones?
A:
Never say never. But it is extremely difficult to generate a counterfeit fare
item in the new system. In addition to being very difficult, it’s equally
important to have the ability to detect a counterfeit item and prevent its use.
The Q Card system allows us to track the use of a card, both in payments made
from the cards and extra funds added to the card. If a card shows up in the Q
Card system that has money on it that the system's database doesn’t know about,
the card is invalidated and can’t be used.
Q: If my trip involves
taking a bus eastbound, then transferring to another bus northbound, will the
transfer still work since I am not traveling in the same direction?
A: There
won’t be a problem. You’ll get a free transfer if it’s a continuation of the
same trip, even though the bus seems to be going in a different direction.
Q:
How will the cost of the fare be determined if each leg costs a different
amount? For example, if the second leg of my trip costs 50 cents more, do I have
to tell the bus driver I am transferring to a more expensive bus before I swipe
my card?
A: Your Q Card will automatically add the extra 50 cents to the more
expensive leg of the trip. However, all of the express buses except for the 170
Missouri City Express, which operates between the Missouri City Park & Ride lot
and the TMC Transit Center, will have fares reduced to $1 from $1.50.
Q: What
happens if I take an express, then a local? Will the Q Card account for the
different prices?
A: Yes. The Q Card will only deduct the fare increment if you
get on the most expensive bus.
Q: I’m a senior. What do I do when my pass is
about to expire?
A: All seniors should exchange their Q Cards at any METRO
RideStore. This will make you eligible for half-price fares if you are between
the ages of 65 and 69. For seniors 70 or older, rides are free with the 70+
Lifetime Q Card, which is also available at the RideStores. Anyone with a
current Discount 365 Day Q Card (Seniors, Disabled, Students and Youth 5-11)
will continue to qualify for the program, even after the rollout.
Q: Hey, do I
have to be a speed reader? When I flash my card at the Q Box, my balance doesn’t
stay up long enough for me to read.
A: Keep your card next to the Q Box and hold
it steady. The information will remain up for as long as you hold your Q Card to
the Q Box.
Q: When I try to tap my card again, I get a red light.
A: The Q Card
has a feature that prevents you from being charged twice for the same trip. When
you tap your card a second time within five minutes of the first time you tapped
it, you’ll see a message on the Q Box of "No Passback.”
Q: What happens if I
accidentally tap my card against the Q Box twice? Will I be charged twice?
A:
No, you won’t. That’s one of the reasons why we have the “no passback” feature.
Q: Why does the Q Box not read my card sometimes?
A: Make sure your Q Card is
not flat against another smart card, like an employee card.
Q: Do I need to tap
my card on the Q Box when I’m taking the train?
A: Yes, be sure to tap your Q
Card against the Q Box before you board the train. The Q Box is located adjacent
to the ticket vending machine. Otherwise, when METRO police check on board to
see if passengers paid – and wave their wand over your Q Card, it will indicate
the card wasn’t properly tapped. You’ll be in violation.
Call 713-635-4000 and hit the prompt for the Q Card help desk.
