If you are enrolled in the program and submitted a claim, benefits will be loaded to your SmarTrip® account and be available for the following month.
To verify your SmartBenefits® status and claim history, review Participant Status . The claim history is found on the bottom of that page.
You can check your SmarTrip® account balance at any time. If you need assistance accessing your SmarTrip® account, WMATA customer service can be contacted by calling 1-888-762-7874 or emailing smartrip@wmata.com.
Note: Riders of vanpools, MARC, VRE, MTA Commuter Buses, and other modes of transit that are not equipped with SmarTrip® card readers must perform the additional allocation step to move the benefits from their SmarTrip® accounts to their transit vendor. See the Allocate Your MTBP Benefits page for the necessary instructions to set up your account.
Benefit Delivery Preparation
To readily access the transit funding in your account, you should tap your SmarTrip® card at a SmarTrip® target/reader or a farecards and passes machine at least once in the last two weeks prior to your first benefit month.
This action prepares your card to access the account. This is important if you HAD NOT planned on using your card in the last two weeks of the month. If you’re a regular commuter, it’s not an issue. You must repeat this step if you replace your SmarTrip® card or make any changes to your benefits.
SmartBenefits® Funds Autoload
Be advised that “board & swipe” commuters who tap their SmarTrip® card or Mobile device when boarding to pay fares (metro rail, metro bus, etc.) may experience a one or two commute delay in transit funds upload. Tapping the SmarTrip® card on a fare machine promotes a faster loading of benefits to the card. After tapping your card, you will see only your personal balance. Hit “press for cancel” and you are done. Do this at least 2 hours before you need to use the card.
Prepping your card each month will promote transit benefits to load to the SmartBenefits® ‘purse’ on your card the first time you tap your card on a Metro Fare Gate or Bus target each month.
SmarTrip® cards must have a history of use and a positive personal balance to load benefits.
You do not need to spend personal funds to establish a history of use. Usage history is established when paying fares or by tapping your card on a farecards & passes machine along the walls of a Metro station at any point in the 3 weeks prior to benefits loading. After tapping your card, you will see your personal balance. Hit “press for cancel” and you are done.
- If a history is not established in the 3 weeks prior to benefits loading, benefits will still load, but they may take 3 to 5 days after first use to establish a history and start working.
- A one or two commute delay in funds upload may still occur if a benefit was provided after the 21st in prior month. Metro's system of synchronizing with a SmarTrip® account for the current month may introduce a several hour delay for the next month's upload.
Be aware that Metro fares will automatically draw from your transit benefit purse first. If those funds are exhausted, payments will be deducted from your personal stored value purse.
If your account has been modified by a funding event or card replacement after the 21st of the month it is imperative that a tap of the card be performed prior to the first of the upcoming month to avoid balance upload delays.
Benefit Delivery
Commuters using transportation with SmarTrip® targets/readers installed (i.e., ART, CUE Bus System, DASH, DC Circulator, Fairfax Connector, Loudoun Commuter Bus, Metro Bus, Metro Rail, Montgomery County Ride On, OmniRide, REX, and TheBus) simply tap the SmarTrip® card to a Metro Rail faregate (entry turnstile) or bus SmarTrip® card target on the first workday of the benefits period, benefits will be applied directly to your SmarTrip® card transit purse.
As stated earlier, you can check your SmarTrip® account balance at any time). If you need assistance accessing your SmarTrip® account, WMATA customer service can be contacted by calling 1-888-762-7874 or emailing smartrip@wmata.com.
When you tap your card on the target for the first time during the benefit period, the transit benefit balance displayed on the screen at the Metro faregate or Bus farebox will be your full monthly benefit amount. As you ride during the month, you will be using your benefits as you commute on mass transit.
For those who do not pre-scan, a prior month’s unused balance may appear as a “ghost balance” having to clear first prior to the current month’s balance upload. This often occurs when returning to a commute after a prolonged period of non-usage.
Metro allows your employer to separate benefits from personal funds on your card using separate “purses” programmed on the card (see below for more information on purses). Your transit benefits are stored on a transit benefit purse on the card. Any personal funds loaded reside in a separate personal stored value purse on your card.
Your SmarTrip® card has electronic “purses”
To satisfy IRS requirements, transit, parking, and personal stored value are segregated in electronic “purses” on your SmarTrip card. (See Revenue Ruling 2006-57, 2006-2 C.B. 911 and Internal Revenue Code § 132(a)(5) and 132(f).).
Transit Benefit Purse
- DoD authorized mass transit benefit
- Funds from this purse are used first when riding mass transit during the benefit period
- View balance at faregate, bus farebox, or online
- Unused benefits do not roll over to the next benefit period
- Can NOT be used for parking
- Can NOT be transferred to your personal stored value purse
- Holds up to your certified commuting cost not to exceed the federal maximum of $340 per month
Personal Stored Value Purse
- Personal funds added at Metro farecard kiosks or online
- View balance at the Metro farecard kiosks, parking target, or online
- Will be used pay for parking at a Metro lot
- Cannot be transferred to Transit Benefit Purse
- Your personal funds do not expire and will remain on the card until used
- Holds up to $300 of personal funds
Troubleshooting Checklist
- Verify that you submitted a claim and are using the same SmarTrip® card that you registered for benefits.
To verify the SmarTrip® card you registered with MTBP, visit your Participant Status . The SmarTrip® card # being used for benefits is displayed and the claim history is at the bottom of the page.
- The SmarTrip® card must have a history of use and a positive personal balance to load benefits.
You do not need to spend personal funds to establish a history of use. You can tap your card on a “farecards and passes” machine along the walls of a Metro station at any point in the 3 weeks prior to benefits loading.
After tapping your card, you will see your personal balance. Hit “press for cancel” and you are done.
Note: If a history is not established in the 3 weeks prior to benefits loading, benefits will still load, but they may take 3 to 5 days after first use to establish a history and start working.
If you have questions, please contact the MTBP Program office at 571-256-0962.