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One day in DC - Public Transport Questions including DC Circulator & the Metro

One day in DC - Public Transport Questions including DC Circulator & the Metro

Old Aug 18, 2017, 11:47 am
  #16  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by Analise
Interesting, good to know. I noticed that, like London, riders have to tap out at the exit turnstiles. Does that mean we could tap out if there were a negative balance?
Yes, you can tap out with a negative balance, but you cannot re-enter until you've loaded more money on your card.

Does that farebox accept dollar bills or just coins?

If we have the bills in our hands (as opposed to fumbling in our pockets for change), I would think it would be quick.
Yes, the bus fareboxes take cash and coins, but they do not give change. If you have a bunch of singles, that works just fine.

Note that if you want the free transfer to another bus, you must use your SmarTrip card.
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Old Aug 18, 2017, 2:26 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by blockski
Yes, you can tap out with a negative balance, but you cannot re-enter until you've loaded more money on your card.
Good to know. Thanks!


Yes, the bus fareboxes take cash and coins, but they do not give change. If you have a bunch of singles, that works just fine.

Note that if you want the free transfer to another bus, you must use your SmarTrip card.
Originally Posted by mhnadal
Yes, they accept bills. If you have a supply of singles that could be faster for you.
Thank you both!
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Old Aug 23, 2017, 12:43 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by jerryc436
Thanks for the reply. I am planning either 2 or 3 days in DC but have not decided what I am going to try and see yet. Not sure how much I will be using card on each day but may be smart to get day pass for a few days. I know I want to see the Smithsonian, the monuments, capitol building and white house. Would appreciate any other must see sites suggestions from anyone familiar with DC.
Something to remember is the Smithsonian is more than one place. There are quite a few museums, over a large geographic area. There are two air and space museums, one in the city and one at Dulles Airport, for example.
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Old Aug 28, 2017, 8:24 am
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Note that you can enter the metro with insufficient money on the card for the tripi and also exit with a negative balance up to a limit. If the negative balance is too high then you have to pay an exit fare at a machine, which used to be cash only.
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Old Oct 15, 2017, 11:50 am
  #20  
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I will be in DC this coming Friday. I see that Circulator has a $3 unlimited one-day trip pass.

Passes – Ride all you want by purchasing unlimited-trip passes before you board. One-Day ($3)
http://www.dccirculator.com/bus-basics/fares-payments/

Can I add this pass to the SmartTrip card or is it separate card/ticket?
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 8:33 am
  #21  
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We're leaving tomorrow and I just wanted to bump this to the top.

1. Does the DC Circulator have an unlimited one day $3 pass?

2. If not, I see that if I add money to the the Smartrip card, I can use it for the Circulator and it shows that there are free transfers on the Circulator if made within 2 hours of boarding the bus. Is this applicable if you board the same Circulator route within that 2 hours?
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 11:12 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by Analise
We're leaving tomorrow and I just wanted to bump this to the top.

1. Does the DC Circulator have an unlimited one day $3 pass?

2. If not, I see that if I add money to the the Smartrip card, I can use it for the Circulator and it shows that there are free transfers on the Circulator if made within 2 hours of boarding the bus. Is this applicable if you board the same Circulator route within that 2 hours?
1. yes.
2. this question mostly moot (see #1 ) but while the answer is not clear from their website it would seem to be "no" because if you stay on the same route (even though a different actual bus) you are not actually transferring. This is what #1 is for....

http://www.dccirculator.com/bus-basics/fares-payments/
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 11:13 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by Analise
Let me first say I haven't been to DC since the mid 90s so it's been a while! There was no DC Circulator back then. As I look at that bus service, I'm impressed especially as I was used to walking 25 minutes between Foggy Bottom and Georgetown.

We have one free day and night to ourselves this fall on a Friday as we'll be going down to DC for a wedding and we'll be staying in Crystal City. We want to go to the National Gallery and Air & Space for the first part of the day. In the afternoon, we'll want to see the memorials (Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam War). The DC Circulator looks incredibly convenient. Then at night, we'll either go to Georgetown or Dupont Circle for dinner.

I believe the DC Circulator buses have a $3 one-day unlimited trips on a SmarTrip card on all its routes. Where do we buy the SmarTrip card when we arrive in DC? If we want to do pay-per-ride on the Metro, do we need a separate card? Is there a fee for the card alone?

If we transfer from the DC Circulator to the Blue Line/Yellow Line back to Crystal City, do we still pay the full Metro fare (peak/off peak)? Or is there a discount on the Metro?

Thanks for your help.
nice
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 7:37 pm
  #24  
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I just learned from someone in the area that Crystal City Metro station might not be selling the Smart Trip card. If they don't, how do you use the metro? Exact change at a ticket machine??
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 7:43 pm
  #25  
 
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Hi Ana,

Welcome back! It is mostly a great city. Anyway, I highly suggest you buy a Smart Trip card at the closest metro station when you arrive. Not only can you use the metro, metrobus, regional buses and finally the DC Circulator but you get some discounts when transferring from one to the other. It is very convenient. I am not sure where you would buy the all-day Circulator pass.

The discount would be 50 cents from Metrobus to Metro. Not sure if the DC Circulator is included for discount.

Only way to pay for the metro is using the Smart trip card. There are machines at every metro station where you can get smart trip cards.
Have a great trip!
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 7:53 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by JacobVB27
Hi Ana,

Welcome back! It is mostly a great city. Anyway, I highly suggest you buy a Smart Trip card at the closest metro station when you arrive. Not only can you use the metro, metrobus, regional buses and finally the DC Circulator but you get some discounts when transferring from one to the other. It is very convenient. I am not sure where you would buy the all-day Circulator pass.

The discount would be 50 cents from Metrobus to Metro. Not sure if the DC Circulator is included for discount.

Only way to pay for the metro is using the Smart trip card. There are machines at every metro station where you can get smart trip cards.
Have a great trip!
Thanks! And thank you for confirming that the Smart Trip card IS sold at the Crystal City metro.

I figured out that we'll be taking about $7 worth on the Metro (3 train trips). What I don't know is how many times we'll be on the Circulator. If the bus is packed and we see people waiting to get on the bus, for example, we might just stay on the bus. We don't want to get stranded. I've seen those Hop On/Hop Off buses in NYC with people waiting a long while for a bus with seats. So that's the question mark. On a Friday afternoon, it might be very crowded.
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Old Oct 19, 2017, 8:19 pm
  #27  
 
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Ana,

You are very welcome! I am not sure what that person was talking about. I have never heard of any of the metro stations not selling the metro card or running out of them. Yes you go to any of the brownish machines with all of the metro info on them. One of the options is to get a card. I am not sure if you press it twice but it is fairly easy to navigate. If you are landing at Reagan National at 10ish-2 pm, head to the C Terminal Concourse info desk. I should be there and would love to and gladly help you out. And even will head to the Metro Station to help you out. Hopefully not flying Southwest or one of the A terminal since it would be a long walk/bus ride.

I suggest you start out with 10 dollars on the card. If it goes low, you can add money to it at the metro station, any of the buses and some cvs'. From the info you mentioned here is the trips you would take:

Crystal City-L"Enfant Plaza on Yellow line for Air and Space Museum, either hop back on the train( Archives), walk or take Circulator bus to National Gallery of Art. After visiting the National Gallery of Art, take Circulator bus towards all the monuments. Since the monuments and memorials are pretty close to Foggy Bottom area, I highly suggest you head to Georgetown for dinner. So take the Circulator bus towards to a metro station that will be an easy transfer to the Georgetown area or Circulator bus to Georgetown. Coming back, either take the 38B bus towards Ballston or the DC Circulator to either Rosslyn or back towards downtown DC. For the 38B bus, get off Rosslyn and then get on the metro blue line towards Franconia-Springfield. If you need anything else, don't hesitate and send me a message.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 7:41 am
  #28  
 
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While Georgetown is a fine place for a walk, it's not really a great part of town for restaurants. There are some good places in the West End (i.e. near Foggy Bottom station) but the hot spots are more around Logan Circle / Shaw or Capital Hill these days. And there are some good places to eat in Crystal City itself, which has gotten artier and more interesting these days.

A possibly useful transit note is that Arlington Transit bus ART 43 runs from Crystal City to Rosslyn (and Court House, which is a short walk to Clarendon, which has some good restaurants, though less interesting ethnic places than it used to). I work in Crystal City and use it as an alternative during track work or other rail screw-ups.
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Old Oct 22, 2017, 12:03 pm
  #29  
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Thanks for everyone's help. We're back from DC. We put $10 on a SmarTrip card and it lasted for the weekend. We actually owe $0.40 each.

The Circulator bus driver confirmed there is no unlimited day pass and had no idea why that info was on their website. He said he never looked at it. For future reference for anyone would like it, with the SmarTrip card, you can hop on and off the Circulator as much as you like for free within a 2 hour period of first boarding the bus and that includes another bus on the same route. That was nice.

We went to the Front Page on Dupont Circle for dinner Friday night as that was a place I always enjoyed when I lived in College Park 20+ years ago. It's still attracting 20-somethings! We felt on the older side of the clientele but so what?

We basically did on Friday what Jacob wrote. Air & Space, grabbed lunch from a food truck by L'Enfant Plaza, visited the National Gallery, and then took the Circulator to the monuments getting off at the Jefferson Monument and Lincoln. We then took the bus back to L'Enfant Plaza and stopped at a Starbucks to recharge and sat outside. Then we just people watched. We were seated within a block of a VRE rail station and watched the drama of train service disruption at rush hour because of an apparent fire on the tracks near one of the stops in Va. Commuters were understandably annoyed at the apparent lack of information released. We were following it on Twitter (why not) and saw that the VRE put out a text at something like 6:10 that a train at Crystal City would depart at 6:14 for those who were stuck in DC and recommended passengers take alternate means to the Crystal City station. The responses from commuters for that whopping 4 minute advance warning, especially as most seemed to be waiting at Union Station, was rather sharp and that's putting it mildly.

When it started getting dark, we went to the Front Page. I didn't realize it was directly across the street from the Red Line. Again, it's been 20 years. It was easy getting back to the hotel.

Saturday was the wedding. We flew back this morning.
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