Answers to Your Q Card Questions
Friday, January 19, 2007 5:22 PM
The posting on the new Q Card generated a lot of questions from you, so today’s entry will try to answer those.
When you tap or flash the Q Card in front of a card reader, you’ll get an audible and visual signal that it has been read. You’ll hear a beep and see a green light flash.
If you keep the card against the card reader long enough, you’ll be able to see the balance on your card, how many trips you’ve accumulated, or how many free trips you have used.
“Every time they use the card, they’ll be able to see the balance to keep track,” said David McMaster, director of customer service and sales. “If they have an on-line account, they will be able to see their transactions and the balance.”
The Q Card will not come with carriers or wallet sleeves. It will be a contactless “smart” card and should not affect the magnetic stripe on other credit cards in your wallet if they are placed together. The Q Card will be similar to employee ID cards.
Do not punch a hole or you may damage the antenna and computer chip embedded in it. “The antenna tends to run in a rectangular spiral and extends throughout the card. You really can’t punch a hole anywhere and be safe and not damage it,” explained McMaster.
There are no plans to create mini Q cards or to issue mini keychain Q cards.
Lost and Stolen Cards
If you lose your card or it’s stolen, the balance on that card can be transferred to your new Q Card – but only if you have registered that card. Q Cards can only be registered by calling the Help Desk at 713/635.4000. You’ll be prompted to push a button for Q Card help.
“If you don’t register your card, it’s like losing a $50 bill. It’s not going to come back to you,” McMaster cautioned.
You’ll able to add value to your Q Card by linking it to a credit card and setting limits: how much you want to add and how often. There are three parameters you’ll be able to set: the refresh rate – which is the amount of money you want to add to your Q Card; the refresh threshold – the dollar amount at which you want to automatically add money; and the refresh period – the number of times you want to add money or refresh your Q Card.
For example, you’ll be able to add $50 once a month to your card automatically. Or you can set parameters that will automatically add, say $10, to your Q Card when the balance hits $2.
The maximum amount you can load onto your Q Card is $500.
Free trips
For every 50 trips you take, you’ll get five free trips. This will not be added as dollars to your Q Card account. It will simply be five free trips. Once you hit 50, the next five boardings – whether it is a commuter bus, a train, or a local bus – are free.
“If you want to take the local bus 50 times and then get on Zone 3, you can do it, and Zone 3 bus is free,” said McMaster. “You take 50 paid trips at whatever amount that is. Then you get the next five free trips at whatever amount that is.”
Transfers
All transfers must occur within two hours of the beginning of your trip. Most passengers complete their trips within a one-hour window – and unless there’s a bus breakdown or traffic delay – you should be able to finish your trip with transfers within two hours.
Would you get a transfer after two hours if your bus is late due to gridlock? That would be determined on a case-by-case basis.
“If a bus broke down, and METRO sends a second bus to pick riders up, we’re going to let them get on free,” said McMaster. “When they get to the transfer point, if it’s been more than two hours, there’s a chance they might get charged again because the new bus driver doesn’t know what happened before.”
Solution: Call the Help Desk at 713/636-4000 and request reimbursement, explaining the bus broke down or got stuck in horrific traffic. Or do it on-line at “Comments, Compliments and Complaints” on our Web site under “Contact Us.”
Roundtrip Train Fares
The $2 Day Pass that currently gives you unlimited train rides for a day will be gone. The fare is $1 per trip. Or use your Q Card and pay when you need it – flash it against the card reader on the platform going to your destination and again upon your return. If you use your Q Card to pay your fare, you’ll earn an automatic free transfer if you’re traveling in the same direction.
Universities and Q Cards
Is METRO offering any incentives to universities and colleges? Yes.
“The incentive to the student is that every full-time university student can now have access to the student fare, which is a 50 percent discount. Before, it was limited to a handful of institutions that were willing to supply discounted passes to their students,” said McMaster. “We were treating one group of students different. Now we have something that benefits all students equally and puts them on the same program as middle school and high school.”
About 10 percent of Houston’s students were using the U-Pass, which will be eliminated.
But the good news: If you have a valid U-Pass, it will be extended until August 2007. So if you’re a student at UH-Downtown, you should have access now to a renewed U-Pass good until the end of the academic year.
Disabled and annual pass
Keep using your disabled pass until it expires. When it’s time to renew, come into the Ride Store at 1900 Main St. and renew it. If the Q Card is about to launch, you will be able to pick up one then and load money on it.
The Q Card is expected to fully be operational by summertime. Once we announce the date when the Q cards will be available, you’ll have 30 days from that date to turn in your pass for a Q Card.
You can read more about the Q card here. Or you can call 713/635.4000 for more details. Press 5 to bypass the message and get to a live operator on the Q Card.