Lobby Transfers Speed Up Wait Time
Friday, February 01, 2008 5:11 PM
Starting today, METRO has set up operations in the RideStore lobby at 1900 Main St. specifically to transfer balances from Stored Value Cards to Q Cards.
Around 12:30 p.m., the line was moving briskly with an average wait time of three minutes.
Roshan Lee, who works for the Transportation Security Administration, walked right up to the table - no wait - and transferred $30 on two Stored Value Cards - to a Q Card.
"It's been easy so far," she said.
One line was devoted exclusively for students to transfer balances. Trina Thomas, a Q Card retail sales employee, said she was busy explaining how the process works and making sure customers registered their cards.
Maybe it was the crisp air and sunny skies that put people in a good mood, but even customers were helping each other out. One middle-aged woman had a $100 bill she wanted to put on a Q Card, and the reloaders only accept $1, $5, $10 and $20-bills. The woman said she was disabled and couldn't stand in the long RideStore line to make the transfer with a staffer.
Another customer overheard her problem and volunteered to give her five $20-dollar bills in exchange, thus letting the disabled woman easily load her Q Card on the reloader on the Explorer Bus, parked outside our lobby.
Lynn Lau, a 55-year-old retiree from the insurance industry, rode the bus from west Houston to downtown to pick up a Q Card, not realizing she could get one at one of the hundreds of retailers around the city. 
"I'm set to go. I can travel around the world with this card," she said, laughing.
You have until March 31 to transfer balances from Stored Value Cards to Q Cards. In addition to the second-floor window at our treasury department, balance transfers can now be done at these tables in the RideStore lobby, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.