Recently, I received an e-mail from a gentleman who purchased a Q Card from a Kroger but discovered he couldn't reload it at the point-of-sale machine on one of our Park & Ride lots. "They can be reloaded at Kroger (and I assume on-line), but the most convenient place for me to reload the card is at the P&R since I pass ...

  Several of you have written in on the blog, asking how the garage at Cypress Park & Ride works. Drivers must tap their Q Card to raise the gate and enter the garage. At that time, $1.50 is deducted from your full-fare Q Card to pay for parking. When you exit, the gate opens automatically. When you board the bus, tap your card again. ...

Nine days ago, we did something so rare in the industry that other transit agencies nationwide are touting METRO as a model. We completed the switch to a smart card called the Q Card, and we completed our fare restructuring – at the same time!   Last week at a national conference in Boston of the American Public Transportation ...

Now that it’s been six weeks since we’re officially launched the Q Card, here are a few pointers about using it.   First, please try to use one Q Card exclusively for your travel. Some of you are picking up a Q Card at Fiesta, for example, putting $2 on it, and then picking up a second Q Card at another retailer and adding ...

  As a former resident of Boston, I used to buy tokens to ride the T - the nickname for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's century-old system with the nation's oldest subway tunnel (dedicated by President William McKinley in 1897), a $1.4 billion annual budget and 1.14 million riders a day. Last week I was in Boston ...

  Want to be a trendsetter and use the Q Card before all your friends do? Here's your chance. We're recruiting more Q Card Boosters - 2,000 more. You'll get a chance to help us test the system and work out any glitches. And you'll get a $10 pre-loaded Q Card and five free rides for every 15 rides you pay for during the ...

We have good news and bad news on this Valentine’s Day. First, the good news: We’ve had an overwhelming response to our call for Q Boosters, and the program has exceeded expectations. We have more than 1,000 Q Boosters. The bad news: We are not taking any more names. For those of you who have signed up and are still ...

  You’ve seen the posters on the rail and you’ve seen the brochures: The Q Card is coming. But many of you have wondered when will old passes be discontinued, replaced by the Q Card. METRO is currently testing the Q Card system to make sure it’s ready for you. We have been recruiting “Q Boosters” to use the ...

  Will the computer chip in the Q Card mess up the magnetic stripes on your other credit cards if you place the Q Card next to a credit card in your wallet? No. Technologically, these chips don’t affect magnetic stripes on credit cards. One of our testers said his Q Card wiped out all the information on his credit cards. ...

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, ...