15 minute grace period for Metro Rail

If you tap in and out of the same station within 15 minutes, you will get your fare back in credit.

Eligibility 

You are eligible for the credit if:

• You enter through one mezzanine and exit through another at the same station.

You are not eligible if:

• You use a rail pass, because passes are not charged on an individual trip basis.

How credits are issued

If you pay your fare with Stored Value:

• You will receive a credit to your Smart Trip card within 72 hours. 
• The credit is delivered to your Smart Trip card as an Auto Reload, and like other Auto Reload transactions, grace period credits expire if they are not retrieved within 30 days.

If you pay your fare with Smart Benefits:

• You will see a single credit for the entire prior month on the first of each month.
• After any ineligible bus transfers are deducted, the remaining balance is rounded up to the nearest dollar.
• The credit is used before your normal Smart Benefits allotment.
• To comply with IRS regulations, any unused Smart Benefits credit will expire at the end of the month

A note about transfers

If you take a bus after the grace period transaction, at first you may see the bus transfer discount. Since you didn't take a rail trip, when you get the credit for the grace period, that discount will be removed.

However, if you arrived at the metro station on a bus, tap in and out of rail, and then take another bus within the two-hour free transfer window, that free transfer still applies.

View your balance and credit history

To see balance details and track fare credits and adjustments, your Smart Trip card has to be registered and connected to a Smart Trip account.

Balances and credit history appear under Product Delivery History.