Metro begins Tap. Ride. Go. parking upgrades across system, expanding contactless payments

Metro announces the launch of Tap. Ride. Go. parking upgrades at Metro-owned parking facilities, beginning with Addison Rd station, which will become the first location to accept contactless payment.

As installations progress across the service area, Metro will update an online tracker at wmata.com/tapridego showing which parking facilities accept Tap. Ride. Go. payments. The tracker will be updated regularly as additional parking facilities come online.

Tap. Ride. Go. allows customers to pay by tapping a contactless credit or debit card, smartphone, wearable device, or Smart Trip card when exiting participating parking facilities. 

Customers who use a Smart Trip card, physical or mobile, to access Metro Rail will continue to be automatically recognized for applicable parking benefits. As Tap. Ride. Go. is deployed at parking facilities, Metro’s systems will be configured to ensure rail customer and non-rail customer parking transactions are processed accurately and consistently.

“Expanding Tap. Ride. Go. to parking facilities is the next step in modernizing the services we provide our customers,” said Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke. “We are making parking payments faster, easier, and more flexible — while building toward a more seamless, systemwide experience.”

Metro is upgrading parking equipment, software, and fare systems through a phased rollout that allows testing and refinement before expansion to additional locations.

Customers will see updated signage at participating stations. Metro’s first station to deploy the new Tap. Ride. Go. feature is Addison Rd. More stations will follow soon where customers will be able to use their same contactless credit or debit card to pay for their ride and parking to receive the rider rate. If customers have any questions about Tap. Ride. Go., they should visit wmata.com/tapridego to learn more.

About Metro  

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), known as Metro, is the region’s leading public transportation provider, serving a population of approximately four million people across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia within a 2,054-square-mile jurisdiction. With a network of six rail lines, 98 stations, 126 bus routes, and a door-to-door paratransit service, Metro is the second busiest transit system in the United States serving 268.9 million trips in 2025 with a $5 billion operating and capital budget. Since 2022, Metro has completed multiple transit-oriented development projects that have brought $15 million in tax revenue to the region from housing, office, and retail space in our community. Safety and security are core values at Metro. Over 30,000 cameras monitor the system, and Metro currently has the lowest crime rate in history with fare evasion down 82%. In 2025, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) named Metro the Transit Agency of the Year in recognition of industry-leading ridership growth, record high customer satisfaction, a newly redesigned Bus network, expanded rail service, and improved customer experience.