Metro to roll out redesigned website, Metro Pulse app to simplify trip planning, improve customer experience

New WMATA.com launches May 17

WMATA.com, last updated in 2016, has been rebuilt with a mobile-first design to reflect how customers access Metro today. With 1.5 million monthly views, the site serves as a primary access point for Metro information and updates. 

Features include:

• Unified service information: For the first time, the site features a consolidated set of service information tools all in the same place: trip planning, nearby service, bus routes and rail lines, real-time and scheduled arrivals, and station and stop information.
• AI-enabled customer support chat: Customers will now have a next-generation customer service agent to provide support 24 hours a day. The AI-enabled chat taps into Metro transit data and a broader knowledge base from the website to answer questions. The new AI agent will support trip planning, arrival information, and other frequently asked questions. Live customer service agents are still available on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Accessibility built in: The new site was built with accessibility in mind. It will work better for customers using screen readers and is built to work with modern assistive technology like iOS VoiceOver and Android TalkBack. Increased color contrast and larger text sizing also decrease the cognitive load needed to interact with the site. The new WMATA.com aligns to WCAG 2.2, an outline of standards to make web content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities.
• Expanded language options: The new site is translated into more than a dozen languages. The options include Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Amharic, Russian, Somalian, Arabic, Portuguese, Filipino, Korean, French, and Dari. Additional languages are coming after launch, and ongoing translation improvements will be made based on customer feedback.
• Consistent digital branding: The new "One Metro" brand is prominent throughout the site, making our digital products more consistent across the board.
• Smart Trip upgrade coming soon: The next phase of our web overhaul will introduce a fully integrated Smart Trip experience later this year.

Once the site launches, customers can submit feedback using the link in the banner across the top of the homepage of WMATA.com. Some features may be temporarily unavailable upon launch.

Upgraded Metro Pulse app launches May 31

The updated Metro Pulse app has been redesigned based on customer feedback and best practices in app design to simplify the user experience and reduce information overload. 

Metro has upgraded the trip planning tool, the nearby service tool, and strengthened the chat feature with artificial intelligence. It features streamlined information, larger and easier-to-read fonts, more personalization, improved accessibility, and aligns with Metro's new brand standards. 

Features include:

• Updated “Explore” tab: The tab will now include bus and rail service near you, real-time arrival information, and service alerts so you can get where you’re going fast. Now, the bus page shows only the nearest bus stops, grouped by route. Previously, it showed bus routes grouped by stop and extra stops that are farther away from your current location.
• “Favorites ” tab: Select your favorite bus or rail lines, bus stops or rail stations, and even include addresses for quick access to real-time arrival information. Customers can also select the Favorites tab as a default tab that will appear when they first open the app.
• “Plan” tab: Trip planning for any destination in the DMV, with options including the fastest route, the route with the least walking, or the route with the fewest transfers. 
• AI-enabled customer support chat: The new AI agent provides the exact same experience as the chat agent on WMATA.com. 
• Accessibility: Larger and easier to read fonts streamlines the experience for all users. The app will also be available in Spanish with more languages on the way.
• Future improvements: Metro continues to work on development of new features including push notifications, bus shuttle information during track work with closed rail stations , and additional languages. Metro designed its official app in-house to improve usability, be more responsive to customer feedback, reduce costs, and allow for more consistent updates.

Metro welcomes customer feedback once the updated app launches. Customers can submit feedback in the app by clicking the “More” tab and selecting “App feedback.”

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% on rail. 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.