Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Is this a joke? Am I retarded?

This is a sign in the Friendship Heights Metro Station in Washington, DC. Apologies for the darkness - my blackberry camera kind of sucks, and metro stations are lit like caves. This sign is one of the only sources of light in the tubular cavern. Seriously, I go down into Dupont and I'm like "Cool, spelunking! Damn, I forgot my headlamp." Anyways, I see this sign every morning on my way to work. It has been baffling me for weeks. I don't get it. Around the photo, it reads "THE OLD TRANSFER: You saved $.90 when you transferred from rail to bus." Then, below that, it says "THE NEW, TWO-WAY TRANSFER: With SmarTrip, you save $.50 when you travel rail to bus, bus to rail." Huh? Last I checked, $.90>$.50. Doesn't the old way to transfer save you more money? Am I missing something completely, blatantly obvious? Is there a subtlety I'm missing? Moreover, on top of your lost $.40, the SmarTrip card costs a one-time fee of $5. WMATA, I don't appreciate your ruse. (Clerks, anyone?) You underestimate the reading and perceptual abilities of Washingtonians (okay, and Marylanders. I'm not ashamed.). We didn't all go to DC Public schools (zing!) and we aren't all in that much of a hurry. Even if we are, the trains on the red line (which serves the aforementioned Friendship Heights station) is usually delayed anyway, forcing us to wait, read, and lapse into an untenable state of morning confusion. Hmpfh.
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1 comment:

Matt said...

now you get:
50 cents for rail --> bus
50 cents for bus --> rail

before you got:
90 cents for rail --> bus