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On Aug. 1, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) plans to implement the second phase of Metrorail fare hikes. The agency will begin charging a new 20-cent surcharge during “peak-of-the-peak” weekday travel periods and increase the cost of three Metrorail passes, the weekly short trip, weekly fast pass, and transit link card for MARC and Virginia Railway Express riders.

However, WMATA also will provide a 25-cent discount per trip for riders who use a SmarTrip® card instead of a paper fare card. In addition, the agency will reduce the cost of a SmarTrip card 50 percent to $2.50 starting Aug. 29 — the first reduction in the card’s price since SmarTrip was introduced in 1999.