SmartBenefits
SmartBenefits allow you to set aside pre-tax dollars from your paycheck and apply it to your WMATA SmarTrip card to pay for work-related commuting expenses including Metrorail, Metrobus, and Metro parking. You do not have to use all of your SmartBenefits within a month's time. They remain on your card until you use them. Any funds not used will rollover into the next month. Due to IRS regulations, we do not process refunds for SmartBenefits even if you leave the area. You may elect payroll deductions in increments of $10 with a minimum of $40 up to the current IRS maximum per month of $325 Transit in 2025 and $325 Metro Parking in 2025. Visit the fares section of the WMATA site to estimate your cost. Contact WMATA with questions about your trips and parking.
Visit How to Use SmartBenefits and the Smart Benefits FAQs on the WMATA site for more information, or contact payroll
gwu [dot] edu (payroll[at]gwu[dot]edu) with any questions about SmartBenefits.
SmartBenefits Enrollment, Changes, and Termination
Metro’s SmartBenefits program has taken steps to comply with the IRS requirement to separate parking and transit benefits to restrict comingled use. To satisfy these requirements, transit, parking and personal stored value are segregated in electronic 'purses' on your SmarTrip® card. (See Revenue Ruling 2006-57, 2006-2 C.B. 911 and Internal Revenue Code § 132(a)(5) and 132(f).). Funds will not be transferable from one purse to another. Transit or Transit Pass benefits will not pay for parking and parking benefits will not pay for Transit or Transit Pass nor will funds be able to transfer to the personal stored value purse. The personal stored value purse allows you to load additional amounts to cover either transit or parking. Transit and parking payments will be deducted from your transit and parking benefits purses first. If and when those funds are exhausted, payment will be deducted from the stored value purse.
1. Personal Stored Value
- Use for transit or parking. Use personal funds to add value.
- Cannot transfer value to transit or parking purse.
- View balance at Farecards & Passes machine, or online SmarTrip® account.
- $300 maximum balance.
2. Transit Funds
- Used first.
- Employer assigns funds.
- Cannot be used for parking.
- Cannot be transferred to parking or stored value.
- View balance at faregate, farebox, online SmarTrip® account.
3. Parking
- Used first.
- Metro parking only.
- Employer assigns funds.
- Cannot transfer to transit or stored value.
- View balance at parking target or online SmarTrip® account.
We also offer the Monthly Unlimited Pass as a SmartBenefits option. You can elect payroll deductions to purchase a Monthly Unlimited Pass which allows you to ride Metrorail for one low monthly price for all of your regular commuting trips. Transit plus Monthly Unlimited Pass amounts must not exceed $325 in 2025.
The Monthly Unlimited Pass can be purchased with your SmartBenefits through WMATA manually each month on or after the 1st of the month, or you can select auto reload to automatically receive a new pass when the old pass expires. For more information on the Monthly Unlimited Pass and to determine if it is right for you, please refer to the Pass Options and the SB Transit Pass Benefit Overview (PDF) on the WMATA website. Visit the Monthly Pass FAQs for helpful questions and answers.
You can use the SmartBenefits program if you use area providers that do not currently accept the SmarTrip card, such as:
- MetroAccess
- Virginia Railway Express (VRE)
- MARC Train Service
- MTA for providers such as MetroAccess
- Virginia Railway Express (VRE)
- MARC Train Service
- MTA Commuter buses (Eyre, Dillon's, & Keller).
You may allocate your SmartBenefits to a personal account through Commuter Direct or Maryland Transit Authority (MTA). You are responsible for contacting the provider to set up this form of transit. SelectPass can't be used to purchase tickets on MARC train.
Learn more about allocating funds at the WMATA Employer Fare Program (SmartBenefits) site.
Scenario: You tapped your card, and it had a balance. The next day, the balance was 0.
Please contact WMATA with any questions. WMATA Customer Service can assist in helping to see the usage data. You can compare this information with your paystubs.
WMATA's explanation:
The employee's SmartBenefits balance (period remaining value) became inflated with funds that are not due to the employees as they have not been ordered or purchased by your company.
The SmartBenefits system issues what we call a Deactivation signal to stop an employee from receiving future SmartBenefits as your company requested to put the account on-hold or removed, but the signal expired after 30 days because the SmarTrip card was not used/tapped into the system. Because of this, some of the employee’s monthly benefit is still active even though your company did not order benefits for this employee; therefore, the employee receives additional monthly funds onto their SmarTrip card, and this causes the balance on a SmarTrip card to become inflated. Again, these are not the employee’s funds as the employee was not due these funds.
The Metro fare system reconciles and corrects any inflated balances not due to a SmartBenefits participant. This is how the system works. The expired on-hold or removed signal is reissued by our IT group, so when the employee starts back riding the system using their card and once the employee uses ALL of the SmartBenefits remaining on the card that they were due from your company orders, the system pulls back the inflated amount given these funds were not due to the employees. Again, these are not the employee’s funds as the employee was not due these funds.