Standardizing fare for SMART's Park & Ride service

May 24, 2026 — Professional Efforts

Two buses, the 805 and 851, traveling north on Washington in downtown Detroit during afternoon rush hour — An oversight in SMART’s fare structure previously required most monthly passholders to pay a cash-only surcharge when boarding Park & Ride routes. I led internal efforts to fix this rider experience issue.

Rides on SMART cost $2.

When someone completely new to the fixed route system asks that question, that’s the answer. Easy peasy. But someone who’s been riding for a while knows the true answer is “Rides on SMART cost $2, Asterisk.” It’s a much smaller asterisk than it was in the old days, but an asterisk nevertheless.

A collection of obsolete physical SMART passes including the old 31 day pass, the Regional and Regional Plus magstripe passes, and the $22 Value Pass. — Ye olden times (2018 B.D., Before DART)

The launch of DART passes in 2019 consolidated fares and transfers into a single system shared by SMART and DDOT, putting the Regional and Regional Plus magstripe passes in a museum where they belong. It also enabled the region’s first mobile ticketing solution for buses and, more recently, payment integration in Transit . To facilitate this change, base DDOT fares were raised from $1.50 to $2.00 to match SMART’s base fare. Transfers became free to compensate (or, more accurately, transfer tickets were converted into 4-hour Regional DART passes which are automatically issued on cash payment).

SMART’s Park & Ride fare, however, was not lowered from its long-standing premium of $2.50 each way. This created a particularly annoying edge case for riders on SMART Routes 805, 830, and 851 who were paying with a DART Regional Pass.

A paper 31-Day Regional DART pass on a table next to two quarters — Before January 2026, boarding one of SMART’s Park & Ride routes with a Regional DART pass forced riders to carry 50 cents in cash or on a change card.

For context, “I have a DART pass” can mean one of several things:

You have a Regional DART pass (blue paper or mobile), valid on SMART and DDOT with free transfers to MTA (Flint) and BWAT (Port Huron)
You have a mobile DDOT Only DART pass
You have a white SMART Only DART pass, which isn’t valid on DDOT and isn’t available on mobile, but prior to January 2026 was the only monthly pass with an option fully covering SMART’s Park & Rides
You have one of SMART’s two Value Passes, valid on SMART only, which are still branded as DART passes but also unavailable on mobile
You have a “transfer” from a bus after paying cash

There’s a larger issue of complexity here that won’t be fixed overnight, and there are even more moving pieces when you consider Flex microtransit and ADA paratransit service. The specific issue that was solved was the lack of one, true systemwide fixed route pass. Reducing P&R fares to $2 allowed the Regional DART pass to fully cover those fares without requiring messy changes to interagency revenue sharing calculations.

Physical pass offerings will be modified:
Elimination of the $82 31 Day Park & Ride SMART Only Pass
Park & Ride trips will now be covered by both the $66 31 Day SMART Only Pass and all denominations of the DART Regional Pass — An excerpt from my internal transition guide for the fare restructuring project. The $82 31 Day Park & Ride SMART Pass, which was the only way to board an 800 route besides cash, has been discontinued. (If you have one, keep it safe - it’s rare media now!)

As for farebox recovery, the impact was negligible. This change essentially codified existing practice as many operators were already waiving the 50-cent surcharge for sake of simplicity. Even if future efforts are made to restore more attractive schedules reminiscent of SMART’s pre-pandemic Park & Ride service, keeping payment hassle-free is how we convert more first-time riders into regulars.

If you’re a fixed route rider, the DART Regional Pass is now your key to Metro Detroit. Any SMART route, all DDOT routes, regional transfers - you’ve got all the benefits, even if you’re using your phone to pay.

Y’know, this could’ve been avoided if Detroit just had—

Reloadable fare cards, I know. I hear you, fellow riders, I hear you, and I want it just as badly as you do. I can happily say that SMART and DDOT are working towards it.

MTA Flint recently launched a Genfare-based card along with open tap pay, and The Rapid in Grand Rapids has had the Wave card for years. Upgrading and reprogramming every farebox across SMART and DDOT’s fleets is a process, but it’s a necessary step towards the modern experience transit riders expect. Stay tuned for more information from official channels as buildout continues.