WMATA introduces U-Pass SmarTrip card for college students

he Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has introduced the U-Pass SmarTrip card for college students. Eligible students at participating universities can add their U-Pass to Apple Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch to use on Metrorail or Metrobus.

After students add their U-Pass, the physical card will no longer work when transferred because all the content is now available through U-Pass in Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch.

Students at participating schools can use the mobile U-Pass just like a physical card at any of WMATA’s 97 rail stations in D.C., Maryland and Virginia and all Metrobus routes by holding their iPhone or Apple Watch near the card reader on the faregate or farebox to pay with U-Pass. With Express Mode, there’s no need for face ID or touch ID or to unlock the device.

When the U-Pass expires at the end of the school year, it will be removed from students’ Apple Wallets. Each year, participating schools will continue to distribute new U-Pass SmarTrip cards to all eligible students at the beginning of the fall semester. Once students have the card, it can be added to Apple Wallet for the academic year.

The addition of U-Pass in Apple Wallet expands WMATA's mobile pay options, which first launched in September 2020 and allows customers to add a SmarTrip card to Apple Wallet to use with an iPhone and Apple Watch. The investment in mobile pay is part of WMATA’s fare modernization program to upgrade fare and payment technology and improve the customer experience.

U-Pass on iPhone and Apple Watch is available on iPhone 8 and newer generation iPhones, as well as Apple Watch Series 3 and newer.