Overlay, don’t overhaul: Washington’s simpler, faster route to open-loop transit payments

Littlepay’s cloud-based EMV Overlay helped one of the United States’ largest transit agencies modernize payments fast – on time and on budget – without replacing its existing validators and back office.

5 months	29 million	3.6 million	1,500	40
From kick-off to launch at 98 Metro stations.	Open-loop journeys in the first 15 months.	Monthly taps across the network.	Buses now included in Tap.Ride.Go.	Parking facilities included in Park & Ride.

About WMATA

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) serves more than five million residents across the Washington, DC capital region. Its network supports approximately 250 million trips a year and spans 98 metro stations, 1,500 buses and 40 parking facilities.

The context

WMATA wanted to make public transit easier to use, particularly for visitors and occasional riders. It planned to introduce open-loop transit payments to enable passengers to pay with the payment cards and devices they carry everywhere. Alongside the new Tap.Ride.Go experience across rail, bus, and select parking locations, WMATA wanted to preserve Smart Trip, its established closed-loop payment system.

The challenge

On Metro Rail, the agency’s ambition to roll-out open-loop in time for WorldPride 2025, an event that brings over a million visitors to the city, meant a compressed timeline for delivery of less than six months from programme launch. WMATA wanted to deploy first on Metro Rail, then phase-out across buses and parking, incentivising park and ride with discounted transit.

No large US transit agency had introduced open-loop contactless payments at this scale without either wholesale system replacement or an extensive upgrade programme with their incumbent ticketing provider. Both routes come with significant cost, risk and disruption.

The solution

Littlepay proposed an unconventional approach: introducing open payments alongside the closed-loop system, using a cloud-based ‘overlay’ for EMV acceptance.

Littlepay provides the EMV Overlay, connecting Cubic readers, STraffic gates and WMATA’s acquirer, Worldpay. A customizable fare engine was added to the Littlepay platform and configured to mirror Smart Trip fares and transfer rules.

Supporting all major card schemes, Littlepay manages the open-loop payment lifecycle – from tap processing and fare calculation to settlement and support.

The results

Next steps

WMATA and Littlepay plan to extend the reach of Tap.Ride.Go to include the regional transit agencies surrounding WMATA, enabling multi-agency capping capability and giving customers the same seamless journey experience they have with Smart Trip.

In addition, further solution enhancements will include:

• Littlepay’s industry-first iOS inspection app, allowing inspectors to use iPhones to read EMV cards and check recent tap history, removing the need for bespoke hardware.
• Discounts and benefits digital registration portal, where eligible riders can register for concessions and link an EMV card, so discounts are automatically applied as they travel.

Customer feedback

“Littlepay worked as a true partner to WMATA throughout the delivery of Tap.Ride.Go. Our teams worked closely together to navigate a complex payments environment, build on our existing infrastructure and deliver a frictionless way for customers to pay across all modes in our service network.” – Greg Garback, Director Fare Revenue Systems and Modernization, WMATA.