2019 Ride With Pride TAP Card

Metro has come out with their Ride With Pride TAP Card since 2017. The release of the 2017 Ride With Pride TAP Cards was a disaster!  The cards were not at the stations at the times stated.  The 2018 Ride With Pride TAP Cards release was much better.

For 2019- Metro released them at the West Hollywood Pride Parade.  You had a buy something from their popup store, and you got a free Ride With Pride TAP Card.  So, I went to West Hollywood, found the Metro popup store, bought something and got the TAP Card.  But, the lady who was there, was just clueless.  I asked just to make sure they still had the TAP Cards.  She kept saying they will be sold at the machines later this month.  I then I told her I want to make sure you had the TAP card right now.  She finally got a damn clue, and figured it out, and said they had the TAP card.  I was only going to buy something if they had the TAP Cards. 

Update June 26, 2019

The Source release information, on June 21st, about the Ride With Pride TAP Cards being released at stations starting Monday June 24 to Wednesday June 26.  On Monday June 24th, I went to Long Beach using the bus shuttle from 7th & Metro to downtown Long Beach.  The northern portion of the Blue Line is closed for renovations.  The express bus I took was awesome!! While we waited a bit outside 7th & Metro, once we got rolling it got to Long Beach quickly.   On they way back I noticed at the Pacific Station they had the Ride With Pride TAP Cards.  I got off the train and bought the TAP cards without any issues.  The biggest issue is taking the train and bus from Long Beach back to 7th & Metro.  It took about two hours, using the local shuttle that stopped at a ton of stations from the Compton Station to 7th & Metro.  Which means you have to pay additional fare if you want to transfer, if it is more than two hours!

I really like this TAP Card.  A very clean design!

2018 Ride With Pride TAP Card

Metro's Propaganda machine, The Source, said that the 2018 Ride With Pride TAP Cards would be released on May 16, 2018.  I take everything by Metro with a grain of salt.  Yes, in 2018 the release of the TAP Cards are much better than the disaster that happen for the release of 2017 Ride With Pride TAP Cards.  But, yet again, Metro has learned from it's past mistakes and the 2018 Ride With Pride TAP Cards were available by the date listed in The Source!

I went to Willow Station, saw the sticker for this TAP Card, and bought the TAP Cards without any problems.  Well, except for all the panhandlers who kept asking for money, despite the fact that there were tons of Metro police at the station!

Anyways, this year's version of the Ride With Pride TAP Cards are boring.  Yet, another TAP Card with black, making three out of four TAP Cards released in 2018 that has black as a main color.  25th Anniversary Red Line and Happy 25th Birthday Metro, are the other two that use black as their main color.  The 2017 Ride With Pride TAP Cards were much better!!

2017 Ride With Pride TAP Card

At the start of business on June 2, 2017 the Pride TAP Cards were SUPPOSED to be released to the general public.  Originally, the Pride TAP cards were issued during the Long Beach Pride Festival during the weekend of May 20-21.  The Pride TAP card was such a popular card, that Metro would stock the Pride TAP cards at seven stations starting June 2, 2017.  Metro told everybody was that the Pride TAP cards would be loaded the night before and be on sale the morning of June 2, 2017.  So, on Friday June 2nd, I went to the Memorial Park Station and didn't see the Pride sticker on any of the four TAP machines.  Then I went to Union Station and checked the machines at the Gold Line-none, both entrances to the Red/Purple Line-again none, then went to customer service and they had no idea about the Pride TAP card!  WTF?

The reality was the Pride TAP cards were not loaded overnight, but  were loaded during the course of the day on June 2, 2017.  I understand that by 6pm on June 2nd, all stations had the Pride TAP card. But, that was only after many people went on a wild goose chase trying to buy the Pride TAP card!  So, Metro gave out wrong information-the cards were NOT loaded overnight, but during the course of the day.  Then Metro didn't provide any information that morning!  You can check out Metro's social media and see all the complaints that morning.

I was only able to get the Pride TAP card at the Memorial Park station Monday June 5, 2017, luckily they didn't sell out of the Pride TAP cards!  But, there is a silver lining to the wild goose chase for the Pride TAP card; I was able to get two other TAP cards- AARP "field" and Let's Get to Work TAP cards.

Metro needs to do a much better job informing the public about how and exactly when new TAP cards are going to be released!