Buy a SmarTrip card ($2) at any station kiosk, tap it on the turnstile to enter and again when you exit, and the fare is deducted automatically. Rail costs $2.25 to $6.75 on weekdays and $2.25 to $2.50 on weekends. Kids under five ride free. No eating or drinking allowed.
In brief
Buy a SmarTrip card ($2) at any station kiosk, tap it on the turnstile to enter and again when you exit, and the fare is deducted automatically. Rail costs $2.25 to $6.75 on weekdays and $2.25 to $2.50 on weekends. Kids under five ride free. No eating or drinking allowed anywhere in the system.
The basics: what you need before you board
A SmarTrip card is required for each rider aged five and older, and cards cannot be shared. You pick one up the moment you arrive. Visitors can get one through Metro fare vending machines at every station. If you arrive at Reagan National Airport (DCA) or Dulles Airport (IAD), the airport Metrorail stations have machines ready to go before you even reach the city.
The SmarTrip card is a permanent, rechargeable plastic card like a credit card. It costs $2 upfront and can be loaded with as much money as you need. You do not need a mobile device to use a physical card. It is active the moment you purchase it. Alternatively, if you don't want to carry a physical card, you can add a virtual card to your phone using Apple Wallet or Google Pay.
Up to two children age four and younger can ride free with each fare-paying adult. Children age five and older pay the regular fare and need their own payment method.
How fares work
DC is unusual: the Metro does not charge one flat fare. What you pay depends on how far you travel and what time it is, so the same journey can cost anywhere from $2.25 to $6.75. After 9:30 p.m. and all weekend, fares are capped at $2.50 however far you go.
On weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., full fares run $2.25 to $6.75. After 9:30 p.m. on weekdays, fares drop to $2.25 to $2.50. Weekend fares are also $2.25 to $2.50. The WMATA trip planner at wmata.com will show you the exact cost for any route before you ride.
For pass options: a one-day unlimited pass runs $13. The seven-day Short Trip pass, good for trips costing up to $3.85 during peak times, costs $38. A seven-day unlimited pass costs $58. Most tourists spending a few days on the National Mall and nearby neighborhoods will find pay-per-ride on a loaded SmarTrip card cheaper than a pass.
WMATA's Metro Lift program offers 50% off Metrorail and Metrobus trips for DC, Maryland, and Virginia customers enrolled in SNAP.
Getting on and off the train
Tap your SmarTrip card on the circular reader on top of the turnstile to enter. Tap again at the exit turnstile when you leave. This second tap is how the system calculates your fare. Forgetting to tap out charges you the maximum fare. If you run low on credit mid-trip, use the Exit Fare machines just before the exit turnstiles, which take $1 or $5 bills.
Hours
The rail system operates Monday through Thursday 5 a.m. to midnight, Friday 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday 6 a.m. to midnight. The system closes overnight every night, which is when track maintenance happens. There is no all-night Metro service in Washington.
The Metro does not open everywhere at once. The first trains start from the ends of each line and work inward, which means an end-of-line station like Shady Grove or Vienna sees its first train at the line's official opening minute, while a station in the middle of the system sees its first train 20 to 40 minutes later. Check your specific station on WMATA's site if you have an early flight.
The system: six lines, 98 stations
The Metro opened on March 27, 1976, and now runs six color-coded lines across 98 stations, covering the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia along 129 miles of track.
For sightseers, two stations do most of the work. Smithsonian station (Blue, Orange, Silver) comes up right on the National Mall, within walking distance of the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Castle, and a cluster of museums. If your day is built around the Mall and the monuments, this is the station to start from. The Arlington Cemetery station on the Blue Line offers direct access to the nation's military burial ground.
The busiest stops in the system are Union Station and Metro Center. Metro Center is a major transfer point between the Red, Orange, Silver, and Blue Lines.
Getting in from the airport
Reagan National Airport (DCA) is the best for Metro access. It's a 15-minute ride to Metro Center with direct Blue and Yellow Line service from inside the terminal. The station is connected to Terminal 2 via a covered walkway and accessible via shuttle from Terminal 1. The peak fare from DCA to Metro Center is $2.85; off-peak, it drops to $2.50.
Dulles (IAD) also has Metro service on the Silver Line, about 55 minutes away, but the longer journey and slightly higher fares make DCA the easier choice when you have an option.
Etiquette: what locals expect
Two rules will keep you out of trouble with commuters. First: stand on the right, walk on the left. The left lane of every Metro escalator is for people walking up or down. Stand on the left and you will block a stream of commuters, and hear about it.
Second: food and drink are not allowed on Metro trains or in stations. You can be fined. That includes your coffee cup and your granola bar. Allow passengers to get off the train before you get on, and stand to the side so you don't block the doors.
One practical tip for families
If you are leading a group, don't congregate at the bottom of the escalators, as this blocks the way for everyone behind you. Move clear of the escalator before you regroup with your party. Station platforms can be narrow, especially at older downtown stops like Dupont Circle, and rush-hour crowds move fast.
WDCM Editorial is the byline on news and feature stories produced through Washington DC Magazine's editorial process — AI-assisted research, reviewed and approved by Editor-in-Chief Rod Wright.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
