Photo by Mr.TinDC

In the unlikely event that you’re still holding onto one of Metro’s paper farecards, you have a few days left to transfer its value, lest it be relegated to a souvenir. Metro riders have until Thursday to transfer the balances of paper farecards to SmarTrip cards, and there are a few ways to make this happen.

If you have a paper farecard that’s in good shape, you can credit the value in the same way that you’d add money to a SmarTrip card. Using one of Metro’s brown vending machines, tap your SmarTrip card in the designated area, insert the paper farecard into the proper slot, and tap the SmarTrip card again.

If your paper farecard has seen better days, trade it in at a Metro Sales Office. You can also send the paper cards to Metro via snail mail along with your name, address, phone number, and SmarTrip card number. The cards can hold up to $300.

Last year, WMATA’s vending machines stopped giving out paper farecards and turned to SmarTrip cards only (the last day riders were able to use the cards was March 5). Metro officials said they made the switch from paper to plastic because the former cards, which have been in rotation since 1976, had too many moving parts to their manufacturing process. Plus, the paper farecards “are prone to getting jammed, which can take a faregate out of service,” Metro wrote in a release, which also notes SmarTrip’s reusability among other reasons for the change.