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Metro $3 Rebate For SmarTrip Cards Going Unclaimed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Metro transit system is offering a $3 rebate to anyone who buys a reusable debit card to pay fares.

Metro has been pushing the SmarTrip cards as an alternative to paper farecards, which cost more and are slower to use.

But The Washington Post reports that not many people are taking the transit agency up on the rebate. Metro sold nearly 352,000 SmarTrip cards during the last four months of 2012 but issued just over 67,000 rebates.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel says one explanation for the unclaimed rebates may be that most regular riders already have cards.

James Wright, a member of Metro's Riders' Advisory Council, says the rebate isn't big enough to make people notice. Customers have to register their cards online to claim the $3.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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