Helping People One Ride at a Time

She knew many visitors to Washington, D.C. buy fare cards to ride the city’s public transportation system. What would happen, she wondered, if visitors donated old fare cards to help poor people get to jobs, doctors’ offices or schools?
她知道很多来华盛顿的游客要购买车费卡乘坐城市公共交通系统。她想，如果游客捐赠出用过的车费卡，帮助穷人找工作、看病或上学，会发生什么事呢？

Moore Hebert bought 56 fare cards for a group from New Orleans, Louisiana. Its members were traveling to the nation’s capital for the Women’s March on Washington. The march was held January 21.
摩尔.赫伯特为路易斯安那州新奥尔良的一个组织购买了56张车费卡。该组织成员要去首都参加华盛顿女性大游行。该游行在1月21日举行。

She asked that the cards be returned after the event. She offered to donate them to a charitable group.
她交代车费卡在活动后必须上交。随后她将车费卡捐给了一个慈善机构。

But Moore Hebert did much more than that.
但摩尔所做的不单单是这些。

She put out a request on Facebook and other social media. It was directed to the hundreds of thousands of people who attended the Women’s March and the hundreds of thousands at the swearing-in of President Donald Trump the day before. Would they consider donating old fare cards to help needy people?
她将这一请求发在Facebook和其他社交媒体上。目标是参加女性游行的成千上万人，以及前一天观看特朗普总统宣誓就职典礼的成千上万人。他们会考虑将用过的车费卡捐给需要的人吗？

Moore Hebert’s efforts paid off. More than 10,000 fare cards were donated in just over three weeks. They continue to arrive by mail from as far away as Hawaii.
赫伯特的努力得到了回报。三周内收到了1万多张捐赠的车费卡。还有源源不断通过邮件捐赠而来的车费卡，最远的还有从夏威夷寄来的。

Three charities are receiving the cards and continue to accept them. The three are Martha’s Table and Miriam’s Kitchen of Washington D.C.,and Doorways for Women and Families of Virginia. They are providing reports on social media about the donations.
三家慈善机构收到了卡片，并继续接收。这三家慈善机构分别是位于华盛顿的（玛莎的桌子），（米利亚姆的厨房）以及位于弗吉尼亚州的（为女性和家庭打开大门）。他们在社交媒体上报告了捐赠的情况。

Washington’s public transportation system requires people to pay for their trips with plastic, "SmartTrip" cards.
华盛顿的公共交通系统需要人们用塑料“智能行”卡支付费用。

Each card is like a credit card, and comes with a computer chip that removes the cost of each trip from the card’s value. A person with a $10 card, who takes a bus trip costing $2, would have $8 remaining for future trips.
每一张卡片像是一张信用卡，带有一张电脑芯片，从卡内余额划走每次乘车的费用。一个人若有一张10美元的卡，一趟公交花费2美元，卡内还会剩余8美元供之后乘车用。

Often people visiting Washington, or any city with a fare card system, end up buying a card for more trips then they take.
通常人们去华盛顿或任意一个具备车费卡系统的城市，买下的卡最终还会剩有余额。

So unless they plan to return to that city soon, chances are that money is lost forever.
所以除非他们计划再去那座城市，不然卡里的钱就永远浪费了。

Unless they donate the cards.
除非他们将卡捐出去。

I’m very surprised and happy that it ended up with so many fare cards being donated, Moore Hebert told VOA. She lives on a farm in Germantown, Maryland, outside of Washington.
“我很惊讶，也很欣慰，最终这么多卡都捐赠出去了，”摩尔.赫伯特接受VOA采访时说道。她住在华盛顿之外，马里兰日耳曼敦的一个农场。

Subways rides can be costly. One-way trips on Washington’s subway and bus system cost $1.75 to over $5, depending on distance and time of day traveled.
地铁花销很大。华盛顿的地铁和公交一趟要花费1.75美元到5美元，取决于出行的距离和时间。

SmartTrip cards have value, even when there is no balance left on them. That is because a person planning their first trip on the transportation system must buy a Smart Trip card. Each one costs $2. So, even a card, with no balance remaining, would save a person $2.
智能行卡本身有价值，即便卡内没有余额。因为初次乘坐交通系统的人都必须买一张智能行卡。每张卡售价2美元。所以即便卡里没有余额，也能为他人省2美元。

Moore Hebert hopes to keep the program going, even when donations from the Women’s March and presidential swearing-in ceremony stop.
摩尔.赫伯特希望将这个项目继续开展下去，即便女性游行和总统宣誓就职典礼已经结束。

She wants Washington area hotels to ask hotel guests if they are willing to donate their fare cards.
她希望华盛顿区域的旅店可以询问客人是否愿意将车费卡捐出。

But people can help even when the city they are visiting does not have a program to collect fare cards.
但即便他们参观的城市没有项目收集车费卡，他们也能伸出援手参与进来。

Some hotel guests give their fare cards to housekeepers or other hotel employees at the end of their stays.
一些房客在入住的最后一天，将车费卡给予客房部经理或其他酒店人员。

In New York City, the gift of a $15 fare card could provide someone with five one-way trips on the subway.
在纽约，一张15美元的车费卡可以让一个人乘坐地铁单程五次。

People can also look up local groups that help poor people and ask if they could use fare cards.
人们也可以找寻当地帮助穷人的组织，询问他们是否需要车费卡。

I’m Caty Weaver.
卡迪.韦弗为您报道。