I imagine a costs-savings over a plastics-savings, but the word from Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is that plastic SmarTrip vouchers were being replaced with paper ones, beginning last month.
We don’t get vouchers — among other things, I administer transit benefits for work; this information is behind a login — and WMATA will use the plastic until the stock is exhausted, so I don’t know if the change is in effect.