Editing Bay Area Rapid Transit (section)

== Fares ==
[[File:BART Clipper machines in Embarcadero station.jpg|alt=Two BART Clipper card machines|thumb|Two [[BART]] ticket machines at [[Embarcadero station]] in [[San Francisco]]. Both have been converted to [[Clipper card]] usage only. The machine on the left dispenses new Clipper cards and adds value to existing cards, while the machine on the right only adds value to existing cards.]]

=== Fare schedule ===
BART has [[Fare#Distance-based fare|distance-based fares]], which requires riders to use fare gates to both enter and exit, with a flat fare of $2.15 for trips under {{convert|6|miles}}. A surcharge is added for trips traveling through the [[Transbay Tube]] ($1.40), to/from [[Oakland International Airport]] ($6.70) or [[San Francisco International Airport]] ($4.95), and to/from [[San Mateo County, California|San Mateo County]] ($1.45, except $1.25 for Daly City).<ref name=faretriangle /><ref name=fy19srtpcip>{{cite web |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/FINAL%20FY19%20SRTP_CIP.pdf |title=FY19 Short Range Transit Plan and Capital Improvement Program |date=October 2018 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}</ref>{{rp|2{{hyphen}}9}}<!--old document, but establishes the various categories--> The maximum fare, including both airport surcharges and the Transbay surcharge, is $17.60; the maximum without surcharges ({{bart|Antioch}}–{{bart|Berryessa}}) is $10.30.<ref name=faretriangle>{{cite web |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/BART%20Clipper%20Fares%20Triangle%20Chart%20July%202022.pdf |date=July 1, 2022 |title=Clipper Fares |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}</ref> {{As of|2022|06}}, the average fare paid is $3.93.<ref name=june2022budget>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2022/news20220609 |title=BART Board approves two-year budget focused on rider experience |date=June 9, 2022 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}</ref>

Because of the varied fares, it is possible to enter the system with enough stored value for a shorter trip, but not a longer trip. Passengers without sufficient fare to complete their journey must use an add-fare machine to add value [[Exit fare|in order to exit the station]].<ref name=basics>{{cite web |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/BARTBasicsAug2021.pdf |title=BART Basics Guide |date=August 2021 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}</ref> {{As of|2022|06}}, entering and exiting at the same station incurs an "excursion fare" of $6.40 – significantly higher than many station-to-station fares.<ref name=basics /><ref name="excursion">{{cite news |last=Cabanatuan |first=Michael |date=August 5, 2022 |title=This little-known BART fare can cost you $6.70, even if you don't step foot on a train |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/This-little-known-BART-fare-can-cost-you-6-70-17354885.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806000327/https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/This-little-known-BART-fare-can-cost-you-6-70-17354885.php |archive-date=August 6, 2022}}</ref> This was originally introduced to allow people to tour the then-futuristic system; it was kept to discourage undesired behaviors such as [[San Francisco tech bus protests|tech bus]] riders using BART parking lots. The excursion fare has been criticized for negatively impacting riders who leave stations during service disruptions (although station agents can allow riders to exit without fare payment). As of December 2022, BART is working to implement a 30-minute "grace period" before the fare is charged.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bartlett |first=Amanda |date=December 6, 2022 |title=A new policy change will eliminate this annoying BART fee |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/bart-updates-excursion-fare-policy-17633060.php |access-date=January 6, 2022}}</ref>

Unlike many other rapid transit systems, BART does not have weekly or monthly passes with unlimited rides.<ref name=discounts>{{cite web |url=https://www.bart.gov/tickets/discounts |title=Discounts |access-date=August 10, 2022 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}</ref> The only discount provided to the general public is a 6.25% reduction when "high value tickets" (only available on Clipper cards with autoload) are purchased with fare values of $48 and $64. 50% discount is available to youth aged 5–18 (children age 4 and under ride free), and a 62.5% discount is provided to seniors and the disabled. The Clipper START program for low-income adults provides a 50% discount.<ref name=discounts /> The San Francisco [[San Francisco Municipal Railway|Muni]] and BART offer a combined monthly "A" Fast Pass, which allows unlimited rides on Muni services plus BART service within San Francisco.<ref name=discounts />

In August 2022, BART launched Clipper BayPass, a two-year pilot program to examine the viability of a transit pass that is compatible with all the [[Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area#Public transportation|public transit agencies]] in the Bay Area. The program was initially made available to around 50,000 college students and affordable housing residents.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ktvu.com/news/pilot-program-launches-for-transit-pass-compatible-with-all-bay-area-transit-agencies |title=Pilot program launches for transit pass compatible with all Bay Area transit agencies |work=[[KTVU]] |date=August 19, 2022 |first=Eli |last=Walsh}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/clipper-baypass-transit-pass-bay-area-pilot-program/ |title=Clipper BayPass pilot program launched; transit pass to be used on all Bay Area public transit agencies |date=August 17, 2022 |work=[[CBS News]]}}</ref>

=== Fare media ===
The primary fare media for BART is the [[Clipper card]], which is used by most Bay Area transit agencies. Clipper is a [[contactless smart card]]; passengers tap in and out at card readers on fare gates. Clipper cards in [[Apple Pay]] and [[Google Wallet]] [[electronic wallet]]s can also be used.

[[File:BART ticket.png|thumb|150px|A legacy BART ticket. The initial purchased fare is printed parallel to the magnetic strip, and the card's balance is printed on the left, updated at each exit.]]
BART's original fare system used tickets made of a paper-plastic composite with a [[Magnetic stripe card|magnetic stripe]].<ref>{{cite conference |url=https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trcircular/421/421-004.pdf |page=38 |title=Evolving Fare Technologies |first=R. Scott |last=Rodda |conference-url=https://trid.trb.org/view/390329 |conference=Workshop on Transit Fare Policy and Management: Research Needs and Priorities |date=July 1993 |publisher=Transportation Research Board |location=Woods Hole, Massachusetts}}</ref> The tickets were sold by fare vending machines. When exiting, fare gates read the magnetically stored value on the card, encoded the new value with the fare subtracted, and printed the new value on the card. Tickets with no remaining value were retained by the machine rather than being returned.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107363165/oakland-tribune/ |title=Ticket Machines Treat You Farely |date=September 10, 1972 |page=26 |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The entire fare system was designed and built by [[IBM]] under a $7 million contract (equivalent to ${{inflation|US-GDP|7|1972}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref name=healy>{{cite book |title=BART: The Dramatic History of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System |first=Michael C. |last=Healy |year=2016 |publisher=Heyday |isbn=978-1-59714-370-7 |pages=222–225}}</ref> It was the third system in the US to use encoded-value magnetic stripe tickets, following the [[Metra Electric District|Illinois Central Gulf commuter line]] (now the Metra Electric District) in 1964 and the [[PATCO Speedline]] in 1968.<ref name=fareoptions>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_10-c.pdf |chapter=Chapter 6: Electronic Fare Payment Options |page=93 |title=TCRP Report 10: Fare Policies, Structures, and Technologies |year=1996 |publisher=Transportation Research Board |first1=Daniel |last1=Fleishman |first2=Nicola |last2=Shaw |first3=Ashok |last3=Joshi |first4=Richard |last4=Freeze |first5=Richard |last5=Oram}}</ref>

Although tickets could be refilled at fare machines, riders often discarded tickets with small values remaining. BART formerly relied on unused ticket values on such discarded cards for additional revenue – as much as $9.9&nbsp;million annually in 1999 (equivalent to ${{inflation|US-GDP|9.9|1999}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref>{{Cite news |first=Jon |last=Carroll |date=December 6, 2000 |title=Tiny Tickets Ha Ha Ha Ha |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/Tiny-Tickets-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-3315661.php |access-date=August 10, 2022}}</ref> Tickets stopped being sold in December 2020 in favor of Clipper cards, and can no longer be used.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=BART will no longer accept paper/magstripe tickets beginning Nov 30 {{!}} Bay Area Rapid Transit |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2023/news20230911 |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=www.bart.gov}}</ref> A 50-cent surcharge per trip (25 cents for discounted fares) is applied to all journeys made on paper tickets.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Baldassari |first=Erin |date=June 22, 2017 |title=BART: 50-cent surcharge for paper tickets, expanded discount for youth |publisher=The Mercury News |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/22/bart-board-approves-50-cent-surcharge-for-paper-tickets-expanded-discount-for-youth/ |access-date=April 29, 2020}}</ref> However, due to supply chain shortages resulting in a lack of plastic Clipper cards, BART started issuing tickets again at the SFO station in October 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 19, 2022 |title=Supply chain woes: MTC, BART encourage adding Clipper card on mobile phones |url=https://www.masstransitmag.com/technology/fare-collection/mobile-applications/article/21284298/supply-chain-woes-mtc-bart-encourage-adding-clipper-card-on-mobile-phones |access-date=November 23, 2022 |website=Mass Transit Magazine}}</ref> Sales of paper tickets again ended on September 30, 2023, and they were no longer usable after November 30.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2023/news20230911 |title=BART to end sale of paper tickets, including at SFO, beginning September 30, 2023 |date=September 11, 2023 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}</ref>

BART first piloted a [[smart card]] for fare payment called EZ Rider in 2006; this program was abandoned in 2010 in favor of a regional farecard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BART enhances "EZ Rider" card with parking payment option {{!}} bart.gov |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2008/news20081020 |access-date=May 9, 2021 |website=www.bart.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 10, 2010 |title=BART Phasing Out EZ Rider Passes in Switch to Clipper |url=https://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/11/10/bart-phasing-out-ez-rider-passes-in-switch-to-clipper/ |access-date=May 9, 2021 |website=Streetsblog San Francisco |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2009, BART became one of the first five transit agencies to accept TransLink (later renamed Clipper) cards for fare payment<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Rachel |date=August 4, 2009 |title=BART starts accepting TransLink fare cards |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-starts-accepting-TransLink-fare-cards-3223398.php |access-date=May 9, 2021 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref> and began phasing out tickets. By December 2020, all BART ticket machines, except for add-fare machines inside of paid areas, were converted to Clipper use only. Tickets were no longer accepted starting in December 2023.