BART’s add fare machines undergo major upgrades to improve customer experience

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) crews have made several upgrades to the fare collection machines to speed up the experience. 

BART Add Fare Machines inside stations, which also serve as parking payment machines, now accept credit and debit cards. This upgrade is perhaps the biggest customer experience improvement to date for those who drive and park at BART stations as riders can now use a credit or debit card to pay for parking at a machine. BART also offers the official BART app as a method for paying for all types of parking at BART with a credit/debit card, Venmo or PayPal. Previously these machines only accepted cash, which was an inconvenience for riders. 

The end of a pocket full of quarters 

This upgrade is also an improvement for all riders who must add funds to exit. In 2019, BART began rolling out “Add Value” machines in the paid area that accepted credit and debit cards for adding any arbitrary amount of funds to Clipper cards. However, these machines didn’t accept parking payments and the “Add Fare” machines were still in place— causing confusion about which machines accepted credit/debit cards and which ones were cash only. 

It was not uncommon for a rider needing to exit a station to end up with a pocket full of quarters because the “Add Fare” machines only accepted cash for the small amount needed to exit. Now add fare machines allow riders to decide to either add the amount needed to exit or however much money they would like. 

Previously the default add amount was $10, and riders had to subtract $1 and 5 cents many times to get to the minimum amount to exit. Now riders can select the minimum amount to exit quicker. 

Upgrading all fare machines to accept EMV chip cards or mobile devices will be the next step in modernizing this equipment. Riders will likely see a note stating the machines are “swipe only” until the EMV technology is configured. 

Larger bills now accepted 

Crews have also reprogrammed the add fare machines to accept $10 and $20 bills. Previously the machines only accepted $5 and $1 bills, and people with larger bills had to use change machines outside of the paid area, adding time and hassle to the experience. 

Clipper for parking payment 

BART says it frequently gets asked why folks can’t use funds on Clipper to pay for BART parking. Clipper is a regional fare card for all transit in the Bay Area administered by the MTC. It doesn’t accept BART parking payment. However, BART has requested the next generation of Clipper allow for BART parking integration. 

Avoid payment machines with Apple Pay or Google Pay 

Riders who use Clipper on their phone or Apple Watch can avoid fare machines altogether. Riders can instantly load cash value onto their Clipper card in Apple Pay or Google Pay and the money is immediately available for use. Riders can add funds at any point of their trip.