BART expands fare collection process to accept contactless payments
Bay Area Rapids Transit (BART) expanded its usable forms of payment on Aug. 20, now accepting contactless debit and credit card payments alongside mobile payments through services like Google Pay and Apple Pay.
With tap and ride, riders will no longer need to use a Clipper card to ride BART. The agency says this will be a timesaver for riders who can now use their contactless bank cards to ride BART with zero registration or setup process required.
“Tap and ride follows the installation of next generation fare gates, running only Fleet of the Future trains, boosting cleaning and increasing our visible safety presence as efforts that are transforming the BART experience,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “This is an especially important innovation for out-of-town visitors and infrequent riders who may not have a physical or digital Clipper card and want a simple way to use our service.”
Cards accepted for tap and ride on BART include Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover Network. Physical bank cards must be contactless enabled, with the contactless symbol on either the front or back of the card. Riders can also use bank cards added to digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay to enter the system.
When paying with a contactless bank card, riders will be charged full adult fares, and riders with eligibility-based discounts, such as Clipper START or youth and senior discounts, must continue using their physical or digital Clipper card. Transfer discounts will not be available with tap and ride until the feature is rolled out to the Bay Area’s other transit agencies. Riders transferring from BART to a connecting transit agency are advised to use their physical or digital Clipper card to receive the current transfer discounts.
The agency says each rider must pay with their own card or device, and they must use the same card or device to tap in and tap out of the BART system. If a card’s authorized user has the same credit card number but they are on different cards and devices, they will be able to use it.
The agency says tap and ride functionality for BART riders marks the first step in the transition toward the long-awaited next generation of the Bay Area’s Clipper® electronic fare payment system being implemented by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and participating Clipper transit agencies. Contactless bank cards soon will be accepted by the nearly two dozen other Bay Area transit agencies that accept Clipper for fare payment. Once the next generation of Clipper is rolled out Bay Area wide, tap and ride will include all discounted fares and transfers between transit services.
“MTC and the Bay Area transit agencies will be rolling out a number of other improvements to the Clipper fare payment system in the coming months,” said MTC Chair and Pleasant Hill Mayor Sue Noack. “This early rollout of contactless bank card acceptance on BART is an example of MTC’s commitment to making transit fare payment easier for riders across the region.”
BART now accounts for about half of all Bay Area transit trips paid for using Clipper. In 2019, the agency retired paper tickets and began accepting only Clipper card fare payments.
Starting Aug. 20, customers can call the Clipper Customer Service Center for assistance using contactless bank cards. Customers also may visit the Clipper Contactless Payments webpage to learn more. A new website feature allows customers to get a list of recent contactless transit-fare payment transactions.