Traffic & Transit

BART Ditches Paper Tickets For Clipper Cards

After a successful trial program, the agency committed to the switch.

BAY AREA — BART has eliminated paper ticket sales at all of its stations and will sell fares exclusively through Clipper going forward, the transit agency said Monday.

BART began testing a move to only selling fares through Clipper in August 2019 with a pilot program at the 19th Street Oakland, Embarcadero, Powell Street and Downtown Berkeley stations.

The agency then accelerated the conversion in light of the coronavirus pandemic, opting for the touchless fare payment of a Clipper card over a paper fare ticket. The conversion was completed last week, according to the agency.

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BART officials have argued that increased use of Clipper cards will allow riders to move faster in and out of fare gates and will reduce paper waste.

The Clipper system is also used by nearly every other transit agency in the Bay Area.

Find out what's happening in Lamorindafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Transit riders with paper tickets that have a remaining value of more than $1 can claim a refund at any station or by mailing the ticket to BART's Treasury Department, which can be reached at (510) 464-6841.

BART riders can find information on obtaining a Clipper card at clippercard.com and bart.gov/clipper.

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