Doesn't BART have onboard ticket inspectors? That would easily foil this.
Fare Hacking on BART
41–50 of 54 posts
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#42Although I don't know if there is a time limit, it is possible to exit the same station as you enter for no fee with the standard BART card. e.g. in case you realize you've forgotten something in your car after you pass the turnstiles. Therefore it should be possible to save 100% of fares for people leaving/arriving at opposite stations, respectively. System-wide savings would then be proportional to directionality o…
If you enter/exit via the same station, BART charges $5.75 (Search for 'excursion' at https://www.bart.gov/guide/faq) unless you talk with a Station Agent.
I've never understood why they charge this fee when it would be possible to get a lower fare by going a station further, exiting, and entering again but I haven't had a problem if I talk with the Station Agent.
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
> you are essentially having fun at the expense of the public servants The author never actually went out and fraudulently saved money by implementing his idea, so I fail to see how his actions are "at the expense of the public servants". To quote him, > One final note before I dive in: this algorithm is essentially large scale ticket swapping, which is obviously illegal and unethical. I don’t believe that it would b…
I think he shouldn't have made the source available. Now it's really only the (apparent?) uncloneability of the Clipper cards that stops someone.
I am of the view that anyone who finds an exploit should (generally) do what they feel would have the best result. This would incentivize organisations to create payouts (prizes) for non-public exploits, and it would allow concerned citizens to force a change from generally unmovable bureaucracies.
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#44Another Bart hack; If you fly in to SFO and don't mind walking a few blocks to the San Bruno Bart station you can save about $4.60 each way. For some reason the SFO stop costs a lot extra. The easiest way is to continue on the sky tram to the rental car place. When you get off its a quick half a mile walk over San Bruno ave to Huntington.
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#45Reminds me of a time in Hong Kong when I accompanied a friend buy or trade used games at the train station. We were outside of the paid area and the other guy was inside the paid area of the concourse. It seems to be common practice there.
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#46Another Bart hack; If you fly in to SFO and don't mind walking a few blocks to the San Bruno Bart station you can save about $4.60 each way. For some reason the SFO stop costs a lot extra. The easiest way is to continue on the sky tram to the rental car place. When you get off its a quick half a mile walk over San Bruno ave to Huntington.
If you ask Google maps for walking directions from the rental car station to Bart, it says it's 1.9 miles and 39 minutes. Presumably there are significant shortcuts one can make?
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#47Although I don't know if there is a time limit, it is possible to exit the same station as you enter for no fee with the standard BART card. e.g. in case you realize you've forgotten something in your car after you pass the turnstiles. Therefore it should be possible to save 100% of fares for people leaving/arriving at opposite stations, respectively. System-wide savings would then be proportional to directionality o…
If you enter/exit via the same station, BART charges $5.75 (Search for 'excursion' at https://www.bart.gov/guide/faq ) unless you talk with a Station Agent. I've never understood why they charge this fee when it would be possible to get a lower fare by going a station further, exiting, and entering again but I haven't had a problem if I talk with the Station Agent.
Presumably they charge the fee because it would be inconvenient and time-consuming for at least some to take a train a stop, exit, re-enter and take the train back for a few bucks.
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
> you are essentially having fun at the expense of the public servants The author never actually went out and fraudulently saved money by implementing his idea, so I fail to see how his actions are "at the expense of the public servants". To quote him, > One final note before I dive in: this algorithm is essentially large scale ticket swapping, which is obviously illegal and unethical. I don’t believe that it would b…
I think he shouldn't have made the source available. Now it's really only the (apparent?) uncloneability of the Clipper cards that stops someone.
This is a silly objection. If you can clone clipper cards, you don't need special software to cheat the system. The software here is just an academic exercise in optimization algorithms.
Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#49Re: Fare Hacking on BART
#50Reminds me of a time in Hong Kong when I accompanied a friend buy or trade used games at the train station. We were outside of the paid area and the other guy was inside the paid area of the concourse. It seems to be common practice there.
Yep, happens all the time in HK. [1] The MTR (metro system) charges based on the station where you enter and the station where you exit. The ticket is valid for 150 minutes after you enter, which is plenty of time to take a train to a distant station and come back again. As long as you don't actually leave the distant station, the fare system has no idea where you went. :)
[1] http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2010/12/06/online-shopping-in...