BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
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Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#2It's a tax on those that have other transportation options when BART fails
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#3This has happened to me on numerous occasions. I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t even realize it was happening to me for years as it wasn’t until I scrutinized my Clipper transaction history that I noticed it!
They should absolutely remove these, totally insane these fees exist in 2022.
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#4One solution here is that you can actually talk to a bart agent and they provide you with a sticker that you can use to get out without tapping. You show the sticker at the next reentry to get in without tapping again.
The problem though, more often than not, the agents are missing from their booths. Also doesn’t help if the exit and reentry are two different stations.
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#5You can go to the kiosk at any BART station and the station attendant will put a sticker on your card to indicate that you are leaving via the same station you entered and allow you to exit via the emergency doors, therefore not incurring the excursion fare.
This is in case you decide not to take the train, or forgot something at home.
I suspect the excursion fare today is trying to disincentivize the use of the trains and stations as shelters by the unhoused. But others have pointed out that it is to prevent fare hacking, also.
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#6You can go to the kiosk at any BART station and the station attendant will put a sticker on your card to indicate that you are leaving via the same station you entered and allow you to exit via the emergency doors, therefore not incurring the excursion fare. This is in case you decide not to take the train, or forgot something at home. I suspect the excursion fare today is trying to disincentivize the use of the trai…
> allow you to exit via the emergency doors
If you had to be allowed to exit via emergency doors then they wouldn't be very good emergency doors. They're not going to chase after you :)
"Jump the turnstile, never pay the toll / Doo-wah diddy and bust in with the pre-roll"
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#7Two things about excursion fares:
1. The MUNI "A" Fast Pass doesn't charge excursion fares inside SF. If you commute regularly in SF, the Type A Fast Pass is a great option, especially if you can get a subsidy from work.
2. Otherwise, a Bart attendant can scan your ticket, see that you recently entered and let you out for free, and fix your account so you can get back in without hassle.
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#8You can go to the kiosk at any BART station and the station attendant will put a sticker on your card to indicate that you are leaving via the same station you entered and allow you to exit via the emergency doors, therefore not incurring the excursion fare. This is in case you decide not to take the train, or forgot something at home. I suspect the excursion fare today is trying to disincentivize the use of the trai…
The system will have a record of you entering at one station, but no record of an exit.
Will that result in a charge or other problem?
(On the London Underground, it would result in a charge, as the system is designed to assume you exited somewhere but somehow managed to leave without tapping out.)
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#9One solution here is that you can actually talk to a bart agent and they provide you with a sticker that you can use to get out without tapping. You show the sticker at the next reentry to get in without tapping again. The problem though, more often than not, the agents are missing from their booths. Also doesn’t help if the exit and reentry are two different stations.
"Also doesn’t help if the exit and reentry are two different stations."
What about the same station, but on a different day?
Re: BART’s excursion fare: Agency earns millions from passengers not riding trains
#10You can go to the kiosk at any BART station and the station attendant will put a sticker on your card to indicate that you are leaving via the same station you entered and allow you to exit via the emergency doors, therefore not incurring the excursion fare. This is in case you decide not to take the train, or forgot something at home. I suspect the excursion fare today is trying to disincentivize the use of the trai…
The system will have a record of you entering at one station, but no record of an exit. Will that result in a charge or other problem? (On the London Underground, it would result in a charge, as the system is designed to assume you exited somewhere but somehow managed to leave without tapping out.)
No - any time you have a problem you talk with a BART agent at the gate and they sort it out for you.
Are they not present sometimes? Yes. Are they slow / overrun by people? Sometimes. But that has little to do with the fare.