Lafayette, California – If you’re a longtime BART rider, you know that the transit system just made a major change.
You no longer need to purchase a physical or even digital Clipper card. Anyone can tap a credit card at the fare gate in order to access BART.
It’s a great convenience factor, and it’s fantastic for your out-of-town guests who might not know how to use the Clipper system. But according to BART, this new convenience comes with a potential risk.
Here’s a sign about it:
Lots of BART riders – myself included – have long accessed BART by quickly mashing our entire wallets on the card reader. When the reader was configured to only read Clipper cards, this worked great. Even if my Clipper card was buried deep inside my wallet, the reader would pick up its signal and let me through.
Now that the reader accepts credit cards in addition to Clipper cards, though, the technique of “mash your wallet or purse on the reader and hope for the best” could result in you being double or even triple charged for your next BART ride…