BART to no longer accept paper tickets starting November 30, 2023
OAKLAND – As it prepares to update its payment systems, Bay Area Rapid Transit announced that its signature magstripe paper tickets will soon no longer be accepted.
In a statement on Friday, the agency said the tickets cannot be used at fare gates starting November 30, 2023, capping a yearslong process to transition from the paper tickets to the Clipper card.
ALSO READ: More stories on BART
BART stopped selling paper tickets at several stations in 2019 as part of a pilot program. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the program expanded to all stations in late 2020. BART briefly revived paper tickets for travelers at the San Francisco International Airport station in 2022 due to supply chain issues but stopped after Clipper card supplies rebounded.
With its trademark blue hue, white arrow and black magnetic stripe running down the side, the credit card-sized tickets were a fixture on the system for decades. Along with the trains, the tickets became a symbol of life in the Bay Area.
In September, BART ended regular service of its decades-old "legacy" fleet in favor of its "Fleet of the Future" trains, as part of a schedule change. The trains, some of which date back to the 1970s, will still appear on the system as needed to supplement service, officials said.
BART said the move away from the vintage tickets comes as the agency prepares to roll out new fare gates and as the next generation of Clipper will be launched, sometime in 2024.
Among the upgrades, an open payment system will be available. Riders would be able to tag a credit or debit card at a fare gate – including Apple Pay and Google Pay – without having to set up a card on a phone in advance.
Riders who still have paper tickets with a value of more than $1.00 can receive a refund from BART from a station agent, visiting the Customer Services Center at the Lake Merritt station in Oakland or by mailing the tickets to the agency's Treasury Department. Paper ticket balances cannot be transferred onto a Clipper card, the agency said.
Additional information on how to receive refunds can be found on the BART website.
