‘SEE AGENT’ NO MORE WITH NEW BART TICKETS

By Mani Dashtizadeh
Staff Writer
BART ticket graphic showing proper ticket orientation and magnetic strip warning
KEEP TICKET AWAY FROM MAGNETS: New BART tickets feature higher-coercivity magnetic strips designed to reduce demagnetization and gate rejections.
XPRESS GRAPHIC

Catching up to New York, Boston, and other 21st-century public transit systems, BART entered the testing phase of new fare tickets designed to reduce a familiar commuter frustration: the demagnetized ticket.

The BART board approved a contract in February for a five-year supply of tickets using higher-grade magnetic strips. The high-coercivity strips—similar to those used on most credit cards—are less prone to erasure than the low-coercivity tickets currently in circulation.

BART officials receive an average of 250 complaints each day related to demagnetized tickets. Daly City BART alone sees about 20 erased tickets during the morning rush between 7 and 9 a.m., according to station agents.

Jerica Montez, a 19-year-old SF State interior design student, said she deals with rejected tickets almost weekly. "At least once a week it happens," Montez said. "My wallet has a magnet on it—you think I would learn, but I don’t."

Nursing major Emily Hallman, 20, said she became more careful after learning her cell phone could demagnetize her ticket. Others are less fortunate. "They’ll give me another one to get through the day," said SF State biology student Yada Batiste, 20, "but then I have to go down to get it replaced. It wastes a lot of time."

BART Chief Spokesperson Linton Johnson said the agency was already testing the new tickets and had installed at least one high-coercivity-compatible fare gate at each station. "We’re in the testing phase right now," Johnson said. "Once testing is complete, we’ll be ready to put the high-c tickets into our machines for customers."

The transition is expected to take time, as older tickets will remain in circulation alongside the new ones for several years. "It takes more energy to write to and erase," said Brian Hallman, senior vice president of sales for the ticket contractor. "That’s why the new tickets hold up better."

For riders, the change may be subtle but meaningful. "Our customers will not be able to notice the difference between low-c and high-c tickets," Johnson said. "However, we may have a modest design change so customers know whether they have the high-c ticket."