Anna Duckworth

BART will no longer accept magstripe paper tickets starting Nov. 30, marking an end of their transition to using a Clipper card-only fare payment system.

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration awarded BART a $330.8 million COVID-19 relief grant Thursday under the American Rescue Plan. 

This holiday season, BART and the Salvation Army have collaborated to launch the “Partners for Change” campaign to help the homeless community seeking shelter in BART’s stations and trains.

This summer, four BART stations will transition to having Clipper cards as the only fare available for purchase, a change that is expected to become system-wide in 2020.

BART released a new program Monday that incentivizes riders to carpool to the Dublin/Pleasanton, Orinda, Antioch and Warm Springs/South Fremont stations by providing them with easier parking opportunities.

Starting Monday, Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, began to enhance public safety by mandating police and fare inspectors to work extra hours in the service’s busiest areas in order to “bolster their visible presence and enhance public safety,” according to a BART press release.

In light of the imminent morning closures of the Transbay Tube, BART will implement a bus system for early morning commuters but will leave Berkeley stops unserviced.

BART’s Transbay Tube, the 3.6-mile tunnel that connects the East Bay and San Francisco, will undergo construction that will affect early-morning commuters starting in February.

BART uses ShakeAlert to detect initial, nondamaging waves called P-waves. This allows the system to prepare for the stronger S-waves — which can cause major damage — and slow and stop trains.

BART spokesperson Anna Duckworth said BART gates are waist-high, while other transit agencies have higher gates that discourage fare evasion. Lt. Randy Gregson, a BART patrol watch commander, described BART stations as “porous” with many portals of exit and entry — another challenge in deterring fare evasion.