Five decades of service: BART tickets through the years
BART’s first paying passenger on Sept. 11, 1972.
In celebration of BART’s 50th anniversary this year, we’re looking back at the transit system’s five decades of service and innovation in a new series of stories. BART celebrates 50 years on Sept. 11, 2022.
The BART magnetic ticket, with its blue and black stripes and simple white arrows pointing straight, has become an iconic piece of ephemera in the San Francisco Bay Area. Vintage tickets and ticket holders are even for sale on websites like eBay (and you can purchase a vintage ticket tee on BART’s merch store, Rail Goods).
In 2020, BART stopped selling magnetic tickets in stations in favor of Clipper Cards and Pay By Phone options, which integrate with other public transit systems in the region and foster a more touchless experience in these COVID-riddled times. (You can read about the many additional benefits on bart.gov.) BART continues to accept magnetic tickets in its fare boxes.
Though the magnetic ticket may be bygone these days, in honor of BART’s 50th anniversary, on Sept. 11, 2022, we dug deep into the archives to unearth some of our favorite tickets (and ticket holders) of yesteryear.
A Charge-A-Ticket machine from the 1990s. The machines were installed at a handful of BART machines around the system to offer the use of credit/debit purchases. They were replaced with Cubic equipment in the early 2000s.
From January 1970 – the groundbreaking ceremony at Oakland’s first administrative building – to the grand opening of the SFO extension in June 2003, the tickets harken to the many milestones BART has celebrated in its five decades.
The vintage tickets serve as a reminder of our multicolored history. Just like the arrows on the tickets, BART keeps pointing forward into the future.
A green “Trip Ticket” from BART’s early days.
The first-ever BART ticket from Opening Day, Sept. 11, 1972.
A sampling of some of the many designs that have graced Clipper cards in years’ past.
A red BART ticket for disabled individuals and youth ages 5 through 18.
A “BARTPlus” ticket, which was terminated in 2015 and would later be replaced by Clipper Card.
A vintage BART card with a car drawing instead of the iconic arrows.
A BART “EZRider” card used to pay for rides and later parking. These tickets were used starting in 2006 and terminated in 2019.
A test ticket for BART, presumably from the 1970s.
Frank Herringer served as BART’s General Manager in the 1970s, so we can guess this “Trip Pass” is from that time.
A Stanford University-BART collaboration coinciding with the launch of the early pilot program for EZ Rider. Former BART Board President Bob Franklin, a Stanford alumnus, wanted to offer the card to give Stanford students a discounted BART trip to catch the campus shuttle from the BART Fremont station to the university campus.
An undated BART “To Go” ticket holder.
An early BART ticket holder touting the transit system’s purview.
A BART ticket celebrating the opening of the SFO Airport extension in June 2003.