I've been living in the Bay for over a year and a half now, and I just barely signed up for this program. I was told before that they've had major problems (i.e. not reading the card properly, getting de-magnetized, etc.). I also thought that I wouldn't be able to purchase the high-value tickets. However, I was convinced by Maria D. (http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=7EXWwja2wdSYiCqhR3cTqQ) to finally sign up. I haven't had any problems with it so "those" people were wrong. I find it very convient and it saves constantly buying tickets. It's great for the everyday commuter or even the occassional rider. Now that they have the parking feature, it's even more of time-saver. You don't need to remember your parking stall number, and you have a better chance of catching the train rather than waiting in line to pay $1 for parking during the morning rush. I've missed several trains because of that. The best part is that it auto-loads your card (similar to Fastrak) and you can still purchase the discounted high-value fares. Once it hit below $10, it loads $48 of BART value but only costs you $45.00. I am definitely happy with my card and much thanks to Maria D.! TIP: The parking feature is deducted SEPARATELY from your BART fare. Once parking hits below $10, it auto-loads $40. Also, there's a ONE-TIME fee of $5 for the card and $2 for the parking tag. Your intial costs will be: $45 - EZ Rider card $5 - card fee $40 - parking $2 - parking tag fee ------------------------------ $92.00 total read more

BART - EZ Rider Program - Public Transportation Near Me

Your probably wondering what on earth BART EZ Rider Program is! Quite simply, it is Fastrak for people who ride BART. No, they don't strap a transponder to your forehead, they give you a card that is the size of a credit card, embedded with some kind of smartcard/microchip thingy. On every entry gate, there is a little round pad , that you swipe the card over when you walk through. When you sign up for the program (currently a pilot program) you give them your credit card number, and they preload $48. Every time you make a trip, it deducts the fare from your balance. Once your balance falls below $10, they automatically top off your card. I've been using this for a week now with great success. People must think I'm crazy, magically swiping my hand over the gate and it opens.... maybe I should start shouting "Open, Sesame" as I walk through and really freak people out! If you use BART everyday, then I recommend signing up. Its a no hassle way to travel. No more lining up to get a new ticket, or having to beg for change to use the Add Fare machine. read more

BART - EZ Rider Program - EZ Rider Card - Public Transportation Near Me

This is incredibly cool because I don't have to worry about buying tickets anymore. My days of whining about not having a permanent ticket are over! Unlike a regular ticket...if you lose it, you can cancel it immediately and you will be able to hold on to your money (minus the $5 card replacement fee). One problem is that you have to time it just right or the gate will beep and not open and you'll piss off the person behind you. If you don't wait a second for the gate to close before using your EZ rider card, it won't work. Other than that, I haven't had a single problem with it. read more

LOVE IT. You can sign up for it via online. Anytime your ticket drops below $10.00 BART will automatically recharge your card back to $48.00 (you pay $45.00) through your account. No more waiting behind slow tourists that can't figure out how to put quarters into the hole No more waiting in line for people to subtract $0.05. from their ticket, ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. All you do is swipe the card over the circular detector (above where you would normally insert your ticket) and the gate opens. ---update--- two months later, card has not yet been demagnetized. ooooh yeah. read more

Still not perfect, but still convenient. You can now pay for parking with the EZ Rider card. However, the parking money is stored separately from the BART money, even though I'm only using one card. So when you check your EZ Rider account, you'll see two separate balances for transit and for parking. A little trick: sometimes, if you tap your card too fast after the person in front of you pass the fare gate, your card may not register. This happened to me a few times. So, after the person in front of you pass the gate, wait a bit until the gate closes, then tap your card. read more

Okay, read the BART website and other reviews for the description! I'm just here to sing my praise... Something that finally makes BART suck less! Fastrak for BART riders - huzzah! While it takes about the same time for me to get through the gates since I've got those speedy ticket-inserting fingers, it still looks pretty awesome. Everyone's got those flimsy tickets, and I've got my EZ Rider in its special plastic case. I admit that it is a little tough to see the balance because it flashes by so quickly. But you'll know when you run out because they refill when you hit a certain $ amount anyway - $10 or so? Extra stars for the fact that you get $48 of rides for $45 - EVERY time. If you sign up early, the card itself is free also. Otherwise, you'll be charged a fee of $5. This is awesome since I hardly ever have enough cash on me, and I don't have to worry about getting a new card when I run out! I still have no clue why not that many people use this. read more

when are we going to discuss, as a city of adults, how shamefully embarrassing and inept it is that the bart cant run past midnight? Other major cities? 24 hour transit for decades now... us? we just cant seem to muster those 4 extra journeys until opening. thus we close our bars at 2, tell people not to drink and drive, and close the public transit at midnight. we hurt our own nightlife economy by not giving our friends across the bay a reliable way of getting back (without being on the 3 am crime bus that gets you home at 6 am).... I don't think I am asking a lot of San Francisco? Just keep it open...? So we can get around? I am not sure if I'm supposed to have a car here or not... while the message is clear elsewhere in other metro cities. You live in LA.. get one. You live in NY? nope. Here? uhhhh... i hope you like sidecar? uber? Some might say I'm asking too much, I'm personally just embarrassed. When are we going to get together and demand not to have a bed time as a city, and that maybe we are big kids now? read more

I was a little apprehensive about giving BART access to my ATM / Check Card, but I figure, I do the same thing at the ticket machine at least once a week for another $20. Now, I just swipe my plastic encased card, and I'm done. Plus they charge me $45 for $48 worth of rides. For me, that is an extra ride, since my fare from Glen Park to San Bruno is $3.05. I think there are a few kinks to work out, like being able to use your Commuter Check, pay online, etc, but this is just a pilot program, and I am sure things will change to make it even more convenient. You must have seen those plastic discs on the fare gates ... that is where you swipe your card. It will not get jammed, folded, etc. And it looks cooler to swipe than to use the paper cards. The pilot program is over, but when it goes to Phase 2, regulars should think about it. read more

Signed up for Clipper Card for Bart, but was unaware that I needed a separate EZ Rider account for parking! Though it was easy to sign up online, I wasn't aware that I had to set up another credit card for parking (tied to the same Clipper Card number). Hangtag to be sent in mail. While I waited for my hangtag in the mail, I used my Clipper Card on Bart --and since I still had money on my Bart ticket, decided to use it to pay for parking (by entering stall number in payment machine). But the machine would not accept it! The Bart attendant said I could only use my Bart ticket to pay for parking ONLY IF I used it to enter the station. Isn't this all Bart?! Not having any small change to pay the $3 daily parking fee, I had to be let outside/back inside Bart Station (so I could use bill changer machine), before I could return to pay cash to the parking fee machine, resulting in my missing 1 maybe 2 trains! But now that my Clipper and EZ Rider are set up, everything seems to be working fine (so far). Just wish that things were more clear upfront. read more

BART was my first real introduction to San Fran and what I really learned is BART is cray-cray! But I kind of liked it because it definitely was an experience I'll remember for the rest of my life. My entire journey was primetime-sitcom worthy. From the airport I slowly made my way to the BART station and as I was just about to pass a line of kiosks I realized those kiosks held my ticket to ridding. It's actually a pretty cool system where you put money on a card and it charges the paper card as your exiting you destination. I'm not sure what happens if you didn't put enough moola on your BART card... I suppose you're just stuck in limbo in BART purgatory until an employee comes to release you. Just as I was walking up to the only train in the station, the conductor popped up leading me to the first car. When I first hopped on, I was glancing around I noticed a man that was digging deep in his nose for some treasure and I did that weird thing where you start to look away because you're sure the stranger is completely embarrassed that someone did in fact see them picking boogers, but then I realized he was looking me dead in the eyes as if to say, "I pick my nose on the BART everyday and what?!" And nothing. Do your thing dude, I'm just soaking it all in. As I seated myself it became very apparent that the man seated a few seats from me was mentally impaired and quite a few passengers actually moved as far from him as possible. Even though this man was yelling throughout the whole trip I felt as though he wasn't actually a threat, just boisterous. And the drunk guy stumbling towards the front of the car while leering over every passenger he came face to face with reminded me that seating wise I could do worse than the guy screaming "Chaka Khan! Chaka Khana, is that you?! You look so good, Chaka! I haven't seen you in ages! Okay, love yah guuurl! Call me!" at the lady with a well maintained afro and killer high-heel boots. But the real reason I probably will take a taxi or Uber the next time I'm in the area is because of my tiny bit of claustrophobia that became very apparent to other passengers as I started breathing heavily when the the train completely stopped in the middle of the tracks in a tunnel without an exit in sight. Yeah, basically my nightmare. We were informed via intercom that or train went offline and our conductor was waiting for permission to take over manually. It Rioja while before we were on our way, but eventually we started going and ever creek and crack made my heart beat a tiny bit faster. Like any subway system, it's cheap and fast. So if you don't have a fear of being confined and exit-less, you'll do just fine. I will say it doesn't come across as the safest mode of transportation, but I didn't see anything that was absolutely unheard of... there were just a lot of personalities aboard. A lot of personalities. read more

Love my BART EZ Rider smart card. So easy and convenient to use. Although more than a decade behind Hong Kong's Octopus Card, a similar system. I hope that they keep this system in place for people who ONLY ride BART. I know that they plan to adopt the TransLink multi-transit system, after the 5 month testing period that just started in August. But that card system is not as reliable (read those reviews). I see no reason why they couldn't keep both systems. read more

Saves the annoyingness of having to buy $20 or discounted (which aren't worth it that much anyway) tickets all the time. I've never had the demagnetized ticket happen to me, so that wasn't the issue I was trying to solve. Only the constant ticket-buying (I'm not an everyday BART rider, but I was a 4-days/week rider). Anyway, this makes BART so much more convenient. You can look smug and cool as well as breeze in and out of BART about 1 second faster without having to waste time getting tickets or adding more money onto your tickets. It's nice that there's an automatic recharge of your card, BUT I don't their policy of recharging every time you get under $10...I feel like that defeats the purpose of the tiny "discount" they give you. Also, I recently tried to log into my account online where I forgot my password. After somehow unsuccessfully answering my security questions, my account was locked. I emailed customer service, and they haven't gotten back to me for over a week. Not cool. I wanted to sign up for the parking thing. My account is still locked. Very good concept and addition to the BART service. I appreciate it, but look forward to some smoothing out of the kinks in the system. =) NOTE: If you ever scan your card into a station and then decide that you don't want to ride BART, DON'T try to scan your card to walk out! It charges you $4.90!!!!! Even if you came in and out of the same station, the system doesn't recognize that. Just go to the BART teller and let them know that you want to get out so they can give you a voucher. read more

Ok, as long as you're not going to let me have a monthly pass, I guess this is pretty good. I'm a little disappointed that the EZ Rider program basically copies everything that the Translink pass does without the integration between public transportation agencies. Like, uh, ok BART, way to go behind everyone's back and make something much less useful, even though you'll eventually support Translink. From the bart.gov website "Your EZ Rider card uses similar technology to the future, regional Translink card, but your EZ Rider card only works on BART. When Translink is made available on BART, EZ Rider card users will be able to switch to Translink, which will work on transit systems throughout the Bay Area. " Anyway, whatever. It still merits 5 stars because: - free RFID cards - automatic reloading (the *only* card I think this is actually useful for) - discount (I think... right?) - no more demagnetizing - when I moved away from SF, they credited my credit card with the remaining balance on my EZ Rider card. Pretty sweet. And public transportation + cool technology = win read more

Definitely about time for something like this. I love not having to buy tickets and I love the fast time through the gate (works great as long as you slap the card down instead of swiping it). The whole stalker aspect is a little creepy, but if I'm going to be stalked by the man it might as well be the mass transit man. Amen. Oh, and BART people: PLEASE add the ability to use commuter checks to recharge the card. Please? **EDIT:** OK, I know I only wrote the original review yesterday but I was just reminded of how much this is *not* a 21st century system and I'm actually going to dock 2 stars as a result. Lesson of the day: Make sure your credit card details are up to date at all times. If you say, move, and change your credit card address with the bank, the transaction will fail. You'll get an email telling you this. All is well so far. Except that you'd think that after you updated the address on the website and received a phone call telling you they noticed that and would retry that the card would work next time you went through. Nope. They only process charges overnight. None of this new-fangled instant credit card processing for BART (never mind that BART ticket machines do it all the time!). Oh, and because I had enough credit left on the card to go on medium trips but not my commute, it lets me into the station every time I try it only to not let me out at the other end. With no way to recharge. This is so close to being a great system, but they need to hurry up and automate a lot more of it. read more

Hooray I don't have to wait in that long ass line to buy BART High Value Tickets anymore! And I look so cool flying through the fare gates instead of waiting for my ticket like the common folk! (I feel you Adrienne G.) But seriously, this has been really helpful to me because I go through one of those $64 tickets in about 6.5 days ($9.90 roundtrips add up FAST.) I am eagerly awaiting the ability to add my commuter checks. But hey, it's a Pilot Program, so I'm not expecting perfection. read more

Anyone who knows me, knows my love for the bay. I've traveled my fair share of places, and no other city attracts me as much as S.F. After a conversation with a friend recently regarding "change", I've concluded that I need to get my life into gear and start proactively planning for my future. No more of this 'feeling idle' crap. So on that note, I'm finally beginning to think about relocating to the bay. One of the greatest advantages to living in the bay is the public transportation system, aka BART. If my directionally-challenged self can navigate the city with this thing, you know it's "EZ". Now, if I can only find relationships that are as effortless and easily manageable, things would be gold. read more

The best thing to happen to BART since the extended service to Millbrae. Amen. read more

I'm docking a couple of stars because: 1) I can't use Commuter Check to buy my EZ Rider card; 2) It's a separate program from the dead-logical, where-has-it-been-all-this-time TransLink. Dear BART: Implement fixes to points #1 and 2, and I will give you two more stars! Love, M. read more

I love love love this program. Pilot my ass. The only way they'll take this boy's EZ Rider card is to pry it from my cold, rigor-mortised fingers. The only bad thing about this card is that I'm so used to striding through the gate without stopping (you can do it if you time the card swipe right), that when the card needs to reload, I ram my legs into the orange gate things. EZ Rider uber alles! read more

I hate to admit it, but BART's EZ Rider Program is actually done well. Or at least its beta test or whatever it is I have works well. When you ride BART often but not daily, it can be annoying to buy those high-value tickets (that only save you 6.something percent) at the few places they're sold and then have to finish off the fare with your own change. In the end, you don't save very much money. The EZ Rider Program is cool because you prepay for it, and when your balance gets low, it draws from your credit-card account again. This means you don't lose any money paying off your fare. Plus you don't ever have to deal with anyone. My only problems with the program are the fact that your balance flashes so quickly on the screen that you often miss it and that you have to hold the card onto a scanner rather than running it through the normal slot. I always feel like I'm going to get double-charged, although I never have been. read more

Your site won't let me pay with my valid all points updated credit card with way more than enough value on it. Yes I know how to sign in. Used to be "retry" section. Now it's gone. Rent Seeking for those parking violations? read more

You have saved me .03 milliseconds of time every time I ride BART by allowing me to slide right on through. So, in total, you given me 5 min. back of my life.. and for that I am eternally grateful to you!!! **Auto-reload RULES!** PS/ I love you... lol read more

PRE-EZ RIDER ME: *BEEP* Huh? What's wrong with my ticket?? *Swiftly walk over to BART booth since I'm already late to work* ME: My ticket's not working. BART PERSON: Looks like it's demagnetized. Did you have it near a cell phone or ipod or something? ME: Umm...maybe. It was in my purse. BART PERSON: Well, you'll need to go exchange this at one of the designated centers and buy another ticket for now. ME: Gee thanks..... *Wait in line, buy another ticket, and go to work.* Add another 20 mins on top of how late I am to work.* BOSS: What happened? It's 9:45am ME: Oh sorry, BART was having problems. I think an electrical fire or something. We were stuck in the tunnel for a while. ************************************************************* AFTER EZ-RIDER *BEEP* Walk right through and down to platform for train. ME: Holy Shit, I'm 10 mins early to work! I absolutely LOVE this thing! It's sooooo much easier than buying and fiddling with a flimsy ticket that gets demagnetized all time. The only downfalls are that you can't use the commuter check with it and you can't get the $64 credit for $60, but they give you the $48 credit when you reload the card for $45 so you still save a little. You can't beat the convenience & ease of it though! read more

Makes going in and out of BART more than a pleasure, almost a joy. No more fumbling for exact change, no more "tiny tickets." And hey, you feel so posh waving the thing over the faregate and having it open. It's like you're using the Force or something. Now if they could only get every transit agency on something like this. Trankslink, you listening? read more

I have one of these cards, and it really does make me feel like James Bond every time I use it at a BART station. (Except when I have to tap the card twice on the reader, which makes me feel like James Bond's younger, less suave brother.) read more

Good system Bart EZ Rider Program rocks. You no longer have to worry about having change or cash to buy a new card, or refill an existing Bart card. and your phone doesnt wipe it out. s someone who uses multiple transit systems on a regular basis, the fact that BART and Muni are having trouble implementing Translink is bullshit over money read more

Using BART at all is unsafe. The parking system is a complete scam. Ppl are trying their best to make an honest living and because of the insane reliance on such programs BART is gutting people with ticket prices and parking fees that are constantly hiked up. We are all victims of a system that is powered by the sweat of these commuters. read more

No more waiting in line to buy a new ticket or worrying if you have cash on hand to do so. I think it's a valuable improvement and yet another reason to take public transit. Just like FasTrak, BART's EZ Rider Program makes transit one step closer to idiot-proof (for me at least!). read more

After waiting on a mailing list for several months I finally got an e-mail from BART letting me know that they had opened their EZ Rider program to new users and I signed up immediately. The card verification process is a little annoying, and for the life of me I can't figure out why the paperwork with the card tells you to call a number and then just rattle off a website address for you to go to. Why not just tell you to go directly to the website? Further annoyance was caused by the fact that the voice sounds like it's saying "EASYrider.bart.gov" but the URL is actually "EZrider.bart.gov" I tried my card out for the first time on my way to work today and it worked like a dream. Just as fast as a paper card and much easier. I've heard a lot of complaints about the card not always working, but a lot of those seem to be a result of an improper use of the card with the gate. The most important thing to remember is that you don't SWIPE the card across the disk, you SLAP the card on the top of the disk. Remember, SLAP, don't SWIPE. TWO complaints keep this from getting 5 stars: 1) EZ Rider needs to take Commuter Checks. Until they do I'm going to keep using paper tickets most of the time. 2) I'm not a big fan of the goofy plastic case the card comes in. Why can't I put it in my wallet with my credit cards? read more

How disgusting riding bart on wkends.. my short trip to SF included people eating, pan handling, bringing on a dirry mutt non-service dog, littering and spilling sticky soda all over the floor. Where do all those $$go that we pay to rids these dirty old cars. Doesn't anyone follow rules or care anymore? So sad. read more

Bart EZ Rider Program is AWESOME. You no longer have to worry about having change or cash to buy a new card, or refill an existing Bart card. What they should do though is GIVE USERS a discount on the days when Bart is delayed. I don't mean just a 10 minute delay, but when the service is disrupted significantly. Personally, I"m sick and tired or seeing the rates increase EVERY YEAR and the quality of the service remaining the same, if not, getting worse. And THEY ARE ALWAYS REPAIRING ESCALATORS. It gets pretty annoying. read more

Love it. Before this program came, I used to put a twenty dollar bill into the BART ticket machine every day, it seemed. Or I would have to save my quarters and NOT put them into our vacation fund/bowl. Now it seems like I ride for free since the money is taken out of my account without me having to do anything, like have cash on me. Note: I had one card die (I kept it in my back pocket next to the magnetic fob that lets me into my office). The extremely fast and able EZ Rider lady said that I should always keep my card in the plastic container it came in. That makes sense, looking back on it. But at the time I received it, I thought the little plastic container was a tiny, silly pseudo briefcase to protect it during mailing. ___________________________________ Update: Now with a new website so you can stalk yourself!! read more

Easy, straightforward, perfect. It's like FastTrak for BART. You don't have to think about it or fuss with buying tickets or remembering to not put the magnetic strip near your cellphone. I especially love that split second that it saves from having to pull out the card and wait for the machine to spit it out. I just wish there would be an option to buy the $64-for-$60 ticket. read more

It's the Fastrak of BART. Gotta love that. But I kinda hate how I forget to tap my card on the Parking Disc!! Also, I hope they link this with Translink AND allow you to deposit your commuter checks into your balance. But for now.. this thing is super convenient. read more

No complaints about the pass it's a moment of zen during your daily commute. It's the fare gates that still suck. Try reading your card balance on a screen the doesn't face you and in 8 pt font size -not helpful. If you have a EZ Rider pass and a Translink card or say a Zipcar Membership Card in your wallet too, then you will have to take the EZ rider pass out and swipe it by itself. Otherwise you get the BART Fare Gate Banshees' attention and you have to physically back out of the gate and re-swipe. read more

I love my card. I don't drive. I rely on BART to move throughout the Bay Area. It makes commuting so much simpler. read more

It's 2017 and people CANNOT pay for Bart parking on an easy to use App. Bart parking is a scam. They hope you forget, or get an "OK" at the meter, and still get a ticket. Nothing you can do about it. read more

Update 8/11/2009: Looks like BART is finally beginning to phase out the EZ Rider card in favor of Translink. The little green Translink card is now functional on BART for fare payment. The only reason to keep the EZ Rider card now is to pay for parking (see below). EZ Rider is on its way out, and it doesn't make sense to give more than one star to a system headed the way of the dodo. Once Translink implements parking the EZ Rider card will die a quiet death. Prepare yourselves for the future ... www.translink.org. Update 1/6/2009: You can now pay for BART parking with the EZ-Rider card! How cool is it to just *tap* your little smart-card on the machine and stride to the escalator while the frazzled bozo in front of you is still trying to shove a wrinkled and torn dollar bill into the machine? The only drawback to the EZ-Rider system is I still can't use my commuter checks with it. But it's still better than Translink. Original review: As someone who uses multiple transit systems on a regular basis, the fact that BART and Muni are having trouble implementing Translink is a major PITA. *confession* I sometimes don't even pay my fare on Muni because it is so damned inconvenient. (I know, what a rogue.) So this is how I'm gonna handle reviews of the two systems. They only get one review, and 5 stars total since they should be the same damned system! For now, EZ- Rider gets 4 stars since they are making my life easier in a very real way. I have the card. It works. I use it regularly. Translink gets the 1 remaining star. (click here for Translink review.) http://www.yelp.com/biz/translink-concord-2#hrid:uUJUrAMryzphQBxdcR5hoQ They have been plagued by delays, on again off again trial implementations, and the process of getting and using the card has been more difficult than the other system. And I don't want to hear about "inter-agency coordination issues". I want the card. Get it done and you'll get your stars. And remember the only way for any system to get five stars is to merge. And yeah, this is biased. So f*&$in' what?!?! read more

It's great -- get one if you can. No more pile of 35 cent "tiny tickets" that are useless even as fodder for the BART ticket vending machines. But EZ-Rider is far from perfect. BART's fulfillment procedures are totally pre-internet -- involving phone calls, postal mail and faxes. And if you pay for transit with Commuter Check or other employer programs, you're out of luck. If you're holding a Translink, PayPass, Zipcar Zipcard, Flexcar Flexcard, MasterCard Paypass or any of a variety of other ISO 14443 type cards in your wallet, EZ-Rider must be separated in order to work. A City CarShare fob however, presents no problems. While this is one more example of Bay Area transit not integrating systems (why can't it all be one card?), at least it works. Fast, easy, and about time. read more

Very convenient! And it can be used to pay for Bart parking! Right now, I hate TransLink. I gave them one star. I'm giving EZ Rider 5 stars. Reviewer "Orville J." sent me a message calling me a "dumbass" because he said he is giving the BART EZ Rider 4 stars when he gave them 1 star. He is the only reviewer to give this service 1 star, yet his review says he is giving BART EZ Rider 4 stars. How "dumbass" can such a person be? Why doesn't someone like him be more consistent with his reviews and be more streamlined with what he is reviewing? read more