Bart Accepts Contactless Payments, Making Payment More Accessible

Starting the week of Aug. 20, Bart moved to a system of contactless payment that no longer requires Clipper Cards, making travelling throughout the Bay Area easier than ever. 

For many years, the only way to pay for your Bart ride was to use a Clipper Card. A Clipper Card is a small card, the size of a credit card, that riders had to reload in order to pay for their Bart trips. This was inconvenient for riders because having to reload their Clipper Card takes time out of their day. These can be very critical minutes when someone is already running late for work or another important event. 

This new system allows riders to pay with a credit card or other forms of contactless payment without having to refill their Clipper Card. As long as your card has the contactless payment function, you can use any Mastercard, Visa, Discover Network, or American Express card. 

Aaliya Teli (11) commented, “[This] would make it easier in an emergency to immediately get a ticket.”

Bart riders are now also able to pay their fare using online wallets including Google Pay and Apple Pay, making it take only a few taps to pay for your Bart ride.

In June of 2025, Bart received over 4.5 million uses. Over 3.5 million of those were paid for with an adult Clipper Card. Bart is a popular way for adults in the Bay Area to get to work, so many people are trusting the train to get them to their office in time. Not having to refill their Clipper Cards can save all of those people valuable time in the mornings when they are trying to make  their train and not be late to work. 

Despite adults being the main demographic of Bart, it is consistently used by people of all ages. Over the summer, Ridhima Kapoor (11) took a pre-college class at UC Berkeley. This required her to take Bart every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for two months. If this feature had been available when she was taking this course, it could have changed her mornings dramatically. 

“There were often times where I realized my Clipper Card was not loaded and I was in a hurry to catch my Bart,” Kapoor said. “Having the Apple Pay feature would have helped me avoid the hassle of stressfully adding money to my card as quickly as I could to make sure I can catch my Bart.”

Photo from Unsplash | Bart trains connect the bay area, providing public transport for residents.