Bewildered new rider
I'm a new rider to BART and to the west coast - but I've lived in Jersey (NJ transit), NYC and Boston - before moving out here and am pretty familiar with transit systems...still, I find BART totally perplexing! If anyone can help me out here, it would be great because I've read all the pamphlets and BART info on the official site and the wikipedia page for BART and I am still a bit perplexed. I am commuting between mission in SF and Dublin/Pleasanton, a 5.65 ride each way. The first shocker coming from NJ transit was that there are no monthly passes, but I got over that because the pre-tax transit program should be doable and the BART Plus tickets seem pretty awesome since they're a flash pass on MUNI and on the east bay buses. Here are my questions:
1. Why can't I buy a discount 64$ ticket in the vending machine if I can buy BART Plus tickets there? Why doesn't it tell you that you won't be getting a bonus when you go to buy a 60$ ticket in the vending machine? This was the biggest shock to me because NYC MTA vending machines have dispensed a percentage discount for all cards over 10$ for years (though I heard they want to do away with it in recent budget shortfall related costcutting measures).
2. Do I really want to sign up for EZRider if they charge 5$ to sign up and it's a short term program (phased out to translink soon?) and people seem to have issues for it? Can I easily get reimbursed for the charges to my EZ rider using a pre-tax transit program at my job? I'm only miffed about EZ rider because the equivalent "charlie card" in boston is free.
3. This is the big one: one pamphlet I read said that the BART Plus $71 card with $45 of BART credit is also a high-value discount ticket (so you get the $3 bonus on top of the last ride and the transit pass). However, I found no mention of this on the website. I had been confident that this card existed, but now that I've learned that I can't buy a BART high value discount blue ticket from a vending machine (the hard way, I might add), I'm perplexed how they would offer the BART Plus with high value discount ticket. Please help! I don't want to have to keep buying tickets by trial and error.
4. I know I'm pushing my luck here, but is there any speculation about when BART Plus tickets might go up again in price? I know MUNI is raising their prices in 2010 so I'm just curious if that means the Transit part of BART Plus will go up yet again....
Just trying to figure out how to streamline my commute here because I really want to learn to love BART (seems like it definitely has potential)- before I give up and just switch to a vanpool or something.
Regardless of ticket prices,
Regardless of ticket prices, discounted or not, wouldn't BART still be cheaper than a vanpool?
And faster?
And ticket prices just went up a few months ago. Not sure of how often they raise rates, but I'm guessing it's not going to happen again for a little while.
[and if you want the cheapest BART tickets available, buy em off craigslist. I get most of my tickets from there. I bought 2 $64 tickets (and about 8 bucks in low value tickets) for $80 about a month ago.]
Is buying tickets of CL
Is buying tickets of CL reliable?
It seems like you would be likely to get stabbed or get caught in a sting for people selling stolen tickets...
I've pretty much been getting
I've pretty much been getting most of my BART tickets through craigslist meet ups for the past year. Every transaction got me tickets at 20-40 percent off. A 64 dollar ticket for 50 bucks is pretty normal, but if you can meet up a little further out from SF you can find better deals.
I work in Concord, and I can usually find a pretty good deal there or at PH station.
As far as getting stabbed or hoodwinked goes, I always insist on meeting at a station. That way I can verify the ticket values in the machines, and I don't know if someone is gonna stab someone at a BART station for 100 bucks.
Especially if that person already has your email address, and/or your phone number.
I wouldn't meet up with anyone who doesn't wanna meet in a station.
Why would anyone sell tickets
Why would anyone sell tickets at that big of a discount?
Are they stolen or something?
Alot of people don't use
Alot of people don't use their commuter checks or their employer-provided BART tickets. Some of them just like driving or work from home more often than not. Sometimes the employer overestimates how much commute costs are and leaves the employee with a surplus each month. Sadly, the last person I bought tickets from got laid off from her job in SF and still had two full tickets left.
Most everyone I've encountered doing this seems like decent people. They hang out and chat with me for a few minutes after the transaction. Only one looked shady initially, but he didn't act shady (and I know what shady acts like), and actually came across as pretty nice once he started talking.
probably people cheating the
probably people cheating the commuter check system. you can now get $210 in commuter checks per month, but most peoples monthly bart tab is quite a bit less than $210. with a $210 commuter check you could buy 2 $45 and 2 $60 bart tickets with a face value of $224. that would probably leave the average commuter with one extra ticket each month, so they could profit by selling a $64 ticket for $50.
Selling a $60 thing for $50
Selling a $60 thing for $50 isn't profit.
Yeah but commuter checks are
Yeah but commuter checks are taken out of your paycheck before taxes, and can also help knock you down into a lower tax bracket if you're close to the line.
Taxes and other stuff usually take about 30% out of the average person's paycheck, so even if they take a 20% hit on the real value of the ticket they are still coming out 10% ahead.
At least, as long as they are cheating the system and engaging in fraud.
Buying commuter benefits with
Buying commuter benefits with pre-tax money and then reselling to someone else is almost certainly tax fraud.
YUP. Purchasing them may be
YUP.
Purchasing them may be illegal too.
You could probably just tell the lawyers "HURR DURR I DIDN'T KNOW" but buying something like that would basically be the same as buying stolen goods, which would mean the feds could seize your purchase without reimbursing you and then charge you.
Do it legal.. Buy the tickets
Do it legal.. Buy the tickets at the store, refund them at a bart Station Agent.. Get full value.
Are you high? That is also
Are you high?
That is also illegal.
So if my $64 ticket purchased
So if my $64 ticket purchased with commuter checks somehow becomes demagnetized and told by an agent that I do have the option of a cash refund, you're saying that's illegal? Yea THAT won't hold up in any court.
If you do it with money taken
If you do it with money taken from commuter checks yes it is. You sign a good faith form when you accept pre-tax commuter checks and if you cash them out instead of using them for their intended purpose you have broken that clause and can be prosecuted by the IRS.
Read the forms you sign.
I don't think people would
I don't think people would take so much pain for so little gain. If somebody is selling tickets regularly, there is a good chance he/she is stealing from somewhere, could also be an inside job.
1.) Because BART sucks. 2.)
1.) Because BART sucks.
2.) No, you don't. EZ Rider means no discounts for buying high-value tickets and you can't use Commuter Cheques. EZ Rider sucks.
3.) Never heard of this.
4.) Probably in about 12 months. But it doesn't matter if you buy tickets now or then. Tickets work like ATM cards, and money is deducted as you go through the gate. Having an older ticket won't make your trip cheaper.
Ezrider and translink both
Ezrider and translink both let you automatically buy $45/$48 discount tickets.
Is that new? Because mine
Is that new? Because mine would just add stuff automatically.
Doesn't matter. I can't use commuter checks with it so it's useless.
ez rider reloads
ez rider reloads automatically, but it still gives you the high value discount when it reloads. it charges your credit card $45, but you get $48 worth of rides just like a paper ticket.
Oh, that's cool. Thanks for
Oh, that's cool. Thanks for the info.
Too bad they don't also take commuter checks. My wife gets those through work and dealing with the hassle of paper tickets and cashing in commuter checks is worth it since the discount is so much higher.
I believe you can redeem
I believe you can redeem CommuterChecks at the TransLink vending machines for TL eCash, and you can use BART with your TL eCash (or whatever it's called) just fine. You won't get the 6% discount for a high value ticket, but eh.
Or, you can sweet talk your employer into moving towards something like WageWorks where you can get a debit card that you can link EZ Rider (not parking! sigh) and TransLink too. You can even buy BART high value tickets for your TL card with your WageWorks debit card.
Altho, from the sound of it, you can get a debit card from CommuterCheck too.
https://www.translink.org/TranslinkWeb/commutercheck.do