BART to test its first mobile ticketing app

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) yesterday announced plans to launch a smartphone application designed to simplify ticket purchases and provide group savings for airport trips.

The “BART to Airport” app — which can save groups 25 percent on fare purchases — will serve as a one-year mobile ticketing test and mark the agency’s first such app, BART officials said in a press release.

“The app offers the convenience of no paper tickets to keep track of, no need to carry cash and no need to wait in line at a ticket machine with the hassle of purchasing multiple tickets,” they said.

Riders can download the free app — which can calculate any discounted fare — and then register a debit card, credit card or PayPal account to purchase a ticket. They then can activate a ticket when needed and show it to a station agent as they enter and exit stations.

"With the BART to Airport app, group travelers won’t have to worry about finding and paying for expensive parking at crowded airport lots, or sifting through the chaotic curbside pick-ups and drop-offs at airport terminals,” said BART President Robert Raburn. “We want to test how mobile ticketing could work at BART while also making group travel on transit more affordable.”