More people are using the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to get around — ridership is up 25% since January — and agency officials say the recent rollout of contactless payment may take some credit.
In mid-August, BART became the first transit network in the Bay Area to launch Tap and Ride, allowing anyone to quickly pay for trips with bank cards or mobile phones instead of a paper ticket or Clipper card.
According to statistics slated for presentation to the transit system’s board of directors meeting Tuesday, the system was used for 7.9% of all trips over the last five weeks. It also averaged nearly 10% of all trips over the last week, with weekend use of around 12% surpassing weekday use of around 8%.
BART’s airport and airport-adjacent stations saw heaviest usage, with 28% of entries at San Francisco International Airport and about 12% each at Oakland International Airport and at Millbrae. The system’s Powell station, drawing on nearby Union Square foot traffic to hotels and other attractions, saw about 10% of entries.
Dorian Crocker, 17, stood at a Market Street bus stop near the Powell BART station Saturday morning, waiting to catch the 5 Muni bus to see Della Mae, an all-women bluegrass band perform at Golden Gate Park for Saturday’s lineup of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. The Oakland resident had already made part of his journey, riding BART from Lake Merritt using the transit system’s new tap-to-pay feature.
“It works great,” Dorian said, adding that he’s used the feature several times since its introduction, though he still maintains a Clipper card to access youth discounts. “It’s easier not to have to add money to your Clipper card.”
The teenager said he wasn’t surprised by the system’s popularity, noting BART has been advertising it heavily on trains and station signage. “It’s a lot more intuitive to just use your card rather than having to fill up,” he said.
Crocker’s grandmother, Darby Brandli, said the tap-to-pay system reminded her of similar transit payment methods in Europe, particularly in London. She also praised BART’s recently installed fare gates, saying they have improved conditions on the system.
“The gates eliminate a lot of the people jumping the gates, and the clientele on the cars seem very different,” she said.
September marked the system’s strongest month of the year for ridership, with a daily average of 168,000 passengers, up nearly 6% from August. The year’s highest single day was Sept. 10, a Wednesday, with 219,918 paid exits.
Ridership is also notably stronger year-over-year — especially for Saturday trips, which grew 19.6% from September 2024. BART’s average Sunday ridership jumped 7.8%, while weekday ridership climbed 5.9% over the same 12-month period.
BART spokesperson Alicia Trost says the resurgent ridership shows that people have been “hungry for this technology.” She said the tap-and-ride payment system “has been a huge success straight from launch,” citing preliminary data showing that 10% of BART riders “immediately” switched from Clipper cards to contactless payment.
“Basically, the data clearly shows that either folks immediately switched because they wanted to, or it’s all new riders,” she said. “Either way it’s good.”
And it’s not just work trips that are filling up BART’s trains. The transit system’s August ridership snapshot noted the impacts of multiple weekend events that drew additional passengers, from outdoor concerts at Golden Gate Park for the Dead & Company, the Outside Lands music festival and Zach Bryan and Kings of Leon.
Additional traffic came from sporting events, with 15 home games at Oracle Park for major-league baseball’s San Francisco Giants, a dozen for Pioneer League baseball’s Oakland Ballers, seven contests for the Golden State Valkyries’ debut WNBA season, and a pair of games for the Oakland Roots soccer team.
“Data shows that the nights, not the evening commute, but going-out time has been the biggest growth market,” Trost told The Standard. “These are people who aren’t going to work and don’t need a Clipper card, or don’t want a Clipper card and just want to tap their Apple Pay or credit card with no setup.”
Allena Oglivie said she was aware of the new tap-to-pay system, but plans for now to stick with her Clipper card as she waited early Saturday afternoon for the 5 bus on Market Street.
Oglivie, who boarded BART in Berkeley, said she was headed to see Samara Joy perform at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, adding that her Clipper BayPass is included in student tuition at UC Berkeley, where she studies computer science.
Last month, BayPass trips represented 30% of exits at the system’s Downtown Berkeley station, with ridership growth at Downtown Berkeley station has outpaced systemwide growth since the semester’s start.
While she acknowledged tuition is expensive, she said the transit pass represents better value than paying per ride with tap-to-pay, which charges based on distance traveled. “That racks up really fast for my budget because I go back and forth between SF and Berkeley,” Oglivie said. Before the university included BART access in tuition, she said she would spend about $20 weekly on round-trip fares.
The Los Angeles native, accustomed to Metro’s flat $1.75 fare regardless of distance, suggested BART explore alternative revenue sources such as merchandise sales. She noted the recent popularity of BART-themed items at Baggu, a store that used the transit agency’s logo in a recent drop.
“A lot of people love the BART logo,” she said. “Maybe you could find other avenues to get your income.”
What else do the data show?
According to BART’s numbers, ridership has surged 25% since January, according to transit data analyzed through month’s end. Ridership patterns show BART remains heavily commute-dependent. Weekdays average 175,000 riders compared to 93,000 on weekends — nearly double.
Tuesdays remain the busiest weekday for the transit system, although Wednesday and Thursday are now virtually tied, averaging 188,000 to 191,000 riders, while Fridays drop to 151,000, closer to weekend levels.
The steady growth from January’s 134,000 daily average suggests continued recovery in Bay Area commuter patterns and return-to-office trends.
With Fleet Week, Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference, and a No Kings protest this month, Trost says BART expects a massive influx of non-commute passengers who would really benefit from the new payment system.
“The fact that we have something so easy to use is really exciting,” she said, “and puts us in a good position for all these events coming up.”