By C.K. Hickey, Mission Local
From the day BART’s tracks first powered on in 1972, the public rapid transit system has been synonymous with its magnetically striped cards, available in sky blue, pea green or pale red. That familiar pneumatic chink as you insert the card into the terminal gate is as much a part of the BART experience as the stainless steel cars or the roar of the rails inside the cabin while traversing the Transbay Tube.
For children, seniors and purchasers of the high-value monthly paper tickets, Jan. 1, 2012, will be the day to begin forming new memories. On that date, paper is out, and the plastic Clipper Card is in.
Over the course of December — the extra effort started in November – BART and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) are pushing a public awareness campaign to alert riders that the agency is transitioning to the reloadable plastic Clipper card after the end of the year. From then on, the monthly green tickets for seniors and red tickets for disabled and youth riders will only be sold in a limited number of retail locations, and none of those are in the Mission District.
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