Sep 11, 2008 11:58 pm US/Pacific
BART Approves Discount Pass For Seniors, Disabled
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
Seniors and people with disabilities who use public transit in San Francisco received some good news Thursday when Bay Area Rapid Transit district directors voted unanimously to approve a discount "fast pass" for unlimited trips in San Francisco.
But the bad news is that the pilot program won't be implemented for at least a year for technical reasons and once it begins it is only guaranteed to last for 18 months.
Senior and disabled riders can already use a special San Francisco Municipal Railway fast pass, which is a discounted monthly pass that costs $10 and is good for unlimited rides on the Muni system.
However, it is not accepted on BART, which has eight stations in San Francisco.
The new program, once it is in place, will allow eligible participants to ride BART or Muni within San Francisco for a set amount of $10 a month.
Initially, only 2,000 of the new BART/Muni passes will be made available each month, with participants selected through a random drawing.
The size of the pilot program could be increased to 5,000 passes a month if the boards of both BART and Muni agree, based on an analysis of early results.
In addition, the program could be extended beyond 18 months if both boards agree.
Johnson said the reason it will take at least a year to start the pilot program is that BART will have to adjust its fare gates so they can read the information on the new passes.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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