BART Time limit

[jackintosh11]

Is there any time limit on how long you can be in the system on one ticket without exiting and re entering?

[ExCon90]

It's always been 3 hours, and I haven't read of any change (nor have I tested it recently). There has long been an "excursion" fare (I forget how much, but I think $3 at one time) valid if you enter and leave the same station within 3 hours. However, if you exit at a nearby station (say enter at Powell and leave at Montgomery) within 3 hours, you will be charged the one-way fare from Powell to Montgomery. If you overstay the limit I think you have to go to an addfare machine and pay the amount demanded before being able to leave the station.

[lensovet]

actually if you overstay the limit there's no amount of money that will get you out. you have to go to the station agent and explain why you have been on the system for so long.

the excursion fare is $5.75, which makes no sense because you would pay less by "getting off" one station early for $1.95 and then paying another $1.95 to go back in and ride the last stop ($3.90).

[MACTRAXX]

Everyone:

I will back lensovet and mention that if one stays over in BART over the three hour limit your ticket will not work and you will be directed
to "See Attendant" by either the exiting turnstile or the Addfare machine nearby...

The "Excursion Fare" is BART's way of charging a "penalty" for entering and exiting the same station - as ExCon mentions you can pay one fare to a
nearby station and ride around the system for that lower fare for example entering at Powell Street and exiting at Embarcadero in Downtown SF...

When I was in SF in the fall of 2000 (before everything changed with the Clipper smart card) MUNI sold a Weekly pass for about $10 - which was
similar to a SEPTA Transpass in some ways - that was valid on BART between the SF City stations of Embarcadero and Balboa Park...I stayed in the
Cole Valley area - the SE corner of Golden Gate Park near the N-Judah light rail line - and I used MUNI each day I was there...

The only drawback is that the MUNI Weekly Pass was not valid on the three Cable Car routes - but there was a way around that restriction:
MUNI Monthlies were valid on cable cars - my Host and me would swap passes when I used any Cable Car lines and I also learned that only
the California route was not overcrowded with tourists-at time the waiting lines sent me to use paralleling bus routes because of the long
lines and waiting times at points such as Powell and Market Streets Downtown and at Fisherman's Wharf...

I used this pass to ride around BART after plotting out rides to points outside SF but returning within three hours to a SF station knowing that the
pass was not valid to exit at the same station I entered at...I followed the rules and had no problems or close calls with time...
BART has a printed schedule that is helpful in planning trips of this manner...

For destinations outside SF I planned to visit I bought BART tickets with the exact round trip fares from Downtown SF...For example I visited the
Oakland City Center (and Jack London Square) one day and rode down to Fremont and back one way and up to Richmond and back returning..

BART is a very interesting system to ride - once you learn how to deal with the three hour ride time limit...MACTRAXX