by rail10
Why did the bart subway start off with a card based payment rather than tokens?
Railroad Forums
Moderator: lensovet
cpontani wrote:They note an excursion fare of $4.65 if you enter and exit the same station within 3 hours. But if you want to ride the whole system, it seems like it would take you about six. So is there a hard limit of three hours, or is there a penalty if you don't get out of the system before three? Do they just charge you the maximum fare from that station?as explained by BART staff, if you go over the 3-hour limit, the faregate will not open on exit and will read "see station agent," at which point you have to talk to the station agent and explain why exactly you've been inside bart for more than 3 hours.
Sand Box John wrote:"lensovet"note that the excursion fare is NOT a day pass. it simply dictates the following: when you exit in the same station as you entered, you'll get charged $4.65 (or whatever the fare is). the only "excursion" you'll have is an excursion of the BART system, since once you exit at a different station, the excursion "fare" doesn't apply.
which is why what you do is (still under the 3-hour limit) exit one station beyond the one from which you entered (or just some other station) and then re-enter. it's also a lot cheaper that way – i dunno who came up with the whole "excursion fare" idea in the first place.
The who is really irrelevant. The why the excursion fare exists is what is important. The purpose of the excursion fare is to induce use of the system by tourists and visitors to attractions in the bay area.
Washington’s metrorail has a similar excursion fare, WMATA's excursion fare is $6.50 and is good for unlimited rides after 9:30 AM weekdays and all day on weekends, holidays and selected Monday holidays.
All of WMATA metrorail farecards have time limit that will flag you at the exit gate if you exceed that limit. I think it's in the range of 3 hours.