San Francisco - BART Fare? - On and off same station

BART used to have (20 years ago) a special "ride around" fare for passengers wishing to get on at a station, ride around/see the world, then get off at the same station. I can't find it on the BART website (http://www.bart.gov) - the fare calculator doesn't do it. Anyone know?

is $5.20 but only good for 3 hours

go to BART fare calculator and punch in the same station, one way

That would be the excursion fare and it is currently $5.20. Better solution...

Circulate around but don't leave at any station. Return to the station just before, or just after, you got on when you are ready to leave.

They are generally within walking distance in town. Elsewhere, not so much.

They are generally within walking distance in town. Elsewhere, not so much.

SF Embarcadero to SF Civic Center (the 4 stations are within maybe 1.5 miles), or Oakland 12th St. to Oakland 19th St. are the only places I'd recommend this.

SF Embarcadero to SF Civic Center (the 4 stations are within maybe 1.5 miles), or Oakland 12th St. to Oakland 19th St. are the only places I'd recommend this.

16th to 24th is longer, but definitely walkable. More importantly, why would anyone want to ride Bart just for fun? Perhaps 20 years ago, yes, but it's really showing its age these days. I dread using it.

Thanks for the information - including the bonus information on time limits - and useful thoughts. I'm planning to take a bunch of challenged kids (with ample chaperones) on an off-hour "ride around". I think they'll enjoy it. I wanted to have a ticket for everyone in advance, since it'd be too much to try to buy individual tickets at the station.

Have you called BART and explained what you want to do? For a situation like that, perhaps they can make a special accommodation.

If you're staying in SF and just want to ride it for a bit to see what it's like, I'd recommend starting at one of the downtown stations (Civic Center, Powell, Montgomery or Embarcadero) and take a train to the East Bay (Richmond, Pittsburg/Bay Point, Dublin or Fremont lines) through the transbay tube. Get out at West Oakland, turn around and take a train back. As others noted you can save some money by exiting one station away from your starting point.

Thanks for the information - including the bonus information on time limits - and useful thoughts. I'm planning to take a bunch of challenged kids (with ample chaperones) on an off-hour "ride around". I think they'll enjoy it. I wanted to have a ticket for everyone in advance, since it'd be too much to try to buy individual tickets at the station.

Depending on the size of the group you can order group tickets for either 50% or 75% off the list price. You should also be able to buy them at a number of places too, but not necessarily for the amounts that you need.

BART is included in the recent snarky book "101 Places Not To See Before You Die":

http://www.amazon.com/101-Places-Not-See-Before/dp/0061787760

I really can't understand the author's thinking on this one. Sure, BART has its problems, and it has seen better days. But for the most part it works. That's the one transit system in the world Catherine Price wants to talk about?

BART is included in the recent snarky book "101 Places Not To See Before You Die":



I don't get that at all, either. How could the author choose BART over SF Muni?

For what BART is designed to do, it does very well. It is a hybrid system, somewhere between a big city subway and a regional commuter rail line. It's of limited use within San Francisco, but that was never its mission. Instead it is about moving people across the bay, and from outlying areas to/from SF, Oakland and Berkeley.

Like any system, it has service delays and outages, but within reasonable limits in my experience.