Paper tickets no longer sold at 19th Street BART station in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU/BCN) - Paper BART tickets will no longer be sold at vending machines at the 19th Street Oakland station.

As of Monday, BART launched a pilot program making Clipper cards the only product available to purchase for train fares at certain stations, starting with the 19th Street Oakland station.

Along with 19th Street Oakland on Monday, it will start on Aug. 19 at Embarcadero and Sept. 3 at Powell Street, both in San Francisco, and at Downtown Berkeley on Sept. 24, with plans for system-wide expansion in 2020.

BART officials say the benefits of using a Clipper card include: saving money since the paper tickets come up with a 50-cent surcharge, the reduction of paper ticket waste, the versatility of the Clipper cards throughout various transit systems in the Bay Area, and improved efficiency when going through gates.

Roughly 84 percent of BART riders already use Clipper cards. And Clipper cards can be bought with credit cards or cash. You also don't have to register to buy it so you can stay anonymous. 

While the paper tickets will no longer be sold at the four stations during the pilot program, they can still be used to enter and exit gates and have money added to them.

Clipper and BART staff will be available for questions for the first three days of each station's program, and will be handing out free Clipper cards to customers.