San Francisco resident Cherrelle Jackson stumbled upon a press conference on her way to work this morning.
"I was like, well, let's stop by and listen in. Why not? And looky there! " She said. "I got to meet the mayor today. That was so cool."
Jackson got there just in time to hear BART's General Manager Bob Powers announcement one of the biggest changes to Bay Area transit access in years.
"As of tomorrow, BART will be a tap and ride system," Powers said. "You don't have to prepare, you don't have to download an app, you just tap and ride."
You do, however, have to think ahead to prevent what BART's Chief Communication Officer Alicia Trost called "card clash."
"Just like if you were to go buy a cup of coffee or go to Target, you wouldn't tap your wallet when paying because you have a lot of contactless cards in it" she said.
The tap and ride feature for Muni, Cal Train and AC Transit is expected in the coming months.
Mayor Daniel Lurie said this new feature makes transit more seamless for tourists. "We are making it easier for people to get downtown, get to work, eat at our restaurants, and visit our iconic San Francisco spots," he said.
Jackson agreed that it gives tourists "another option so they're not panicking when they get into the transit system and get overwhelmed by that."
Let's just hope their cards don't clash, too.
