BART offers ‘perks’ in bid to spread out jammed commute crowds

BART offers ‘perks’ in bid to spread out jammed commute crowds Beginning this spring, commuters will be encouraged to enlist in BART Perks, a program that rewards passengers who agree to shift their trips from the busiest time of day with points. The program, which will be tested for at least six months, is an attempt to entice enough East Bay riders to shift their commutes outside of the busy 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. period to help ease crowding on trains and at the Embarcadero and Montgomery stations in downtown San Francisco. A common strategy is congestion pricing — raising prices at peak travel times, as is already done on the Bay Bridge and in Bay Area express lanes.