Can’t touch this: A germaphobe’s take on buying BART tickets

Photo of BART lab via NextCity.org

BART’s old cloth seats may have been generally regarded as revolting, but its ticket machines aren’t so bad, at least according to one self-proclaimed germaphobe.

In an article for the website Next City, author Aaron Reiss pits New York Subway ticket machines against BART’s, declaring the Bay Area transit agency the winner from an anti-microbial standpoint for how few times you have to touch or otherwise interact with the machines to add money or buy a new card. While adding $3 to a BART card took three steps, for example, doing the same on a New York MTA machine took 11 steps and required navigating a series of touch screens.

The article is an interesting read, even for those not adverse to touching things in public. It features photos from inside the BART lab where turnstiles and other equipment is tested, and other BART background. The inspiration for BART’s machines? An ATM. Who knew?

Read the full post on Next City here.