BART Will Pay Commuters Not to Travel During Rush Hour

There’s no worse way to start off a day than by jamming into a crowded rush-hour subway train. With many transit lines packed to capacity, or little money to increase service, there’s often little an agency can do to ease the pain. Some systems, like the Washington D.C. Metro, charge higher fares during peak hours as a way to discourage trips that might be taken at another time.

If that’s a stick approach to subway crowding, then San Francisco’s BART is using a carrot. The agency announced a new “BART Perks” program that will offer cash or other rewards to nudge commuters into traveling before or after rush hour. BART Perks will begin as a six-month trial program this spring, with an eye at up to 25,000 participants. The Chronicle has the basics: