After the Warriors claimed their third NBA championship in a row, BART stocked up on Clipper Cards. According to SF Gate, the transportation company invested in 40,000 cards, each preloaded with $11.
The company hoped that the cards would have alleviated transportation stress for fans during the Warriors celebration parade in June. Months later though, BART is left with around 38,000 transportation cards. Over a half-million dollars’ worth of cards sit in boxes untouched.
The idea seemed reasonable at the time. The parade was estimated to bring in 1.5 million fans. This led BART preparing for up to 600, 000 riders. With this, the transportation company produced the mass supply of preloaded clipper cards. Expectations were shot down by the end of the day. Just over 1,000 cards were sold for the parade.
BART officials told SF Gate that the shocking miscalculation could have been a result of people being unfamiliar with the reusable card, opting for the paper ticket instead.
Since the card’s production, events like the San Francisco Pride Parade and the new Clipper Card only entrance in Berkeley has help chip away at the mass of pre-loaded cards, stated SF Gate. The company also expressed their confidence to sell the rest of the cards prior to the surcharge that will begin in 2018.
