BART Offering Free Tickets For Military Personnel
OAKLAND (KCBS) — BART has announced it's renewing a program offering free transit tickets to certain military personnel who are on leave or returning from active combat in dangerous war zones.
BART spokesman Jim Allison said on Monday that the agency wants to express its appreciation for the men and women who fight overseas.
"Military personnel that coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq, they can get a free $50 BART ticket for their travels in the Bay Area while they are at home, or looking for a job, or whatever they are doing," he said.
BART Offering Free Tickets For Military Personnel
Allison says the transit agency will work with veterans' agencies and other organizations to distribute the tickets. This program, he said, won't be free for the agency.
"There is a cost to us but we feel that as a community of goodwill and as an act of appreciation for the people who put their lives on the line, it's a cost well worth it," Allison said.
BART began giving free tickets to military personnel in 2009, and has given away 800 tickets so far. With this renewal of the program, the agency will distribute 600 more tickets over six months.
To be eligible for the free ticket, a military member must have recently returned (within six months) from active combat. The returning soldier is required to show proof of active military service (a military identification card) and evidence of their leave from the war zone.
BART began giving free tickets to military personnel in 2009, and has given away 800 tickets so far. With this renewal of the program, the agency will distribute 600 more tickets over six months.
For more information, military personnel can call 510-464-7137.
