BART says it gets about 250 complaints a day from passengers who are blocked from going through the fare gates because their tickets were de-magnetized, erasing their value.
On Thursday, the board will consider a nearly $4 million dollar contract to buy 180 million plastic tickets and re-program fare gates and ticket machines.
The new tickets would use a different kind of magnetic stripe and be less prone to damage by an iPod, cell phone and other devices that contain magnets.
