The Bay Area camp that field trips on transit

Urban Adventure Camps founder and director Mike Dobson reminded campers not to run ahead while he handed each of them their Clipper BayPass cards to tap through the fare gates.

Dobson reached out to BART to learn about BayPass because having to reload so many campers' Clipper cards was a tedious process. A single Urban Adventures camper takes anywhere between 25 to 35 transit trips a week. With five groups of fifteen campers running at a time, that's a collective 2,250 total trips a week!

BayPass is the Bay Area's all-in-one transit card that lets you take unlimited rides on all regional transit services. Organizations pay a flat fee for the service, and their employees, students - and in this case, campers - can ride as much local transit as they want.

"Counselors used to have to carry a credit card and cash in their packs in case they needed to reload campers' cards at a station," Dobson said. "BayPass is easy. We're not worried about how much is on the card. It lets us move quicker and smoother."

Dobson said the campers love riding transit, and parents that may have been hesitant at first "see the kids having fun and jump onboard."

"I'd never ridden BART before this camp," said camper Eloise Lanzisera. She's learned "it's very useful when you're trying to get somewhere quickly."

Added Amani Gilligan, "When you get on BART you can have so many adventures, and there's no traffic so if you want to go to a movie, you won't be late."

"And it's honestly really safe," chimed Terra Williams. "You have a bunch of security and cameras."

Ella Whalen is just glad she doesn't have to walk too much. "I like taking transit because it goes faster. Walking sometimes it makes my legs hurt because I play tennis a lot."

And for Wernli, riding BART is "doing your part" to help the earth.

"Transit like BART saves the planet because it doesn't make fumes," he said before launching into an explanation of greenhouse gases and climate change. "BART is a really good thing."