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Clipper® Card Incorporates New Bay Area Transit Fare Increases

Electronic Fare-Payment System Offers Seamless Travel

Contacts:
 Brenda Kahn, 510-817-5773
John Goodwin, 510-817-5862

Oakland, CA, June 29, 2012 (revised July 6, 2012) ...A number of Bay Area transit systems are adjusting fares and fare policies this summer, and the Clipper® regional fare-payment system is automatically incorporating those changes.

“The Clipper card makes travel seamless for transit riders throughout the Bay Area,” said Carol Kuester, director of Electronic Fare Payments for MTC. “If you have a Clipper card, you’ll find the new fares pre-calculated for you.”

Key among the policy changes is a major transition from paper to plastic at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in Santa Clara County. As of July 2012, VTA’s monthly Adult Flash Pass (Express and Standard), youth pass and disabled/senior pass will be available only through Clipper. Clipper cards can be obtained free of charge with a minimum initial load of $5. Customers can reload cash value and/or passes at a network of retailers in Santa Clara County, including more than 30 Walgreens stores, or via the clippercard.com site or Clipper Customer Service at 877.878.8883.

VTA began accepting Clipper as payment in February 2011, and VTA customers used Clipper to pay for nearly 420,000 trips in May 2012. VTA’s move to eliminate paper discount passes follows similar fare policy changes by the other major Bay Area transit agencies participating in Clipper.

Examples of the fare changes this summer are as follows:

  • Beginning with July 2012 passes, San Francisco Muni monthly passes are increasing by $2 for adults. New Adult Fast Passes (which offer unlimited rides on all Muni vehicles and can also be used to ride BART within San Francisco) will be $74 and new Adult Muni-only Passes will be $64. Muni passes for youths, seniors and disabled riders will increase by $1-- from $21 to $22.
  • BART fares are increasing by an average of 5 cents per trip starting in July 2012.
  • On July 1, 2012, Golden Gate Transit Bus and Golden Gate Ferry regional fares increased by 5 percent.
  • Caltrain 8-ride ticket prices increased on July 1, 2012 (with the amount depending on the zones traveled), and the validity period of Caltrain 8-ride tickets will be reduced from 60 to 30 days. Caltrain + Muni pass prices increased by $2 beginning with the July pass. At the same time, Caltrain riders who use their Clipper card to purchase a single fare will now save 25 cents over a paper ticket.
  • This June, July and August, SamTrans monthly Youth Passes can be purchased for $22, a discount of $14 per month. Monthly passes will return to the standard $36 in September.


In addition to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, San Francisco Muni, BART, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, Caltrain, and SamTrans, Clipper is accepted on AC Transit, the Dumbarton Express and San Francisco Bay Ferry (currently only on the South San Francisco/East Bay route), with more Bay Area transit systems coming on board in the future.

Clipper customers who take advantage of employee transit benefits should confirm that their benefits cover any upcoming price increases. For example, customers who have funds deducted from their paychecks should make sure that the deductions are sufficient to cover the price increases. Customers with “autoload” accounts should verify that the funding source linked to the Clipper card has a sufficient monthly balance to cover the price increases.

For more information about these and other fare changes, transit riders can call 511 or use 511.org.
Clipper customers with questions about their Clipper account can log in to their accounts at clippercard.com or call Clipper Customer Service at 877.878.8883.

Introduced in June 2010, Clipper accounted for 625,000 average weekday transactions during May 2012, which amounts to nearly half of all transit rides in the Bay Area. There are 1,166,000 active Clipper cards in circulation as of May 31, 2012.

Clipper is a project of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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