BART Ticket Machines Now Clipper® Compatible

News provided by

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

May 17, 2011, 02:00 ET

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BART and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) today celebrated the completion of a five-year, $10.653 million program to upgrade BART's ticket vending machines to allow customers to add cash value to their reloadable Clipper® cards at all 302 ticket machines in all 44 BART stations.

"This is great news for customers all around the Bay Area," said MTC Vice Chair and Orinda City Councilmember Amy Rein Worth at a press conference at the Walnut Creek BART station. "It makes Clipper even easier, faster and more convenient for BART passengers, especially those who use suburban stations where there might not be a Clipper retailer nearby."

"With this new ability to add value to Clipper cards at the ticket vending machines in all BART stations, passengers can now more easily pay their fares on BART and on all other transit operators that accept Clipper cards," said BART Board President Bob Franklin.

BART customers who wish to add cash value to their Clipper cards need only tag their card at the ticket vending machine, enter the amount of value they wish to add, pay with either cash or a credit or debit card, and then tag their card again to complete the transaction.

Worth noted that while the BART ticket machines do not distribute new Clipper cards, Adult Clipper cards are available free of charge at over 200 participating retail locations around the Bay Area, including more than 100 Walgreens stores, the Clipper kiosk in the Embarcadero BART/Muni station in San Francisco and the Bay Crossings store in the San Francisco Ferry Building, as well as at Clipper ticket machines in Muni Metro stations in San Francisco. A complete list of Clipper retail outlets may be found by visiting www.511.org or www.clippercard.com.

Senior, Youth and Adult Clipper cards are available at transit agency ticket offices, the Clipper kiosk in the Embarcadero BART/Muni station and at the Bay Crossings store. Customers also may order Adult cards online at www.clippercard.com, or by phone (1-877-878-8883) or TDD/TTY (711 or 1-800-735-2929).

Clipper cards currently account for more than 450,000 boardings each weekday on BART, San Francisco Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain, Dumbarton Express, Golden Gate Transit & Ferry, SamTrans and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). BART alone accounts for more than 100,000 boardings on a typical weekday. Clipper last month accounted for about 30 percent of all BART fare payments.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC invites transit riders to follow Clipper on Facebook and/or Twitter for real-time communication about Clipper system services and operations.

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission