Clipper® Card to Incorporate New Bay Area Transit Fare Increases

Electronic Fare-Payment System Offers Seamless Travel

News provided by

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Jun 29, 2012, 06:35 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A number of Bay Area transit systems will be adjusting fares and fare policies this summer, and the Clipper® regional fare payment system is gearing up to automatically incorporate those changes.

"The Clipper card makes travel seamless for transit riders throughout the Bay Area," said Project Manager Carol Kuester. "If you have a Clipper card, you'll find the new fares pre-calculated for you."

Examples of the changes include:

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 youth, 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 will increase by 5 percent;
Caltrain 8-ride ticket prices will increase 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 will increase by $2 beginning with the July pass;
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 San Francisco Muni, BART, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, Caltrain and SamTrans, Clipper is accepted on AC Transit, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the Dumbarton Express, and San Francisco Bay Ferry (currently only on the South San Francisco/East Bay route).

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.

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission