CLIPPER® Hits Millionth Card Milestone

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bay Area's Clipper^® transit fare-collection program has hit the magic 1 million number — 1 million active cards in circulation, that is.

Staff at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) credit the surge to transit operator campaigns to transition more riders, especially youth and senior riders, from paper tickets and passes to the reloadable Clipper card before the end of the year. As of Friday, December 16, there were 1,000,606 active Clipper cards in use, up roughly 2,000 from the prior week. The million-plus active cards figure represents nearly a 30 percent increase from the 778,197 active cards in circulation six months ago, and a 142 percent increase from the 413,616 active cards in circulation a year ago.

"We're really pleased about the numbers, and that word is getting out that it's time to switch from paper to plastic," said Clipper Program Senior Coordinator Jacob Avidon. "And with the holidays upon us, we'd like to remind Bay Area residents that the Clipper card makes a great environmentally friendly gift — you can put as much as $300 on the card to encourage your friends and family to take transit in 2012."

BART is in the midst of a campaign to alert riders about the need to get Clipper cards in order to access discounted fares — namely youth, senior, disabled and high-value tickets. The paper versions of these BART tickets are now available at only a handful of retail locations, making Clipper the easiest way for riders to keep their discounts. BART has been getting the word out via events and in-station advertising, among other avenues.

SamTrans likewise has been holding outreach events to sign riders up for a Clipper card before the Peninsula bus system's paper monthly passes are phased out at the end of 2011. Riders seem to be taking heed, with the number of SamTrans passengers paying their fares via Clipper growing by 14 percent for the week ending December 9, 2011, compared to the prior week.

Looking at overall Bay Area transit ridership, during the week ending December 9, 2011, MTC recorded an average of 584,000 weekday transit boardings using the Clipper card, up nearly 80 percent from the 325,500 weekday boardings a year ago at this time. San Francisco Muni is in the lead with 328,000 average weekday boardings over the week ending December 9, about half of its ridership. The next highest use is on BART, with 169,000 weekday Clipper^® boardings, representing 45 percent of its weekday traffic, followed by AC Transit with 50,000 weekday boardings, about 25 percent of its weekday ridership.

All of these daily boarding figures include trips made with Clipper's predecessor, the TransLink card, which is still being used by early converts to electronic fare payment. There are 65,000 TransLink cards still in circulation on top of the million-plus Clipper cards.

In all, there are seven major transit operators accepting the Clipper fare-payment system, the others being Caltrain, SamTrans, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Golden Gate Bus and Ferry system. Clipper can also be used on the express bus service across the Dumbarton Bridge. Clipper allows riders to transfer seamlessly among the region's transit operators without having to carry cash or purchase multiple passes.

Introduced by MTC in June of 2010 with five major transit systems (plus the Dumbarton Express), the Clipper program has been growing exponentially as more transit agencies have joined and as participating systems have been phasing out paper fare media and transitioning to the Clipper card.

Adult Clipper cards are readily available at many Walgreens stores and other participating retail locations, as well as online at clippercard.com or by calling 877.878.8883. Youth and senior riders must apply in person at transit agency ticket offices, or at the two Clipper walk-up service centers in San Francisco, or at sign-up events (go to clippercard.com and click on the "Get" tab for locations). While the cards are free during Clipper's extended introductory period, riders must load cash value, tickets or passes before using the card.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

SOURCE MTC