Clipper(SM) Tops 300,000 Daily Boardings Mark

BART, AC Transit Shift More Fare Products to Clipper

News provided by

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Dec 02, 2010, 07:58 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of Bay Area transit riders using Clipper(SM) to pay fares on buses, trains and ferries rose to an average of more than 320,000 during the week ending Nov. 19. This marks a 43 percent increase from the roughly 225,000 average weekday boardings in mid-October and a fivefold jump since the formal launch of the Clipper card in mid-June.

San Francisco Muni accounted for an average of 177,000 Clipper boardings during the work week ending Nov. 19 — an increase of more than 64,000 over mid-October levels. This jump was driven in large part by Muni's Nov. 1 elimination of its paper "A" Fast Pass. The "A" Pass, which can be used across the Muni system and on BART trips in San Francisco, is now available only on Clipper.

Muni was followed by BART with 89,150 weekday boardings and AC Transit with an average of 40,825 Clipper boardings each weekday. Smaller numbers of passengers used Clipper cards to board Golden Gate Transit & Ferry and Caltrain vehicles.

BART and AC Transit also are transitioning many of their passengers to Clipper. BART customers may begin using their Clipper cards to pay for parking on Dec. 9. Beginning Dec. 15, BART's EZ-Rider card will no longer be accepted for fare payment, though customers may continue to use EZ-Rider to pay for parking at select BART stations. AC Transit will stop accepting its paper adult 31-day passes and 10-ride tickets after Dec. 31. The agency stopped selling the paper tickets on Nov. 1.

Clipper can be used to pay fares on Muni, BART, AC Transit, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit & Ferry and Dumbarton Express. SamTrans will begin accepting Clipper for fare payment on Dec. 15. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will join the Clipper network in early 2011.

For charts illustrating average Clipper boardings, go to http://www.mtc.ca.gov/news/press_releases/rel513.htm.

Riders can order a free Clipper card, add electronic value that is accepted on all participating transit systems, or add a monthly pass for a specific agency online at www.clippercard.com, by phone (1-877-878-8883) or TDD/TTY (711 or 1-800-735-2929), at select transit agency ticket offices, or at more than 200 participating retail locations — including the transit kiosk in the Embarcadero BART/Muni station and scores of Walgreens stores around the region. A complete list of retail locations is available on the Clipper website. In addition to an Autoload option, Clipper also offers card replacement and balance restoration for customers who register cards that later end up lost or damaged. Registration is free and can be completed easily online, over the phone or by mail.

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