Muni Leads Way as Clipper(SM) Tops 200,000 Daily Boardings Mark

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 25 /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 225,000 during the week ending October 15. This marks a 48 percent increase from the 151,675 average weekday boardings in mid-September and a nearly threefold jump since the formal launch of the Clipper card in mid-June.

San Francisco Muni, which carries the largest number of transit passengers in the Bay Area, accounted for an average of 112,850 Clipper boardings during the work week ending October 15. This was followed by BART with 63,000 weekday boardings and AC Transit with an average of 35,000 Clipper boardings each weekday. Smaller numbers of passengers used Clipper cards to board Golden Gate Transit & Ferry and Caltrain vehicles.

For charts illustrating the growth of Clipper on various transit systems, go to http://mtc.ca.gov/news/press_releases/rel509.htm.

The number of Muni riders using Clipper is expected to continue rising due to the elimination of Muni's paper "A" Fast Pass. Beginning Nov. 1, the "A" Pass, which can be used across the Muni system and on BART trips in San Francisco, will be available only on Clipper. Customers adding an "A" Pass to their Clipper cards get the same benefits the paper pass offered, with no additional costs. Customers can reload future passes to the same Clipper card. Muni in November also will begin shifting to Clipper its Regional Transit Connection discount card for qualified disabled passengers.

AC Transit is transitioning many of its passengers to Clipper as well. As of November 1, the agency's adult 31-day and 10-ride paper tickets, and its youth/senior/disabled 10-ride paper tickets will be available only on Clipper, though customers with paper 31-day and 10-ride tickets may use these tickets through year-end. As with the Muni passes, AC Transit customers adding a 31-day pass to their Clipper cards will get the same benefits, with no additional costs. Customers who are used to buying a 10-ride ticket are advised to add Clipper cash, which offers the same benefits as the 10-ride tickets.

Clipper currently can be used to pay fares on San Francisco Muni, BART, AC Transit, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit & Ferry and Dumbarton Express. Together these operators carry more than 80 percent of all Bay Area transit passengers. SamTrans is scheduled to begin accepting Clipper cards for fare payment throughout its route network later this year, with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) joining the Clipper network in early 2011.

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