TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

Spring 2011

Facts & Figures:
Clipper Electronic Payment Eclipsing Paper Passes

Use of the Clipper card continues to grow at a rapid pace as additional transit systems join the program and as transit operators shift more of their paper tickets and passes to MTC’s electronic fare collection program.

The Clipper system recorded an average of 388,400 weekday boardings in March 2011, a 72 percent increase over the 226,150 average weekday boardings recorded six months earlier in October 2010. By the end of March 2011 there were 664,793 active Clipper cards in use, a 111 percent increase over the 315,551 in use six months earlier.

SamTrans began accepting Clipper in mid-December 2010, while the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority introduced Clipper on its system in mid-February of 2011. They joined six other systems that climbed on board Clipper at its launch in June of 2010: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit & Ferry, S.F. Muni, and the Dumbarton Express.

In recent major moves from paper to electronic fare collection, S.F. Muni transitioned its M (Muni-only) monthly pass to Clipper as of April, while Caltrain stopped selling paper eight-ride tickets and monthly passes in early 2011.

Meanwhile, MTC and Bay Area transit operators are making the acquisition and loading of Clipper cards more convenient. BART recently retrofitted its ticket vending machines at all 44 stations so that customers can use them to add cash value to Clipper cards. Golden Gate Transit also has just installed Clipper-ready ticket vending machines at its ferry terminals. Ticket vending machines in the S.F. Muni Metro likewise dispense and add value to Clipper cards. In February, MTC converted its transit kiosk at the Embarcadero BART station in San Francisco into a full-service Clipper Customer Care Center where riders can trade in damaged cards and get senior/youth cards on the spot. The Bay Crossings Store at the S.F. Ferry Building also is now a full-service Clipper Customer Care Center.
— Brenda Kahn

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Transactions Spring 2011 Issue: Contents

• Ed Roberts Campus Becomes Mecca for Disability Community
  • The Man Who Gave the Ed Roberts Campus Its Name
  • Meet the Owners/Tenants of the Ed Roberts Campus
• San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge: East Span Update
• In the News: MTC Seeds Affordable Housing Loan Fund
• Facts & Figures: Clipper Electronic Payment Eclipsing Paper Passes