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New data shows Clipper BayPass a huge success in encouraging the use of transit as it enters its next phase

A two-year pilot program designed to test how an unlimited transit pass would work in the Bay Area has recorded more than 2 million trips among participants in its first year of existence. Clipper BayPass provides 50,000 college students and affordable housing residents with a Clipper card that allows them free, unlimited rides on more than two dozen Bay Area transit systems. 

The next phase of the BayPass pilot program involves recruiting and enrolling Bay Area employers into the program with an announcement of the first major employer that has committed to offering the benefit to employees being announced in the coming days.

The goal of Clipper BayPass is to measure if giving participants a prepaid card that offers unlimited trips and transfers between systems encourages people to take more transit. The latest numbers measuring ridership from the launch of the pilot in August 2022 to August 2023 paint a clear picture:

*Clipper BayPass cards are logging 40% more trips than the average single-agency Clipper card.
*74% increase in transfers between transit operators 
*85% of Clipper BayPass users agree that BayPass helps them travel to new locations in the Bay Area

“In just its first year of existence Clipper BayPass is already establishing itself as a shining example of regional coordination among Bay Area transit agencies,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “Clipper BayPass is giving us a vision of the future of Bay Area transit and shows if we make transfers between systems more seamless ridership will increase across the board.”

“It’s exciting to see real-world data on the role fare coordination can play in helping to boost transit ridership,” said Metropolitan Transportation Commission Executive Director Andrew Fremier. “We want to build a more equitable and seamless fare system for the Bay Area. Studying a regional fare pass using students and residents of affordable housing communities shows that commitment.”

Participants in Phase 1 of Clipper BayPass include students at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, and Santa Rosa Junior College as well as residents at affordable housing communities managed by MidPen Housing. 

Clipper BayPass is now Recruiting Employers 

The next phase of Clipper BayPass involving Bay Area employers launches in January 2024. The program will expand to include about 20,000 employees from a diverse range of employers varying by types of industries, employer sizes, and geographic locations. The program is currently recruiting employers looking to be one of the first to offer their employees the benefits of unlimited transit. More information and an interest form are available at clipperbaypass.com

Funding for the Unlimited Pass Pilot

Clipper BayPass is comanaged by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and BART. The MTC Commission has allocated $4.5 million to reimburse transit operators for the cost of trips taken during the first phase of the program. In Phase 2, participating employers will pay MTC for employee transit passes and MTC will reimburse transit operators for employee trips taken.

The Hayward Station passenger loading zone will be temporarily moved from Monday, October 9, 2023 and Friday, October 13, 2023 so that improvements to the sidewalk can be made. 

While the sidewalks improvements are being made, the passenger loading zone will be moved to the parking lot area nearest the station entrance (see area outlined in picture).  Motorcycles can park for free in any space on the other side of the station during the construction. Temporary wayfinding signage will be posted to direct customers.

Thank you for your patience as we work to improve access to the BART Station. 

BART crews will be in the trackway near West Dublin/Pleasanton Station to install new fiber cables. These cables will help to expand advanced wireless connectivity in this part of the system. 

The work is scheduled to happen between 9pm Friday September 27 and 7am Saturday, September 28 as well as between 9pm Saturday, September 28 and 9am Sunday, September 29. During those hours, riders should expect delays of 10-15 minutes. The work is not expected to impact service outside of those evening and early morning hours.

Reducing service to one track helps to ensure safe conditions for workers.

A new, uniform look for transit maps and signs in the Bay Area is almost here. 

The new transit maps and signs are designed to make transit journeys easier to understand for existing and new riders by delivering information that is clear, predictable, and familiar across service areas and county lines. 

These new maps and signs — which include local transit and facility maps, diagrams, and bus stop signs — mark another step forward in Bay Area transit’s transformation into a more connected, more efficient, and more customer-focused mobility network.

Transit agency and Metropolitan Transportation Commission staff will present the designs next week at the Sept. 23 meeting of the Regional Network Management Council.

Members of the public are invited to attend the Regional Network Management meeting on Monday, Sept. 23, at 12:30 p.m. in person or online to learn more about the maps and signage, and their installation later this fall at transit hubs in El Cerrito and Santa Rosa. 

Details about the meeting are available on the MTC website. This information also will be presented to the Regional Network Management Customer Advisory Group at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

The new bus stop signs and suite of maps focuses on service frequency and uses standardized colors, line styles, and labels on maps and signs to indicate how often a bus, train or ferry arrives at a particular stop. They also show bus lines whose schedules are coordinated to provide more service.

This fall MTC and its partners will invite Bay Area residents and visitors alike to share their thoughts about the newly designed transit signs and maps once they are installed at the Santa Rosa Transit Mall, the nearby Santa Rosa SMART station, and the El Cerrito del Norte BART station. A new, comprehensive regional transit map, which will enable riders to discover key destinations they can reach on the Bay Area's extensive bus, rail and ferry network, also will be released.  

Riders will be able to interact with several test signs, maps and other communication materials at the Santa Rosa and El Cerrito locations and then provide comments about their experiences. The public feedback will help inform the next stage of the project, in which the new maps and wayfinding materials are expected to be installed at seven additional locations across the Bay Area in 2025 and 2026.  

The new maps and signs are part of the larger Regional Mapping and Wayfinding initiative aimed at making it easier to ride transit in the Bay Area. Whether a rider is traveling by bus, rail, ferry or a combination, the signs, maps, screens and other communication systems will be consistent and easy to identify across all nine Bay Area counties. 

The Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project is the result of a first-of-its-kind effort, led by MTC with the partnership of transit riders, Bay Area cities and counties, and all 27 Bay Area transit agencies, to develop a common set of signs and maps to be used across all transit locations, from individual bus stops to major hubs where multiple systems connect. This project is just one piece of a broader effort, outlined by the Bay Area Transit Transformation Action Plan, focused on making Bay Area transit easier and more convenient for riders of all ages and abilities to use.  

The Regional Network Management Council includes top executives from MTC, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, BART, AC Transit, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Caltrain, SamTrans and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District as well as three general managers representing all other transit agencies serving Bay Area communities.  

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

A completely rebuilt escalator is open at Powell Street Station, connecting the platform to the concourse level. This is the fourth platform escalator to reopen with more modern, reliable features at the showcase station; just one more platform escalator remains to be rebuilt at Powell St. and work is already underway.

In fact, one escalator at each of the four downtown San Francisco stations is being replaced simultaneously. The escalator replacement project is BART's biggest investment in this important infrastructure.

Meantime, work continues to build canopies over entrances at the four downtown stations. Once a canopy is complete, escalator crews begin replacing the old escalators with brand new street to concourse units.  

On Sunday, November 5 a work crew will be cutting back and removing trees that could pose a hazard to the trackway near Hayward Station. To ensure safe conditions for workers, service will be reduced from two to one track all day between Hayward and Union City stations. Green Line trains will be cancelled. Riders travelling to San Francisco can use the Orange Line and transfer to a Blue Line train at Bay Fair Station. Riders on the Orange Line between Berryessa and Bay Fair stations should anticipate delays of up to 20 minutes.

You can get more details about BART’s systemwide safety initiative to remove potentially hazardous trees at the project page.

Due to scheduled maintenance, Clipper customers will not be able to do the following from 9 p.m. September 19, 2023 to 9 a.m. September 20, 2023:

• Get a card or add value to a card on the Clipper website or app and through Apple and Google digital wallets.
• Check balances on the Clipper website or mobile app.
• Get account information or add value from the phone system.
• Get a card or add value to their cards at a retailer.

During this time, customers will still be able to add value to their cards at BART, Muni and other transit agency ticket machines. They also will be able to tap their plastic or mobile card to pay their fares.

We thank you for your patience and apologize for the inconvenience.

Clipper is run by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. 

An entrance to Montgomery Street Station near Sutter and Sansome Streets is scheduled to close October 18th for construction of a new canopy. The entrance is expected to remain closed until Spring 2024. 

Three alternative entrances will remain open, including the entrance at Montgomery and Post Streets where a new canopy has just been completed. 

BART has finished six canopies over station entrances along Market Street and 13 more will be built, including the canopy at the entrance referenced above. The new canopies protect escalators and provide additional wayfinding, lighting, real-time information and security cameras. 

The canopy project is proceeding in conjunction with a program to replace 40 escalators and add one new escalator at the four downtown San Francisco stations. 

Article updated 10/12/23 to reflect that construction will begin 10/18, not 10/19

An entrance to Embarcadero Station between Spear and Main Streets, in front of the Federal Reserve Bank, is scheduled to close October 18th for construction of a new canopy. The entrance is expected to remain closed until Spring 2024. 

Four alternative entrances will remain open, including the entrance at Market and Davis Streets where a new canopy has just been completed. 

BART has finished six canopies over station entrances along Market Street and 13 more will be built, including the canopy at the entrance referenced above. The new canopies protect escalators and provide additional wayfinding, lighting, real-time information and security cameras. 

The canopy project is proceeding in conjunction with a program to replace 40 escalators and add one new escalator at the four downtown San Francisco stations.