New Clipper Kiosk and Store Offer Safe Harbor for Travelers Setting Sail With the All-in-One Transit Fare Card

By Brenda Kahn
Published: March, 2011 

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has reengineered and rebranded its Embarcadero BART/Muni transit kiosk to focus on Clipper card sales and service. The kiosk offers a higher level of service and equipment than Walgreens and other Clipper retailers, allowing users to exchange a damaged or defective card for a new one on the spot, instead of having to mail it in to the service center in Concord for a replacement.

Another big bonus: The kiosk is dispensing senior and youth Clipper cards to customers who bring in the required age documentation, saving them from the hassle of having to go to a transit agency ticket office. The retooled kiosk and Bay Crossings store are also the only two walk-up locations where consumers can exchange Clipper’s predecessor, the TransLink® card, for a Clipper card.

Commuters new to electronic fare collection can pick up a fresh Clipper card at the BART/Muni kiosk or Bay Crossings store free of charge (although the current minimum balance for a new card is $2, and will increase to $5 on March 1). Whereas value or passes added to the Clipper card online can take several days to register, the kiosk and Bay Crossings store can augment the card balance instantly (as can other participating retail locations). 

The BART/Muni kiosk and Bay Crossings store also provide a new level of convenience to commuters eligible for company transit benefits: Both venues accept both transit benefit vouchers and transit benefit debit cards as valid tender for loading value onto a Clipper card. 

“We’re bringing Clipper to the commuters, so that they take care of their business on their path to work or home, without skipping a beat,” said MTC Project Manager Jacob Avidon.

The staff at the BART station Clipper kiosk and Bay Crossings store also have the training to troubleshoot problems that can arise for commuters new to the fare-collection system. And the staff can explain the intricacies of using Clipper, which functions differently on different systems. Adding to the convenience is the fact that both locations operate for extended hours on weekdays, while the Bay Crossings store is open on weekends.

MTC has more such enhanced-service Clipper storefront operations in the works, with the next one set to open in downtown Oakland in 2011.

      MTC launched the all-in-one, reloadable Clipper card in mid-June 2010 with six participating transit systems — AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, San Francisco Muni, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, and the Dumbarton Express — and use figures have been soaring ever since. The card is named for the clipper ships of yesteryear, which accelerated travel to San Francisco during the Gold Rush era; in keeping with the nautical theme, the blue-and-white card features a cluster of stylized sails.

In December 2010, SamTrans joined the list of operators using Clipper to collect fares, while Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority launched the electronic fare-collection program in mid-February 2011.

Meanwhile, participating transit operators have been phasing out their proprietary paper passes and tickets, and transitioning their fare systems more fully to Clipper.

There are now more than 625,000 active Clipper cards in circulation around the region, and weekday trips taken with Clipper now average 374,000, up 480 percent from electronic fare collection levels at the Clipper system’s launch in June 2010.