A new schedule was released for when Bay Area transit riders could start tapping and paying for BART or Muni fares with debit or credit cards without having a Clipper card as part of an upgraded system that was supposed to launch this summer.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the agency in charge of transportation planning and financing in the Bay Area, presented last month an updated schedule of the rollout of Clipper 2 and is now targeting April of next year to launch the new transit fare payment system with vendor Cubic Transportation Systems. The MTC announced in May the indefinite pause of the project after encountering various issues during the piloting of the new system in the spring with Muni and four other transit systems.
The MTC’s director of electronic payments, Jason Weinstein, said last month to the Clipper Executive Board, which includes the general managers of the Bay Area’s transit agencies, that while the schedule showed April as the start of transitions from the old to the new system, there were still risks to the project schedule.
Weinstein said dry-run tests still need to be completed in Cubic’s lab in preparation for the final testing phase. Following the dry-run tests, the MTC plans to perform a second testing phase of the new system with all Bay Area transit systems and integrate the new system with fare gates, ticket vending machines, and mobile wallets.
“These items need to be completed to hold the customer transition date and as we progress on each of these items, we’ll be able to better evaluate where we stand in terms of the schedule, along with our tracking of ongoing activities,” Weinstein said.
The timeline showed that the transition to the new system will last through July. Weinstein said the MTC could not just take every Clipper card and “flip it over” on day one as there are 10 million-plus Clipper cards that have been dispersed.
Transit agencies have been waiting for the transition to Clipper 2, including the SFMTA so the agency can get rid of its Muni Mobile app, which is not compatible with Clipper.
“We’re going to be taking about 150,000 cards a day and flipping them, and we’re working with all the various transit operator staff about what the order looks like in terms of who transitions when,” Weinstein said.
Transit agencies have been waiting for the transition to Clipper 2, including the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) so the agency can get rid of its Muni Mobile app, which offers fares that it cannot currently add on the Clipper system and do not require riders to tag.
“The rollout of Clipper 2.0 is very important to Muni right now,” Jeffrey Tumlin, San Francisco’s director of transportation said last week at the SFMTA board meeting.” We have to maintain Muni Mobile as a separate fare system because not all of our products, like our Day Pass or Lifeline Pass, are available on Clipper.”
Tumlin said the SFMTA will be able to eliminate the expense of maintaining the Muni Mobile app and that the shift to the new system will require more tagging from riders “that will have a positive impact on user perception.”
BART is also awaiting the transition to the new system as its board approved a discounted or free transfer pilot program for next spring this month. Riders who start their journey on BART and transfer to any of the 21 transit systems participating in the pilot can receive a $2.50 discount within a two-hour window. For fares that are lower than the discount, the fare will be free.
The free or discounted transfer fares can only begin when Clipper 2 comes online, BART officials said.
Other general managers of Bay Area transit systems said there needed to be transparency with the public about the project’s status and more details about risks that could throw a curve ball in the schedule, especially as Bay Area transit agencies may ask voters in 2026 to approve a tax to fund transit operations.
Adina Levin with Seamless Bay Area said during public comment at the Clipper board meeting that she was dismayed with the delayed timeline of Clipper 2 as it includes features that could increase transit ridership.
“The free and reduced transfers, the tap to pay, and others are things that will help bring riders to the system, help increase public confidence in the transit system amongst the public, and also help increase confidence amongst key stakeholders in the region upon whom the transit system is depending to be able to bring in the funding to make sure that the transit system continues to improve,” Levin said. “This delay is really harmful to achieving those benefits and objectives.”
At Monday’s Oct. 28 board meeting, MTC staff documents said they made progress in accomplishing many of items listed last month that were set for completion for October and are still on track for a potential spring transition.
Software for the ticket vending machines was delivered to BART and has been tested. There still remains one issue that Cubic and BART are still addressing. The first set of fare inspection devices have been delivered to the SFMTA and training began on how they use the devices.
Additionally, the MTC said they started formal integrated testing of the new system and performed testing of Ventek ticket vending machines used by Caltrain; VTA; SMART; and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.
Over the next 30 days, the MTC said they plan to start mobile wallet testing, installing software to the Ventek ticket machines and installing readers into BART vending ticket machines.
The Clipper board meets again on Nov. 18.