#fare-discounts

#fare-discounts

The tap-and-pay ability newly adopted by Caltrain and most other train, bus and ferry agencies in the Bay Area allows riders to pay fares with a chip-enabled credit or debit card rather than the prepaid Clipper. BART made a similar change in August. Accepted payment sources are Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. Each rider must pay with their own card or device.

Clipper, the electronic fare-payment system accepted by all of the Bay Area's approximately two dozen transportation agencies, is rolling out new features this month designed to save riders money and modernize how they pay for transit. Next-generation Clipper arrives Tuesday, with perks like discounted transfers, the option to pay with a contactless credit or debit card and instant availability of funds added to accounts.

BART held an event to announce the start of "open payments" last August, meaning that riders can now enter the system by slapping a credit card on the fare gates. That's made possible by the roll out of Clipper II, the Bay Area's modernized fare payment system. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission recently announced that the rest of the Bay Area's transit agencies will switch to Clipper II in December. Included in this move is the reduction or elimination of charges for transferring between systems.