Good News, Commuters! Clipper Cards Now Accepted By 4 North Bay Bus Lines, Ferry Route

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has announced that four North Bay bus lines and San Francisco Bay Ferry service between Vallejo and San Francisco are now accepting the Clipper transit fare payment card as of today.

The bus lines, including Fairfield-Suisun Transit (FAST), Solano County Transit (SolTrans), The VINE and Vacaville City Coach, are based in Napa or Solano counties.

The expansion is part of the effort to make Clipper available at all transit agencies in the Bay Area.

“I’m proud MTC continues to fulfill its commitment to provide a single regional transit fare payment system,” MTC Commissioner and Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd said in a statement.

Dodd said Clipper is a more attractive option than using cash for rides.

The expansion of Clipper to the Bay Ferry’s route to San Francisco from Vallejo means all ferry service routes currently accept Clipper.

Also starting today, riders can buy Clipper cards and add fare to their Clipper cards at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal Ticket Office.

The Bay Ferry offers discounts to riders who use their Clipper card rather than paying with cash. The one-way cash fare on the Vallejo to San Francisco route is $13.00, compared with a one-way Clipper fare of $9.75.

The discount for youth, seniors and people with qualifying disabilities remains 50 percent of the standard fare.

Clipper is also being accepted on the San Francisco Bay Ferry’s supplemental Route 200 bus service between Vallejo and the San Francisco Ferry Building.

Cards can be loaded with cash or riders can load various passes to their card for local and express travel.

FAST, SolTrans and The VINE offer express service to the El Cerrito del Norte BART Station and FAST and SolTrans offer express service to the Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek BART stations.

“Riders will only need one card to ride both bus and BART,” Jim Spering, a Metropolitan Transportation Commission commissioner and Solano County Supervisor, said in a statement.

The MTC says Clipper is popular with transit riders, citing a December 2013 survey that found 97 percent of respondents willing to recommend Clipper to others.

Next year, the MTC will expand Clipper to four more transit lines, one in Alameda County and three in Contra Costa County. In 2016, the MTC will again add four lines.

--Bay City News