Bay Area Transit to test “unlimited” access in new pilot program
Using public transit in the Bay Area can be beneficial.
If, for example, you can find a bus or rail line going where you need to go.
And pretty soon, the entire process is going to be seamless.
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), a new 2-year pilot program will study the impact of offering pre-paid fares.
They’re calling it Clipper BayPass, and it will be offered to 50,000 university students across the Bay Area.
Naturally, they’re prohibited from sharing it with family and friends.
Making Bay Area Public Transit Easier
The idea is to create a single system that works seamlessly between the different transit apps and fare types.
So participants would use the single Clipper card to gain access to BART, Caltrain, VTA, and other transit agencies.
According to Alfredo Pedroza, MTC Chair and Napa County Supervisor:
We’ll use the information collected to help shape the development, pricing and implementation of one or more new multi-agency passes or fare caps that eventually will be used by vastly more riders.
Ridership Rebounding from the Pandemic
Ridership on many transit systems across the Bay Area has fallen significantly since the beginning of the Pandemic in 2020.
According to BART, ridership dropped a whopping 90% between 2020 and 2021.
The hope is to encourage more people to use Public Transit as COVID restrictions begin to ease across the region.
Rebecca Saltzman, BART Board President says:
This pilot program is an exciting step toward fare coordination among transit agencies and toward making it easy for organizations to prioritize and promote transit as the preferred mode of transportation in the Bay Area