Clipper BayPass pilot to expand by 4x due to popular demand

The Clipper BayPass all agency transit pass pilot will expand from a maximum of 20,000 participants to 80,000 participants, as approved in December by the region’s Fare Integration Task Force (FITF), composed of transit general managers.  

The second phase of the pilot, serving employers and transportation management associations, is being expanded because there is a long queue with over 100 organizations interested in joining. The program started in January of 2024, and currently serves 8 organizations, with two more pending contracts, and three customers renewing their contracts after a successful first year.

The program is popular among users, and has been financially successful. MTC had set aside a $5 million reserve in case the payments were not enough to cover costs, but the program did not need to dip into the reserve and instead has run a surplus with total revenue of $14 million. 

“The people who have it love it. We had huge buy-in when we announced it. It was like the largest uptick we’d ever had people respond to something immediately when we sent out the notification for enrollment,” said Erin Gore, UCSF’s Senior Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration in an MTC promotional video on Clipper BayPass.

The FITF, decided to go even bigger than the staff recommendation to double the program, in a motion led by SFMTA general manager Jeffrey Tumlin, in his last meeting. Carolyn Gonot of VTA supported the motion, and also Gonot wants more information about administrative costs, and more information brought forward about the learning goals in the expanded pilot phase.

For the future, Tumlin recommended rethinking the pricing model to make the program ubiquitous among employers and entertainment venues, to increase public support for the program among employers and entertainment venues, in order to increase support for transit at the ballot.

Pricing is set based on location and transit accessibility, and the number of days per week that people use transit. After a year of data, the price is renegotiated based on experience.

As for the first phase of the pilot, with public colleges/universities and affordable housing communities, the outcome was a 40% increase in transit ridership shown by a random sample trial. MTC is in discussion with participants about extending their participation as well. UC Berkeley is holding a student referendum to confirm their support.

It is great to see this program succeed and expand. It is popular among transit riders and organizational customers, is increasing ridership, and is financially successful.

 If you want to get BayPass via your employer, the interest form can be found here.

Adina Levin