Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_16125213
For AC Transit regulars, it is important to know that starting October 31st, AC Transit will no longer sell paper tickets. This means that they will eliminate the use of both Adult local 31-day and 10-ride AND Youth/senior/disabled 10-ride paper tickets in exchange for the Clipper card.
As advertised all throughout the bay area, AC Transit has teamed up with fellow public transportation giants BART, Muni, Caltrain, and Golden Gate Transit and Ferry and created a universal transit pass called the Clipper card.
How Clipper works (from the Clipper website):
Clipper℠ is an all-in-one transit card that keeps track of any passes, discount tickets, ride books and cash value that you load onto it, while applying all applicable fares, discounts and transfer rules. This lets you customize your card for your own transit needs. The Clipper card can hold multiple passes, ride books or tickets (which are specific to the transit system being used), as well as up to $300 in cash value at one time.
You can add value (in the form of both passes and cash value) to your card as you go, or for added convenience, you can set up your card to automatically reload whenever your pass expires or your cash balance falls below $10.
Dates to remember:
- October 1st – AC Transit starts giving out free Clipper cards
- October 31st – AC Transit stops selling paper tickets
- December 31st – AC Transit stops accepting paper tickets
Since July 6th, 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has been giving out free Clipper cards. Judging by this article, they will stay free of charge for the upcoming months to “aid in the transition.” But according to both the article and Clipper’s website, “This offer is available for a limited time and may be subject to change without notice” and the cards will eventually cost $5.00. So if you want to avoid the fee, hurry and get a card!
