Clipper® BayPass

Phase 2 of the pilot launched in January 2024. In the second phase, Clipper BayPass is being sold to interested organizations who would like to offer their employees an unlimited Bay Area transit pass. 

The project team expects to expand the Clipper BayPass pilot to at least 20 Bay Area employers of various sizes. Current organizations represent healthcare, retail, manufacturing, affordable housing, education, government and technology.

Phase 2 pilot partners include:

• UCSF
• Alameda Transportation Management Association
• City of Menlo Park
• OpenAI
• Piedmont Gardens
• San Francisco State University
• Several affordable housing properties managed by MidPen

In the first year of the pilot, there were over 1.6 million trips taken by Clipper BayPass Phase 2 customers. Organizations are being onboarded on a rolling basis to manage financial risk and ensure diversity across industries and geography. The Clipper BayPass pilot continues to seek additional participants, with a particular interest in organizations in the North Bay and Contra Costa County. Interested organizations are encouraged to complete the Interest Form.

The Clipper Bay Pass Phase 1 pilot (Fall 2022 through Summer 2024) examined the impact of a universal, unlimited transit pass on approximately 50,000 individuals across four universities and 12 affordable housing sites in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In August 2022, one-quarter of students at San Francisco State, San José State and UC Berkeley were randomly assigned Clipper BayPass access. The Phase 1 program evaluation found that these students, on average:

• Took 30% more transit trips;
• Made 163% more inter-transit-agency transfers;
• Were 6% to 15% less likely to leave their university between Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 than their peer students who only had access to their universities’ respective, pre-existing institutional transit passes.

During Phase 1 of the Clipper BayPass pilot, students at participating universities – as well as Santa Rosa Junior College and affordable housing residents at MidPen housing locations – took millions of transit trips across the Bay Area. 

In Phase 1 pilot survey responses collected, eligible individuals indicated that access to Clipper BayPass made them more likely to take transit and visit new locations in the Bay Area.

Phase 1 Evaluation Report Documents

• Read the Phase 1 Evaluation Report
• Review the Phase 1 Evaluation Report Technical Appendices

A group of 50,000 Bay Area students and residents were invited to participate in Phase 1 of the program from 2022-2025. The Clipper BayPass pilot is not seeking additional Phase 1 participants at this time.

Qualifying individuals include:

• 9,000 students at San Francisco State University
• 7,000 students at San Jose State University
• 12,000 students at the University of California’s Berkeley campus
• All students at Santa Rosa Junior College
• All residents of select affordable housing communities managed by MidPen Housing in Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties

MTC has provided funds for the two-year pilot program to transit agencies to offset the revenue impacts of the Clipper BayPass pilot.

Watch the video to hear how Clipper BayPass has helped pilot participants.

Interested organizations may complete the Interest Form on ClipperBayPass.com.

In 2023, the project team expects to expand the Clipper BayPass pilot to at least ten Bay Area employers of various sizes. This second phase of the pilot program will offer the pass, for purchase, to organizations which are interested in offering their employees an unlimited Bay Area transit pass. After the two-year pilot, and based on results from the pilot, MTC and transit agencies hope to offer a permanent program to any interested organization/employer in the Bay Area.

Please first contact your institution’s Bay Pass administrator (likely your HR Dept,  Transportation Dept or transit pass office). You can also visit the BayPass Participant FAQ page for common questions and answers or contact Clipper Customer Service with general questions about Clipper.

For questions about Clipper BayPass policy and program management, contact ClipperBayPass@bayareametro.gov.

For general questions or to complete the interest form, visit ClipperBayPass.com.

Clipper BayPass only provides valid fare for trips on fixed-route transit on transit operators that accept Clipper Cards. Paratransit trips are not included in the Clipper BayPass program.