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Clipper START – Save up to 50% on Transit

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Clipper START is a pilot program which provides single-ride transit discounts on all Contra Costa transit agencies, as well as BART, SF Bay Ferry, and others. Bay Area residents age 19-64 who meet certain income requirements can apply for the program and save up to 50% on local fares.

With a Clipper START fare card, riders can receive single-fare discounts from 20% to 50%. Households of four making $53,000 or less annually qualify for the program. Learn more and apply online at clipperstartcard.com.
Visit ClipperStartCard.com
Note: In addition to the Clipper START program, Clipper discounts are available for seniors and people with disabilities. Some transit agencies also offer youth Clipper card fares.

New Year's Eve 2015 & New Year's Day 2016: Transit Schedules

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new-year-happy-light-45158768On New Year’s Day, all transit agencies serving Contra Costa County will be on Sunday or Holiday schedules. On New Year’s Eve, BART will run until 3am and WestCAT will offer a Modified Holiday Service schedule.
explosion-firework-new-year-s-eve-december-31Special Note Regarding BART: San Francisco-bound Pittsburg/Bay Point and Richmond trains will not stop at Embarcadero Station after 8pm on New Year’s Eve. After the San Francisco fireworks show is over, passengers bound for Pittsburg/Bay Point and Richmond must use Montgomery Street Station. Trains on these lines will not stop at Embarcadero Station on their way out of San Francisco.
Free Transit: AC Transit & Muni will be offering free travel from 8pm New Year’s Eve until 5am the following morning. During the complimentary service, there is no need to tag your Clipper card.
Click any link below for additional schedule information.
New Year’s Eve (December 31)

  • WestCAT:
    • DAR, Local Fixed Route, C3, JPX, 30Z, JX – Modified Holiday Service, 7pm Close (Approx.)
    • LYNX – Limited Service
    • Express J – Regular Service
  • BART: Regular weekday schedule with supplemental New Year’s eve service until 3am
  • All other transit on regular weekday schedule (AC Transit, County Connection, Tri Delta Transit, Wheels, Capitol Corridor)

New Year’s Day (January 1)

Vintage Muni Schedules

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sf-muni-2012Opening of Municipal Railway, San Francisco

Muni then (L: 1912) and now (R: 2012). Image credit: SFMTA / John Henry Mentz, AgentAKit

Muni recently celebrated its 100th birthday. The first publicly owned streetcar system in a major city in the U.S., Muni has been taking the people of San Francisco where they want to go since 1912.

The San Francisco Municipal Railway is the seventh-largest public transit system in the United States, as measured by number of customer boardings. In fact, roughly the same number of people who live in all of Alaska (700,000) board Muni buses every weekday.

Muni’s fleet consists of about 1,000 vehicles, over half of which are electric, subway-surface light-rail vehicles, electric trolley buses, diesel buses, and the world-famous cable cars (the only ones in the world still operating!)  Check out these vintage MUNI schedules:

collage 1

collage 4

collage 2

Check out more vintage MUNI schedules here.

To read how MUNI started its history, and a few fun facts, click here.

All Aboard Muni's New All-Door Boarding Policy

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San Francisco Muni Bus
Boarding Muni. Photo credit: www.bluewaikiki.com

Only a couple months into Muni’s new all-door boarding policy and already the system seems to be working well.
As reported on San Francisco Streetsblog:

On five Muni lines, the time buses spent at stops dropped by as much as 16 percent in July compared to June, according to a presentation prepared for the SFMTA Board’s Policy and Governance Committee meeting this week. The most drastic change in “dwell times” were reported on the 1-California line and its rush-hour express companion, the 1AX, which saw decreases of 14 and 16 percent, respectively. The 1AX also saw by far the largest shift in passengers using the back door instead of the front door, with a 1,200 percent increase

The article goes on to note improved conditions on other lines reviewed:

The 49-Van Ness, the14-Mission, and the 38-Geary — saw more modest drops in dwell time. The 49, at the low end of the spectrum, only saw a decrease of roughly 1 percent. One possible explanation is that back-door boarding was already common on those lines before the policy change, compared to the 1-California.

A "Glowing" View of Bay Area Transit

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Things are looking bright for Bay Area transit with record high ridership, but if you really want to see a glowing view of the agencies serving the Bay, look no further.  The map below was created by deviantART user DylanofTilden.

 The Bay Area, through public transit lines. Image credit: DylanofTilden

According to DylanofTilden what started as an attempt to map San Francisco through public transit ballooned into the map that you see here. Be sure to check out the SF Weekly’s coverage and a larger size of the impressive, artistic map as well!

More fare and fee increases from SFMTA

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The San Francisco MTA rolled out several new fare increases July 1. The basic adult Muni fare is unchanged ($2 each). Still, if you commute into San Francisco, be aware:

  • Adult “A” Fast Pass with Ride on BART in SF: now $72, formerly $70
  • Adult “M” Fast Pass Muni Only: $62, formerly $60
  • Cash cable car fare: $6, formerly $5
  • Cable car all day pass: $14, formerly $13

Did you know you could rent an entire San Francisco street car? Last month the two-hour rental was only $646. Now you’re looking at a $671 fee. Cable car rentals went up, too, from $704 to $727.
SFMTA increased several fines for drivers by more dramatic amounts.

  • Altered license plate or missing plate: $114, formerly $55-65
  • Blocking access to blue zones marked disabled passenger access: $935, formerly $335

On bridges, tolls will increase for vehicles with more than two axles. That includes large trucks and private cars with trailers attached.
The increases aren’t limited to land-bound methods of transportation. Fare son the Larkspur ferry increased 5 percent. Sausalito ferry riders will now pay an additional $1 on their fare. The fare for special event ferries to AT&T Park in San Francisco increased to $8.75.
The fare increases are all part of the SFMTA’s efforts to close a $45 million budget shortfall, and for many agencies, the new fiscal year begins in July.
Are these changes enough to affect your commuting habits?
Photo from jamesim’s Flickr stream.

Bay Area public transit options for New Year's Eve 2009

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Don’t drive irresponsibly or get stuck being DD – put on your party hat and shades and ride home on public transit! Also, be glad you live in the Bay Area, where public transit options are rockin’.
Here’s what you need to know for each one:
BART

  • Service runs til 3 am
  • After 8 pm:
    • Pittsburg/Bay Point and Richmond trains will not stop at Embarcardero. Exit at Montgomery Station instead. After midnight, also board at Montgomery Station to get back on the Pittsburg/Bay Point or Richmond trains.
    • Dublin/Pleasanton and Fremont trains will not stop at Montgomery Street Station. Exit at Embarcadero. Likewise, board at Embarcadero to get back on a Pittsburg/Bay Point or Richmond-bound train.
  • More information about BART services on NYE

AC Transit

  • On December 31st, 2009, consider taking the Eastbound Line 800, which runs overnight.
  • On January 1st, 2010, AC Transit buses will operate on Sunday schedules.
  • For more information, visit AC Transit’s Website.

Muni

  • Free for travelers between 8 pm – 6 am between Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve and Jan. 1, New Year’s Day.
  • More information on the SF Muni NYE Page.

Caltrain

  • Free service after 11 pm.
  • Details for New Year’s Eve service on Caltrain.

Care for some more?

Just kidding, we know you wanted more transit info!
Well, here’s your cap. Scroll down to see the full list of Bay Area transit agency services on New Year’s Eve, including SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit.

New Unofficial Transit Map of All Rail in the Bay Area

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bay_rail_7201San Francisco Cityscape has just released its third version of a Bay Area rail map that includes all lines:
“The last version was more detailed; like the new BART map, it listed destinations that couldn’t be fit on the map. But we’d like to think that this version combines the simplicity of the BART map with a relatively accurate rendering of geography, and it includes some detail that the BART map doesn’t, like major Muni stops.”
Read more at the San Francisco Cityscape website and check out the map  here.

BART Announces a Limited Rollout of TransLink

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translink_largeThis Monday BART announced it has started a limited rollout of TransLink fare payments. Everyone has been expecting a soft launch like this from BART at some point but it seemed like it would never actually happen.
The TransLink project has gained a lot of clout lately  with BART and Muni on board.  Next up is Caltrain which will rollout TransLink payments on August 17th. The possibility of a universal Bay Area transit card is finally starting to seem like a reality. Translink is also currently available on AC Transit, Dumbarton Express, and Golden Gate Transit and Ferry.
TransLink is still not officially supported by BART and TransLink users attempting to ride BART are asked to always have an alternate payment method available as the system is in the early stages of launch and the kinks are still being worked out.
From the BART Website:

“Anyone else with a TransLink card is welcome to use it on BART during this limited rollout period, as long as they have a TransLink card loaded with sufficient e-cash (electronic cash), an adult Muni Fast Pass, or a BART High Value Discount ticket (which can only be added online at www.clippercard.com). You can sign up for a TransLink card at any time through the TransLink website.
Because passengers are always responsible for fare payment, please be sure to bring along other means of payment such as an EZ Rider card, a BART blue ticket or cash as a backup during the limited rollout of TransLink on BART.“

For more information on the TransLink/BART launch check out the BART news page, the SFGATE article on the BART TransLink launch and the TransLink website.