SF Muni switching to 'Clipper' card

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which operates the Municipal Railway (Muni), will eliminate most paper monthly Muni passes and the Regional Transit Connection (RTC) stickers from its system to transition all passes, except the Lifeline pass, and stickers to the reusable Clipper card by next spring.

The first pass to switch will be the Muni "A" Fast Pass, which allows customers to access Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco as well as Muni. Customers who use this pass must switch to a Clipper card by the end of October, before they purchase their November pass.

Muni customers who qualify for the monthly discount pass due to disability use a monthly sticker on their RTC Discount ID Card. Those customers will receive Clipper-compatible cards automatically when they apply for or renew their card.

In addition to an "A" Fast Pass announcement, the SFMTA will begin deploying customer service ambassadors next month along with the Clipper (or TransLink) street teams that have been providing information and customer service since the end of 2009 in Muni Metro stations.

Since December, the Muni Clipper street teams have distributed more than 57,000 adult passes and more than 7,000 to seniors and youth. Special outreach to senior and youth has been made through presentations at more than 60 community events. Clipper advertising has been posted throughout the Muni system and on local airwaves; additional outreach will begin as the pass transitions take place.

The SFMTA has also undertaken an aggressive internal campaign to inform SFMTA employees, especially frontline Muni personnel, of the Clipper transition and how to assist customers. This campaign includes an orientation and multiple update videos as well as in-person training.