As we warned back in August, your paper Muni FastPass is fated to go the way of the dinosaur, dodo, and stirrup pants (fingers crossed), at the time we just didn’t know when.
But now we do! Muni Diaries is reporting that the paper FastPass end date has been decided on, quoting a SF MTA spokesperson as saying that “The paper passes will be phased out in October and customers must load them on a Clipper card beginning November 1.”
The Clipper/Translink card has been getting high marks from BART riders — an 82% approval rating in a recent survey of users.
Transit pundit Akit muses, however, that “if we were to compare BART’s survey results to other transit agencies, I would think Muni would be on the bottom. Just within the last few days, I’ve already noticed the card readers on vehicles having problems.”
There’s been more than a little grousing about the $5 surcharge to purchase the card, itself. Which is, perhaps, understandable (I, myself, have gone through three cards and I’m not a particularly abusive user!) One option to duck the $5 is to grab a card at one of the MTA’s upcoming giveaways:
Wednesday, June 16 Powell Station 7 to 10 a.m.
Friday, June 18 Powell Station 4 to 7 p.m.
Tuesday, June 29 Embarcadero Station 7 to 10 a.m.
Wednesday, June 30 Montgomery Station 4 to 7 p.m.
