With October being the last month that riders can use the paper “A” (that is, usable on BART and Muni) Fast Pass, Muni appears to be scrambling to manage their ridership’s conversion to the Clipper card. Their latest strategy: announcing that Clipper Cards preloaded with the November monthly “A” Fast Passes will now be available at all current Muni pass sales locations.
As you know, the Clipper system has been fraught with problems, and a report today in Mission Local makes the situation sound pretty dire: problems with readers and cards, vendors with broken equipment, confused Muni drivers, and broken fare gates are cited as problems plaguing the system today.
“We want to make the transition to the Clipper card as convenient as possible for our customers who enjoy the unlimited ride, monthly Muni “A” Fast Pass. Therefore, we have worked with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to provide our Muni retailers with a supply of Clipper cards loaded with the November Fast Pass,” Muni head Nathaniel P. Ford said in the release announcing the pre-loaded Clipper card sales.
But, as Mission Local reports, “(a) poll of 563 Muni riders conducted between August and September of this year found that people who do not use Clipper consciously choose not to.” Will being able to buy Clipper cards with their passes already on them help change that choice?
There are currently 94 Clipper distributors in San Francisco and an additional 12 to be added by the end of November. Will you be hitting one to buy a pre-loaded card? If so, please do let us know how it goes.
