Clipper BayPass use grows: Caltrain, Samtrans employees at new Millbrae HQ, San José state students renew
In May, San José State University (SJSU) approved the renewal of the Clipper BayPass program following 18 months of student advocacy. Starting on August 15, all 35,000 SJSU students will receive the all-agency transit pass.
Previously, 7,000 of SJSU students were randomly selected to receive Clipper BayPass pilot from August 2022 to June 2025 as part of a randomly controlled experiment, but the program lapsed for a year. During this first phase of the pilot, those 7,000 SJSU students with Baypass – about 25% of the student body – took 470,000 transit trips.
According to MTC’s pilot evaluation, students using the BayPass took about 70% more trips than students who had a single agency pass, and nearly 7 times as many transfers between agencies.
Now, the program will be available to all SJSU students. SJSU will join UC Berkeley, UCSF, SFSU among over 20 colleges and universities, housing communities, and employers participating in the BayPass program.
SJSU students with BayPass made nearly seven times more inter-agency transfer compared to those without access. Source: MTC, Clipper BayPass Phase 1 Evaluation Report (page 26)
SJSU students with BayPass took 74% more transit trips compared to those without access. Source: MTC, Clipper BayPass Phase 1 Evaluation Report (page 24)
The renewal was approved as part of a student fee package that charges $184.50 per semester for services including the Clipper Bay Pass, athletics, the school newspaper and other student programs. The pass will cost $24.50 per semester per student.
This student-created website describes the winding path toward the renewal of the popular program.
San Mateo Transit employees join BayPass at new Millbrae HQ
When employees of Caltrain, SamTrans, and SMCTA moved to the agencies’ new headquarters at the Millbrae transit center in May, for the first time employees were offered the Clipper BayPass, the all agency pass.
The Millbrae site is directly served by Caltrain, SamTrans, and BART, so the all-agency pass seems like an appealing option for employees to commute by transit at the new location. According to the agencies, the offer is a pilot program that will be evaluated at the end of the calendar year.
This is a potential step forward, especially for Caltrain which was initially hesitant about the all-agency program, because historically it had received a high share of revenue from its single agency Go Pass program. In recent years employers including the City of Menlo Park and the City of Palo Alto have adopted the GoPass because it met more of their workers commuting needs.
The agency is also exploring the potential for paid parking at the headquarters garage in the future to help manage demand and further encourage transit use, according to the news release.
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