San Francisco trials Clipper for parking payment
26 July, 2013
category: Contactless, Smart Cards, Transit
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is conducting a pilot program to enable drivers to the ability to use their Clipper transit fare cards to pay for parking.
The Park with Clipper program enables drivers in San Francisco use their Clipper cards to pay for parking at select garages, including the Japan Center Garage (at Webster St.), North Beach Garage (between Stockton St. and Powell St.), Performing Arts Garage (at Gough St.), Moscone Center Garage (between Howard St. and Folsom St.), and Mission Bartlett Garage (at Bartlett St.).
MTC launched Clipper in 2010 as a transit-fare payment card. It currently is accepted for payment on AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, Muni, SamTrans, San Francisco Bay Ferry and VTA. Clipper will be accepted on additional transit services in the future.
Before using Clipper to pay for parking, drivers must add “parking value” to their Clipper account online or by calling Clipper Customer Service. Drivers can also set up their cards to automatically reload by linking to a credit card, debit card or bank account.
When they are ready to leave the garage, drivers simply approach the exit gate and tag their Clipper cards to a Clipper card reader, adjacent to the regular ticket and payment machine, to open the gate.
MTC conducted a soft launch of Park with Clipper beginning June 8. The project is open-ended, with no specific end date.