By Eli Walsh. Bay City News.
Some San Mateo County affordable housing residents now have access to the free transportation pilot program supported by all public transportation agencies in the nine-county Bay Area.
Affordable housing residents at properties managed by MidPen Housing gained access to the Clipper BayPass program Monday as regional transit officials seek to make public transportation more user-friendly and gauge demand for a universal fare system.
BayPass is also available to students at Santa Rosa Junior College and select students at San Francisco State University, San Jose State University and the University of California, Berkeley.
“Our residents often face transportation and access barriers, and Clipper BayPass presents significant cost savings for our communities amid difficult financial times,” said MidPen Housing Director of Resident Services Danielle McCluskey.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the agency that oversees transportation planning, financing, and development in the Bay Area, and approximately two dozen transit agencies will participate in the pilot program during the next two years.
The four schools and MidPen Housing were chosen for the project in part because each already has a transit pass that reduces or eliminates the cost of the fare for one or more public transportation systems.
MTC officials estimate the first phase of the pilot program will cost approximately $6 million, much of which will reimburse fare revenue to participating transit agencies.
The second phase, planned for early 2023, would make BayPass available to employees of up to 10 employers in the Bay Area.
The BayPass pilot is expected to continue through the end of 2024.
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