SamTrans: One Fare Lets You Ride All Day

Officials with say the agency's new day pass, which became available to riders on the first of the year, is increasing in popularity.

In the first week of January, SamTrans sold 131 day passes; by the last week of the month the number of passes sold had increased to 443, according to agency officials.

The day pass is most frequently used on routes that travel on El Camino Real, which also see the highest ridership on the system, agency officials said.

The day pass allows customers to ride all day using just one pass, and costs three times the price of a one-way cash fare.

Passengers may purchase day passes on board the bus at the farebox, which then issues the magnetic pass.

On future rides the same day, customers simply “swipe” the pass at the farebox. The pass is valid until 2:00 a.m. the day after purchase.

The day pass is part of a modernization program that began last summer with the purchase and installation of new fareboxes on all SamTrans buses.

SamTrans replaced its old-style mechanical fareboxes that had been in service for more than 20 years with state-of-the art models that accept cash, coins, tokens and magnetic-stripe paper tickets.

In addition to the day pass, the new fareboxes also have the capability to issue a Change Card to customers who do not have exact change. 

Nearly 40,000 riders take SamTrans on an average weekday.

For schedule and fare information or for help planning your trip, call 1-800-660-4287 (TTY 650-508-6448) or visit www.samtrans.com.

Follow SamTrans on twitter @SamTrans_News and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/samtrans.

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