Clipper on Caltrain FAQ

The Clipper® mobile app is available for download via the App Store or Google Play. 

Clipper® cards can be purchased at the Caltrain Administrative office in San Carlos on Weekdays between 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., at participating Clipper retail locations such as Walgreens and online at www.clippercard.com.

Adult cards are also available for purchase at Caltrain station ticket machines.

Youth (ages 5-18) and senior (ages 65 and older) customers must fill out an application to obtain a Clipper card. Disabled fare customers must have a Regional Transit Connection Clipper card. For more information, click here.

An Adult Clipper® card is free for a limited time by downloading a virtual card via the Clipper® mobile app via the App Store or Google Play.

Otherwise, physical cards cost $3. The fee is waived if you sign-up for Autoload and obtain the card at the same time online. There is no fee for Youth and Senior Clipper cards. 

Cash value on your card is used on a per-ride basis if you do not have a Monthly Pass. Cash on your card won't expire; time-limited passes and tickets will expire.

To load a Monthly Pass or cash, customers with Clipper® cards (Adult, Youth, Senior, Disabled) can load their products immediately by going to:

• Participating transit agencies
• Clipper® retail outlets, such as participating Walgreens
• Downtown San Francisco Muni fare machines
• BART ticket machines (cash only)
• Valley Transportation Authority light rail station ticket machines
• Clipper® Add-Value Machines at San Francisco, Diridon and Palo Alto stations

Products/cash may also be loaded through the Clipper® website or over the phone with the Clipper Customer Service Bureau, but the product/cash may take up to five days to be loaded onto the card.

Clipper® also offers Autoload where your card is reloaded each month automatically. For more information, visit www.clippercard.com or call the Clipper® Customer Service Bureau at 1-877-878-8883.

No. On Caltrain, you must also have a minimum of $1.25 in cash on your card.

It's the way the system was configured to work in conjunction with a negative balance limit. If you forget to tap off, the highest fare between all zones is charged and you must have this amount on the card as cash. Since the Clipper® card has a maximum negative amount and the maximum zones exceed that amount, an additional $1.25 is required. Although you have Monthly Pass on the card, you still must tap on and off once during the month. Based on the assumption that you will not tap off, the minimum cash value to go negative must be there.

You can buy only one Monthly Pass for a given month, no matter how you purchase it.

Important note: Because Monthly Passes are sold for specific zones, you may have multiple Monthly Passes on a single card. For example, you might have a Zone 1 to 4 and another Zone 1 to 3 pass on the same Clipper® card.
 

The Day Pass isn’t available on Clipper. You can also purchase a paper pass from the station ticket machine. If you are just making a round-trip, it will be less expensive to use Clipper® cash.

With a Monthly Pass, you can purchase a Zone Upgrade ticket from the Caltrain station ticket machine.

Tap the card or mobile device on the Clipper® validator screen until you hear a beep.  When tapping off, you'll hear a different tone from when you tapped on.

If you receive an error message, please try another validator and be sure the validator is on the Caltrain Platform.  Also, be sure you are tapping the screen, not the tag sign.  Be sure to hold the Clipper card or mobile device to the validator for a few seconds.  If an error message remains, contact Clipper Customer Service at 1.877.878.8883 to make sure you have cash value or the appropriate product on your card.

If the validator is out of service and you are unable to tap at all, please contact Caltrain Customer Service at 1.800.660.4287 so Caltrain can open a ticket for the validator to be fixed.  It always helpful if you can report the validator number located at the bottom of the device.

To assist passengers with visual impairments, Caltrain has tone locators for Clipper® card validators. The validators will emit a beeping sound every 15 seconds, which can alert passengers with visual impairments to where they can tap their Clipper card. The locator noise produced by the Clipper card validators will have a lower decibel level and tone than the sounds that indicate whether a person has tapped on or off.
 

You must tap on and off on the first day of use for the month of the pass. Monthly passes must be tapped by the 15^th of the month, including for Autoload customers. You must tap on and off within your zone combination purchased.

If you loaded your card at a Clipper® retailer (such as Whole Foods or Anchor Drugs Pharmacy) or a Clipper® Add-Value Machine then you don't need to tap (the pass was loaded when the card physically interacted with the Clipper® terminal). If you buy the next month’s pass during the current month, Clipper® will recognize the current pass. You need to wait to tap on and off for the month when the pass is valid (unless purchased through a retail vendor or Add-value Machine).

No, in fact you shouldn't tap your card unless you're traveling outside the zones on the pass and choose not to buy a paper Zone Upgrade ticket. (The full cost will come from the card’s stored cash.)

If you do tap on and off within your zone combination, or zone pair, the maximum fare will be deducted and then refunded, since Clipper® will recognize that you have a Monthly Pass. But if you forget to tap off, or if you take a longer ride than is provided by your zone pairs, you will be charged the maximum fare from your tap origin. Tap off must be completed within four hours of the initial tap.

If the second tap was done at the same station within 15 minutes of the first tap, the second tap cancelled your ride. A message will be displayed on the screen that your initial tap was refunded. If you want to ride the train, you will need to tap on again. If your second tap was done after 15 minutes, you will be charged the maximum one-way fare.

Yes. Customers with a two-zone or greater Monthly Pass loaded on their Clipper® card receive a local fare credit when they tap on SamTrans and VTA.

A card or mobile device may seem not to be working because the card or mobile device isn’t being held (touched) long enough or in the right location. Tap the card or mobile device on the Clipper® validator screen until you hear a beep. If you continue to hold the card or mobile device on the screen, you can read the message (e.g., "Travel OK" or "Invalid Fare").

Do you have at least $1.25 in cash on your card? You must have at least that much on your card when riding Caltrain. Otherwise, even if you have a pass, you will get a Travel denied message. If your cash balance goes negative, you won’t be able to use your pass until you add cash value to your card.

Where you bought your pass or added value can make a difference in how soon you can access them. If the transactions take place at a Clipper retail location, a ticket office or an Add Value Machine, the pass or cash become available immediately. But if you add the value to your card online or over the phone, it may take up to three days before the ticket or value can be used.

If none of the above applies and you believe your card is defective, contact Clipper® Customer Service at 1.877.878.8883 about a replacement.

Most Clipper® retailers accept Commuter vouchers. For retail locations, call Clipper ®or click here. Retailers don't accept commuter benefit cards but Clipper® add-value machines and Caltrain headquarters accept them. Click here for information.

To cancel Autoload on your Clipper® card, go to www.clippercard.com and log in to your registered card account, choose "Check card value" located next to your card details. Then from the card value page, select "Edit Autoload".

Clipper® customers who buy a Caltrain Monthly Pass can purchase a Monthly Parking Permit from any Caltrain station ticket machine. Click here for information.