Editing SamTrans (section)

=== Fares ===
''Since January 1, 2020''<ref>[http://www.samtrans.com/fares/farechart.html SamTrans Fare Chart]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 1, 2020 |title=2020 Fare Changes |url=http://www.samtrans.com/fares/farechanges.html |access-date=January 16, 2020 |publisher=samTrans}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2 | Fare category
! Cash/{{efn|No change cards provided after April 1, 2020.}}<br />Mobile{{efn|Purchases made using the samTrans mobile app for smartphones.}}
! Clipper
! Transfers{{efn|For riders who hold a single-ride local fare, within two hours of purchase, when purchased using Clipper or samTrans mobile app.}}{{efn|Transfers for riders who have purchased express fare to local service are free, when purchased using samTrans mobile app.}} &<br /> Reciprocity{{efn|For holders of samTrans local monthly passes, [[AC Transit]]/[[Dumbarton Express]] 31-day tickets, [[Caltrain]] 2-zone monthly passes, or [[Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority|VTA]] monthly passes}}
! Day pass
! Monthly pass
|-
! rowspan=2 | Adult{{efn|Ages 19–64}}
| Local
| $2.25
| $2.05
| –
| $4.50
| $65.60
|-
| Express{{efn|name=Express|Fare for express routes, such as FCX.}}
| $4.50
| $4.00
| $1.95{{efn|$2.25 for holders of local day passes.}}
| bgcolor="gray" |
| $130
|-
! rowspan=2 | Youth{{efn|Ages 6–18}} &<br />Eligible Discount{{efn|Eligible discounts apply to riders who are Senior (Ages 65+), Disabled, or Medicare cardholder}}
| Local
| $1.10
| $1.00
| –
| $2.00
| $27
|-
| Express{{efn|name=Express}}
| $2.25
| $2.00
| $1.00
| colspan="2" bgcolor="gray" |
|-
|}

;Notes
{{notelist}}

As of December 22, 2010, [[Clipper card]] fare machines became fully operational throughout the system, allowing riders to pay fares using Clipper card, a transit smart card that is also accepted by most other Bay Area transit agencies.

Clipper cards come in four varieties: adult, youth, senior and disabled (which includes Medicare cardholders). Adult Clipper cards may be obtained from a wide variety of vendors, but youth, senior and disabled Clipper cards must be obtained from SamTrans or another Bay Area transit agency. Each Clipper card contains some sort of stored value (e.g., monthly passes, "Clipper Cash" e-funds used for transit fares) and the history of recent trips using the card. Clipper cards generally confer an approximately 10% discount relative to cash fares.

SamTrans does not provide physical [[transfer_(public_transit)|transfers]], but Clipper cards offer free transfers to other SamTrans buses within 2 hours of the first boarding.<ref>{{cite web |title=Free 2-Hour Transfers|publisher=samTrans|access-date=April 12, 2023|url=https://www.samtrans.com/fares/fare-chart/free-2-hour-transfers}}</ref> SamTrans additionally offers a Day Pass which allows unlimited rides on local routes and a credit on higher-cost routes.  The cost of the Day Pass is thrice the one-way fare on the local routes for adults, youth, and seniors/disabled/Medicare cardholders.

With the exception of youth summer passes, all SamTrans monthly passes must be loaded onto a Clipper card. Youth, senior and disabled monthly passes may only be loaded onto a corresponding Clipper card obtained from SamTrans or another Bay Area transit agency.

To ride SamTrans with Clipper card, the card must be "tagged" (read) by the Clipper card reader installed at the front of the bus near the farebox.  The reader checks for a SamTrans monthly pass and local-fare credits from other agencies, computes the remaining fare and (if there is one) collects it in Clipper Cash.  Note that northbound passengers on route KX to San Francisco must "tag" their Clipper card twice: once when boarding within San Mateo County (which collects a local fare or equivalent) and once before exiting in San Francisco (which collects any remaining fare).

Caltrain monthly passes (with two or more zones) and VTA monthly passes (that have been tagged on VTA in the last two hours) are honored on SamTrans as a local-fare credit.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interagency Transfers|publisher=samTrans|access-date=April 12, 2023|url=https://www.samtrans.com/rider-information/interagency-transfers}}</ref> To use a local-fare credit from a monthly pass loaded onto a Clipper card on higher-cost routes, the remaining fare must be collected in Clipper Cash.

New fareboxes were installed in June 2011.  The fareboxes collect fares, issue new magnetic striped tickets (e.g., day passes, change cards) and process previously issued magnetic striped tickets (e.g., day passes, youth summer passes, change cards).  When a patron does not have exact change, a change card is issued with a cash value that can be redeemed at a future farebox transaction for up to a year.

Up to three kids under 5 with fare-paying rider can board for free.