The San Mateo County Transportation District (SamTrans) has proposed several new fare structure changes for next year and requests public comment.
Three of the proposed changes will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2024. The other three suggested changes will be enacted in the fall of 2024. The fare changes are still in the works and are open to change based on feedback from the public.
“When any changes are made, we want them to be focused on encouraging ridership to be affordable and simple or to preserve and grow ridership among core ridership groups,” said Bruce Thompson, the manager of Fare Programs operations at SamTrans.
One change coming on Jan. 1, 2024, is complimentary fares for preplanned public school field trips. This would allow any public school in San Mateo County to request a waiver for free fare rides for students and teachers.
However, SamTrans will have to pay the price for this change. The expected loss in revenue is about $51 per field trip provided. SamTrans hopes the free field trips will allow students to become familiar with the SamTrans system and encourage future ridership among students.
An additional change is the elimination of the Summer Youth Pass, which, according to SamTrans, provides unlimited SamTrans bus service for youth under 18 between June 1 and Aug. 31 for $40.
SamTrans is shutting down the Summer Youth Pass due to the steady decline in ridership.
“We believe that eliminating this program will have a positive impact on SamTrans. We don’t think that there will be a large customer experience impact. From an administration overhead perspective for SamTrans, it’s a very positive impact as we’ll be able to focus on other programs that can provide a larger impact to the community,” Thompson said.
More changes are planned for the fall of 2024. There will be the option of contactless payment with credit and debit cards in addition to the current Clipper card option.
Fare capping is also being proposed. This would limit the amount riders pay monthly to $65.60 a month, and any rides after that would be free.
Another proposed change is discounts through the regional transfer discount program when transferring to a different Bay Area Transit system like Caltrain. If the rider transfers within the first two hours on public transit, they will receive a discount on their next fare purchased.
Jayden Lee, a sophomore at Carlmont, doesn’t see a significant impact it could have on himself and thinks that SamTrans should focus its efforts elsewhere.
“There aren’t as many stops for Carlmont as there were for Ralston, my middle school. I think SamTrans should try and create new bus stops instead,” Lee said.
However, one change that Lee and most other Carlmont students support is the implementation of contactless pay.
“When the bus comes, I have to get my clipper card out of my backpack, and it takes up a lot of time and is inefficient. Instead, being able to just pay using my debit card on my phone would save time and be less of a hassle,” Lee said.
A public hearing where the public can comment will be on Dec. 6, 2023. At the gathering, there will also be a scheduled board adoption of the new fare structure.
