SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – It was a free ride for many Bay Area morning commuters because of Clipper problems.
Issues started at around 7 a.m. Tuesday when people tried using their Clipper card to get on their ride to only get an error message.
That forced transit agencies like BART and Muni to open their gates and offer free rides.
The problems coincide with July 1st being the first day with new fares for many agencies across the region.
“We strongly suspect that it was related to updated fare information for multiple transit agencies and in bringing all of that new data into the system, something likely went awry,” Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman John Goodwin told KCBS Radio’s Holly Quan. “We have not definitively confirmed that was the cause, but the coincidence is too strong to ignore.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is responsible for Clipper.
Goodwin said a software fix had been rolled out to most agencies by 10 a.m. to be implemented within an hour, allowing them to begin charging fares again.