SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Bay Area transit agencies are encouraging people to add a Clipper card to their mobile phones due to a shortage of plastic cards.
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Clipper card inventory has decreased because of global supply chain issues, the Municipal Transportation Commission said in a release. BART and MTC are incentivizing riders with a discount to add their Clipper cards to their mobile phones using Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Customers who switch their card to a mobile device will have the $3 new-card fee waived, the release said. Those who choose to buy the traditional plastic Clipper card will continue to be charged the $3 fee.
The Manufacture of Clipper cards has a limited supply of the plastic used to make the cards and the computer chips, John Goodwin Assistant Director of Communications with MTC told KCBS Radio. There are several manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Europe but the European facilities are having shipment delays at sea and at "congested port facilities."
"MTC's Clipper team indicates that the shipping-by-ocean delays appear to have eased in recent weeks, but we still are unable to estimate when MTC's and the transit agencies' plastic Clipper card inventories will be restored to normal levels," he explained.
Apple customers with an iPhone 8 or later or Apple Watch Series 3 or later can add the mobile Clipper card through Apple Wallet and load cash through Apple pay at any time.
Android customers with Android 5 or later can add the Clipper Card through Google Pay and load money onto the card at any time.
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