MTC launches Clipper on Google Play, debuts new mobile app for Android phones

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Clipper® regional transit fare payment card is now available on Google Play.

MTC also released a mobile app for easier management of Clipper cards on Android phones. The agency last month introduced Clipper on Apple Pay.

Clipper on Google Pay gives Android users who ride 24 Bay Area transit systems a contactless way to pay fares on buses, trains and ferries. Adding a Clipper card to Google Pay is easy. Customers can add the card directly through Google Pay and load cash value anytime, anywhere. Customers can set up autoload in Google Pay to automatically reload when their balance falls low.

Riders can also transfer a plastic Clipper card to their Android phone using the Clipper mobile app. Once transferred, the plastic Clipper card can no longer be used to pay for transit.

To pay a fare with Google Pay, riders simply wake their phone, hold it near the Clipper reader and then board the bus, train or ferry. They no longer need to touch a ticket machine or reload a Clipper card at a retailer.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that Android users want a way to pay their fares with their phones, and Clipper is delivering on that,” said MTC Chair Alfredo Pedroza. “In addition, we are providing another contactless way for people to pay their fares, offering greater safety for riders and transit employees alike.”

To transfer a plastic card to or create a new card in Google Pay, customers will need to have an Android phone running Android 5 or later.

In addition to transferring plastic Clipper cards to Google Pay, the new Clipper mobile app allows riders to easily manage their Clipper cards and their Clipper account, and to plan transit trips around the Bay Area. Riders must use the Clipper app to buy transit agency passes for use on Google Pay.

Transit riders who use cash to load their Clipper cards will need to use a ticket machine; a Clipper Customer Service Center; or a Clipper retailer to add value to Google Pay.

MTC has been working with Google, NXP® Semiconductors and Cubic Transportation Systems, the Bay Area’s fare payment solutions partner, to introduce these convenient new payment and account management features using NXP’s MIFARE 2GO cloud service.