Cut Muni Transfers

Aren't they getting rid of transfers with the clipper cards?

Okay never mind. I just thought about your post again and I don't think clipper cards get rid of the transfers, but maybe it should? How about you swipe your card every time you get on the bus and if it hasn't been ninety minutes it won't charge you and if it has it will?

Yeah it should be relatively easy to set a system like that up so that everyone gets used to swiping in clipper cards every time they enter a bus.

Overall, I'm not too sure transfers are the cause of fare evasion.  If people really want to cheat the system, they will continue do so - whether they have a paper transfer or a plastic clipper card.

• Transfers do reduce the overall potential revenue that MUNI could have, however, to get from Point A to Point B, sometimes multiple transfers are required. And to pay $2.00 each time to go a short distance would be ludicrous. However if our system was more efficient, we would not need to transfer so many times to get to a location. 
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• A transfer with the Clipper card would really only apply if you paid for your MUNI rides from a cash value versus a monthly pass. Monthly pass is unlimited.  So, here is a way to "force" everyone to buy monthly passes wether they use it or now...users have to plunk down $60 each month...do you see the increase in revenue here?
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• For a small city, our system is inefficient, cumbersome and needs a redesign.  
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• I have lived around the world and pass as you ride has been the ONLY methodology for riding public transit that I have ever know, except when I lived in (W) Berlin as an occupying power and transit was free.   

I don't think getting rid of transfers is a viable option.  I have yet to fully understand how the Clipper card works and will work, but as another poster mentioned, you often do need to transfer between lines to get to your final destination.  For MUNI to work smoothly and efficiently, I don't making it more expensive is the answer.  Muni needs to work on the frequency and on-time performance.

Getting anywhere from where I live up in Twin Peaks/Diamond Heights I have to least transfer once and sometimes twice to reach appointments in the North Beach.  (Due to our awesome topography, I wish I could ride my bike downtown to go to appointments and class- but it's honestly not an option because coming back up Portola is for professional bicyclists and adrenalin junkies that like to ride uphill with cars whizzing past at 45mph.)  If transfers would cost more for people to make it to their destinations, it could possibly put more weight on BART and take away from Muni.  If we want Muni to maintain itself and improve, cutting transfers may detract from that.  Yes the Muni system has flaws, most resting on timeliness, breakdowns, efficiency during rush hour (@PM, the Powell station generates fear in me, as well as receiving some elbows to the face/ribs to cram trains) and fare evaders that need to be addressed.  I have seen passengers get knocked over leaving busses by others cramming the back door of the bus to evade paying, that needs to stop and would most likely generate more revenue than cutting transfers would have for Muni.       

The whole Clipper card experience (the entire transfer issue was not clear to me until I swiped my card the first time); my card is swiped, it leaves me with 90 minutes to transfer.  Negating the need for the driver to give me a inefficient, transfer ticket (as well as feeding cash into the machine, takes time).  Not to mention, many transfer tickets end up on the ground blowing around the city and in the dryer lint catchers of laundromats around the city.  And soon, all passes will have to be bought and put on Clipper, http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/Clipper.htm which will hopefully increase efficiency so drivers do not have to visually judge a pass, everyone around can do it with their ears.  That beep is pretty effective in catching evaders or expired passes.  The only issue I have had so far with the Clipper card is that sometimes I have to tap my card twice and some stations around have confusing entryways into the Muni.  There is some kinks, but that is to be expected when the system is transitioning.

The Clipper Cards don't get rid of transfers. You still need a transfer for your second ride.  What I wish we had more of, were machines to add fare to the Clipper Card. Those are few and far between.

I have a Translink card - the beta for the Clipper.  I just have a credit card and it automatically reloads $20 when my account gets low  Doesnt Clipper do the same thing?