Clipper 2.0 launches December 10th. What does that mean for getting outdoors?

Getting outdoors in the Bay Area often means taking lots of different agencies, including small ones with different rules and different fare structures. If you live in San Francisco, you might not know how Marin Transit fares work, and if you live in Berkeley, you might not know how County Connection fares work.

In the Bay Area, people have been paying for transit with their Clipper cards for years. It’s convenient – if you have enough money loaded on your card. It’s easy – if you don’t care how much the trip will cost. Clipper 2.0, which launches December 10th, solves these problems with the launch of two very important features:

Tap and ride - no need for a Clipper card

Just visiting the Bay Area? Hiking with a friend who doesn’t usually take transit? There’s no more buying fare cards, no more guessing how much to load, and no more worrying about having extra money left behind on cards in the junk drawer. Instead of tapping with a Clipper, any contactless debit or credit card will work.

Free and discounted transfers

One of the biggest pain points in regional transit in the Bay Area has been the lack of transfers between agencies, with each one operating as its own fiefdom. From time to time you’ll get something like a 50¢ discount from a rail agency to a bus agency, but that sort of transfer was unreliable, hidden in paragraphs of descriptions below long farecharts, and for agencies you don’t regularly ride, more of a fun bonus than something you take into account when planning a trip.

That’s all in the past now.

The new Clipper 2.0 comes with an entirely rethought transfer system. Each transfer comes with up to a $2.85 discount: any transfer between BART, Caltrain, transbay bus, or ferry and a local bus is essentially free, as are transfers between local buses, and transfers between those longer-distance routes is signficantly cheaper. Any tap within the first two hours of the initial tap qualifies for a transfer discount.

Gimme an example.

Let’s go to Marin from Oakland. We’ll take AC Transit to BART ($2.50), BART to San Francisco ($4.25), then take a Golden Gate Transit bus to Marin ($7.00), and a Marin Transit bus to our destination.

Before Clipper 2.0, transferring from AC Transit to BART and from BART to Golden Gate Transit didn’t give any discount, but Golden Gate Transit to Marin Transit would be a free transfer, so the total fare would be $13.75.

Now, each step of the way gets a discount or free local bus fare: transferring from AC Transit to BART gives a $2.50 transfer discount, BART to Golden Gate Transit gives a $2.85 transfer discount, and Golden Gate Transfer to Marin Transit is free, so the total fare would be $8.40.

Getting around just got cheaper. Where should I go?

Personally, I’m planning on celebrating with a hike to the top of Mount Tamalpais. What better way to celebrate getting around the Bay than sweeping vistas of it from above? Sign up for the Hiking by Transit mailing list to join me!

Or, to go by yourself, learn how to get to the top of Mount Tamalpais from Pantoll Ranger Station here »

Joaquin Miller, Redwood Regional Park, and more: where new East Bay bus service can take you

After more than two years of planning and outreach, AC Transit is launching its Realign network on August 10th. At the same time, in the far East Bay, in a much less publicized change, Tri Delta Transit has fully redesigned its transit network from the ground up. Both networks are cost-neutral redesigns, but both recognize the importance of building connectivity as a core piece of a useful network.

With the new service, there’s several great new opportunities for getting outside without hopping behind the wheel of a car.

National Park Week 2025: car-free Bay Area National Park trips

April 19th to 27th is National Park Week. To celebrate, here’s the best transit-accessible National Park properties in the Bay Area!

California’s early history as a state is in no small part the history of federal protection of our natural landscapes and resources. The state plays host to some of the country’s most impressive scenery across now nine National Parks and nearly countless more national National Parks properties. The Bay Area is home to many such impressive landscapes, and several of our best are accessible without ever geting into a car.

Doing the 2025 East Bay Parks Trails Challenge car-free

Every year, the East Bay Regional Parks District puts on their annual Trails Challenge. Now in its 32nd year, the Challenge is both an encouragement to get out on the trails, with a mileage goal and a trail count goal, and a guide suggesting a variety of hikes to go on suitable for people of all levels of hiking comfort.

What does AC Transit Realign mean for recreational access in the East Bay?

AC Transit is currently redesigning its bus network in a project called AC Transit Realign. The process is nearly finished, and there are important and positive ramifications for access to the outdoors in the inner part of the East Bay.

Welcome to Hiking by Transit

Part of the joy of living in the Bay Area for me has always been how close I am to natural places in their infinite variety. Our lands feature everything from cool, damp redwood forests to rolling oak savannahs, and one of the most incredible parts of living here is how much of it is public land – our land – open for anyone to explore.

However, at the same time, it’s always frustrated me how difficult it can be to get to our region’s preserves and open spaces by transit. Over the years, I’ve become quite adept at it, and compiled my own list of trailheads I’ve found ways to get to without a car. I hope that in sharing this with you, I can share the joy of our open spaces.

The hikes listed here are meant to serve as inspiration for your own adventures. Pick a trailhead, pack a map, and get out there!