A few routes extend beyond Alameda and Contra Costa Counties:

• Line U East Bay Express. Commuter shuttle service, with luxury coach seating, going from 37.5574-121.97581 Fremont BART to Stanford University in the morning and the opposite direction in the evening. $4.20; free with Stanford ID. (updated Jan 2016)

Listed as Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District route 17, and Santa Clara VTA route 970, the Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Highway 17 Express offers daily service between Santa Cruz and downtown San Jose. Single rides $7; day pass $14 (seniors/disabled, half-price). Clipper cards not accepted. Request paper transfer for free or reduced-price transfers at destination.

An outgrowth of the Humphrey Go-Bart shuttle launched in the 1970s, Bear Transit offers daytime weekday (M-F) service around the UC Berkeley campus and beyond, including BART stations, the 37.8753-122.23862 UC Botanical Gardens, 37.8802-122.24623 Lawrence Hall of Science, downtown Berkeley, and points in El Cerrito and Richmond. General public: $1–$1.50. Info at 511.org web site but not on their phone line.

Easily the best transit bargain in the Bay Area—free to everyone—Marguerite buses traverse the Stanford University campus, with most routes stopping at the 37.4332-122.17684 Medical Center, 37.4421-122.16955 Shopping Center, and 37.4438-122.1656 Palo Alto Transit Center (for connections to VTA, SamTrans, and CalTrain). Some lines extend farther beyond the campus, to: 37.5574-121.97587 Fremont BART (line AE-F, EB); 37.5902-122.01738 Union City BART Station (line EB); 37.4542-122.1829 Menlo Park Caltrain station and 37.4542-122.18210 Bohannon Drive (line BOH); 37.4201-122.202511 Linear Accelerator (lines S, SLAC); 37.405-122.140412 VA Palo Alto Health Care facility (lines R, RP, VA); 37.4505-122.114413 Palo Alto Tech Center, 0.3 miles from 37.4505-122.114414 Palo Alto Airport (line TECH); 37.3947-122.146415 Research Park (lines 1050A, RP). Check schedules carefully, as many lines run only during the day, M-F and/or the school year. For schedules and maps, click 511.org; unfortunately, Marguerite information is not on the 511 phone system.

VTA provides bus and light rail service throughout Santa Clara County.

You do not need a card to use public transit in the Bay Area, since you can always deposit money into a fare box or ticket machine. The card costs $3, plus the money you pre-pay for rides, so it probably doesn't make sense if you plan to take only a few rides on public transit. On the other hand, some agencies (e.g., BART, CalTrain) charge less for tickets purchased with Clipper. Savings can be even greater when you take several rides on the same day. For instance, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency (VTA) no longer issues transfers or day passes, but the maximum daily amount that is charged to the card of an adult (age 19–64) for non-Express rides on the system is $6, the cost of 3 individual adult rides. (For seniors, the maximum is equivalent to 2.5 senior rides.) An additional factor to weigh is the convenience of not having to deposit exact change into fare boxes, versus the inconvenience of buying and recharging the card.

Clipper cards for adults can be purchased for $3 at most Bay Area Walgreens and Whole Food stores and other retail locations. Youths (age 5 to 17 or 18, depending on the transit agency), seniors (65 or older), and the disabled are eligible for special cards that are good for discounted rides. You can get these from a Regional Transit Connection center (typically, the offices of the local transit agency) or by mail (allow 10 days for delivery). For details, go to www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/discounts/index.do or call one of the customer service numbers listed in section For more information, below. Allow 10 days for delivery.

Once you have the card, you can add money to it at any of the retail locations, or online. The first time you add money online, there will be a delay of a few days before you can use it.

Clipper card readers are located on buses and at train stops. Hold the card next to the reader. It is not usually necessary to remove the card from your wallet. The reader display will indicate whether the payment was successful, and how much money is left on the card.

Questions specifically about Clipper cards are addressed at the Clipper web site (www.clippercard.com), via e-mail ([email protected]), or on their customer-service phone lines (voice: +1 877 878-8883; fax: +1 925 686-8221; TDD/TTY: +1 800 735-2929). For more information about all of the Bay Area transit systems, go to 511.org, or call 511 from a phone from within the Bay Area.