Clipper Card: How to Pay for Muni

A Clipper card is the easiest way to pay for most Bay Area transit, but it is not the only way. This guide shows what each payment option covers, what it costs and when a pass saves money. For the wider picture of buses, trains and cable cars, read our guide to San Francisco public transport.

Step 1: Choose how to pay for Muni

You can pay for Muni with a Clipper card, a tapped bank card, the MuniMobile app or cash. The Muni fare page lists all four. A chip-enabled credit or debit card works for an adult single ride, and Clipper works on all Bay Area transit, including Muni.

Each way has a limit. A tapped bank card pays the full adult fare and nothing else, so discounts need a Clipper card, according to the SFMTA fares page. MuniMobile stopped selling single rides on 1 September 2026, but it still sells Visitor Passports, day passes and cable car tickets. Cash works on a Muni vehicle with exact change.

Key Takeaway A bank card pays a Muni ride at $2.85, but only Clipper, MuniMobile or a paper ticket can carry a Visitor Passport.

A transit card only saves time when you know what it covers.

Step 2: Get a Clipper card or add one to your phone

You can get a Clipper card online, at retailers such as Walgreens, at self-serve machines or at the SFO BART station in the International Terminal. The plastic card costs a one-time $3, which is waived if you order online with auto-reload, according to Clipper. Buy cards and value only from clippercard.com or authorized locations.

A phone works too. Add Clipper to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and tap the phone on the reader. The Clipper app itself cannot be tapped to ride, so set up the wallet card.

Clipper works on 24 Bay Area transit systems, including BART, Muni, Caltrain, SamTrans and the ferries. BART also takes a tapped bank card or phone wallet for adult fares, so a visitor who rides BART only once does not need Clipper, according to BART. Coming from the airport is covered in our guide to SFO to downtown San Francisco.

Pro Tip Add Clipper to your phone wallet before you land, because the plastic card costs $3 and the wallet version needs no pickup.

Clipper notes a service pause on Saturday, 24 October from 1:00 to 5:00 a.m. for mobile and retail services. Tapping to ride still works during it.

Step 3: Learn the Muni fare

An adult single Muni ride costs $2.85 with Clipper, MuniMobile or a tapped card, and $3.00 in cash. The ticket is good for 120 minutes, so one ride can include a transfer to a second bus or train within two hours. A senior or disabled single ride costs $1.40, and young people aged 18 and under ride regular Muni free.

A Muni day pass costs $5.70 on MuniMobile or Clipper. It covers buses, trains and historic streetcars for one day, but not the cable car. Two single rides cost the same $5.70, so a day pass pays off from the third ride, by our own arithmetic.

Muni is the city's public transit network, run by the SFMTA. It includes buses, Muni Metro light rail and streetcars, as described on the SFMTA Muni page. Keep proof of payment with you, because you can be cited without it.

If you transfer from another agency, Clipper can take $2.85 off the adult Muni fare when you transfer within two hours of your first trip. That discount needs a Clipper card.

Step 4: Pay for the cable car

A cable car ride costs $9.00 for an adult and does not include transfers. Seniors, disabled riders and Medicare holders pay $4 before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m., and children aged 4 and under ride free. The cable car is the one Muni ride that a regular single fare or day pass does not cover.

You can prepay with MuniMobile or Clipper, or pay in exact cash. At Powell and Market, Bay and Taylor, and Hyde and Beach, you must buy your fare in advance from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, according to the SFMTA cable car page. The page does not say outright that a bank card works on the cable car reader, so use Clipper or the app instead.

Three lines run. California goes from California and Market to Van Ness. Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason both start at Powell and Market and end near Fisherman's Wharf. The line to the Golden Gate Bridge is not a cable car, so see our guide to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Step 5: Check if the Visitor Passport pays off

A Visitor Passport gives unlimited rides on Muni, Muni Metro, historic streetcars and cable cars for 1, 3 or 7 days. The 1-Day passport costs $15, the 3-Day $35 and the 7-Day $47. You can buy it on MuniMobile, as a paper passport or on Clipper.

In October 2026, the 1-Day Visitor Passport cost $15 and paid off from the sixth Muni ride when each ride is paid as a single fare, in the 2026 San Francisco Travel Cost Study.

The cable car pushes that number down. One cable car ride at $9.00 plus four Muni rides at $2.85 comes to $20.40, more than the passport, by our own arithmetic. Two or three Muni rides and no cable car cost less than the passport.

The passport is not valid on BART, even inside San Francisco, on other transit, on tour buses or to and from SFO. Only the $104 "A" monthly pass includes BART inside the city. A visitor who rides BART from the airport still pays that fare separately.

Key Takeaway One cable car ride at $9.00 plus four Muni rides at $2.85 costs $20.40, so the 1-Day Visitor Passport at $15 wins on a busy day.

Step 6: Pick a tour if you would rather not ride

A hop-on hop-off tour is one way to see the sights without a transit pass, but it is not cheaper. Things to Do in San Francisco's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found 9 hop-on hop-off bus listings, priced from €43.62 to €145.81 per person. Muni with a day pass costs a fraction of that, so choose a bus tour for commentary and easy stops, not to save money.

The Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour with 17 Stops is from €49.94 per person, rated 4.6 from 4,147 reviews, and the operator is Big Bus Sightseeing. The listing offers free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. The Full City Hop on Hop off Bus Tour is from €43.62 per person, rated 4.0 from 958 reviews, and the operator is San Francisco Deluxe Sightseeing Tours. It lists a pickup option at Union Square.

If you want the ferry and Alcatraz in one ticket, the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus with Ferry and Alcatraz Tour is from €133.52 per person. Alcatraz is closed from 26 October to 18 November 2026, so check the NPS notice before you book it for those dates. Read more about Alcatraz tours if you are planning an island day.

For the flat waterfront, a self-guided bike rental from Blazing Saddles Bike Rentals and Tours is from €16.91 per person and rated 4.7 from 291 reviews.

A Clipper card or a pass is the wrong choice if you will take only one or two rides in the whole trip. A tapped bank card pays a ride at $2.85 with no card to buy, and you can walk the rest. Muni is steep and busy near the cable car stops, so a bus tour or a bike suits some visitors better than a transit pass.