Gator Pass

Gator Pass benefits

Your student campus fee include the Gator Pass – your all-in-one transit pass for getting around the Bay Area. Use it to ride trains, buses, and ferries that accept Clipper cards.

The Gator Pass gives you free, unlimited rides on most Bay Area transit systems (excluding cable cars and Paratransit services) during the Fall and Spring semesters.

• See where you can use your Gator Pass

Get access to your Gator Pass

If you don't already have a Clipper card of your own, you can either...

• Purchase a physical Clipper card in person at a Muni/BART station
• Create a digital Clipper card and add it to your mobile wallet through the Wallet App
  • *You will need to load a minimum cash value of $3 to create a digital card.* 

If you already have a Clipper card OR after you've acquired a new Clipper card, submit your Clipper card number into the Student Clipper Portal (click here). This will let us know which specific Clipper card to upload the Gator Pass to. *Only one Clipper card may be active with the Gator Pass. Please do not submit a card number from a Youth, Senior, Clipper Access or START Clipper card.* *

There is now a grace period to access the Gator Pass benefits starting from the first day of the Fall/Spring semester until the tuition payment deadline, so students will be able to access the free transit benefits up until then, even if they have not yet paid their tuition fees.

In order to keep the Gator Pass benefits throughout the entire semester, please make sure to pay the mandatory campus fees in your Fall/Spring tuition on time, whether that is out of pocket or by financial aid disbursement. Otherwise, the Gator Pass will deactivate after the tuition deadline until those fees are covered.

You can register your card on the Clipper App to help keep track of when your Gator Pass is active! Once you see "BayPass" or "Events Pass" displayed under your card on the app, that means your Gator Pass has been loaded and is ready to use! *The "BayPass" or "Events Pass" indicator may not appear until AFTER you successfully use the Gator Pass with your card for the first time.*

Things to keep in mind

• The Gator Pass will become active on the first day of the Fall/Spring semester for all enrolled students. The transit benefits will be active on all days (weekdays, weekends, and holidays) throughout the Fall/Spring semester, but will not be active over the summer term or during the January intercession term. Your transit discount will be valid until the last day of final exams.
• The Gator Pass transit benefits will not be active immediately after submitting your card number or after clearing your tuition balance. It takes approximately 5-10 business days for Clipper to process the information into their system, so we recommend that students wait at least one week before attempting to board transportation using their Gator Pass.
• Don’t board the transportation if your Gator Pass is not active or if you did not pay the fare! SFSU will not be held responsible for any citation you may receive if you board with a Gator Pass that isn’t working.
• In order for your transit benefits to function correctly, please do not add external Muni, BART, or SamTrans products onto your Clipper card, as this will replace your Gator Pass benefits. This includes depositing more than $40 onto your Clipper account per transaction.
• And don’t forget: Gator Dollars and Clipper funds are not the same! Gator Dollar deposits will not work for transit and Clipper funds will not work for on-campus purchases. Please visit a nearby Muni/BART Station or log in to your Clipper account to add value for transportation.

For Clipper Access card holders

If you have a Clipper Access card, you may be eligible for a Gator Pass fee waiver. This waiver will exempt you from paying the fee for the Gator Pass benefits. However, in this case, you will also be excluded from the Gator Pass program, and you will not receive any free transit benefits. Clipper Access card holder waivers are valid for one semester only. Card holders must re-apply every semester before tuition payment deadline for a Gator Pass fee waiver. There will be no retroactive refunds for past semesters.

The Clipper Acces Card is a version of Clipper created for passengers under 65 years of age with qualifying disabilities. This waiver is meant to accommodate all students who are valid Clipper Access holders.

To apply for the waiver, download the Application Waiver Form for Clipper Access card
holders. Then:

• Submit your Clipper Access application by email to onecardpetitions@sfsu.edu
• Your Clipper Access waiver will be reviewed for completeness and validity.
• An email will be sent to you with a decision
  • If approved, you will receive a waiver or reimbursement
    • If you have not paid, the Gator Pass fee will be waived
    • If you have already paid, your fee payment will be reimbursed and will go towards any outstanding fees in your account
  • If rejected, the response email will include an explanation of why your request was denied