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Pilot Program
Frequently Asked
Questions
Overview
You’ll receive a discount for participating in the pilot and providing feedback about the program—and you’ll be able to earn free rides. Tap2Ride fare discounts are based on $2 off the adult single-ride fare.
Tap2Ride participants will also earn one free ride for every four one-way trips between the same origin and destination stations within any 30-day period; this rolling 30-day period begins with your first tap, and your fifth ride must also be between the same stations in order to be free. Our ride counter resets after your fifth trip or after 30 days, whichever is sooner.
Capitol Corridor is an Amtrak-operated intercity rail provider that runs between two major regions that use two different transit cards: the Bay Area (Clipper) and Sacramento (Connect Card). Neither Clipper nor Connect Card could be integrated with Amtrak’s federal and state ticketing requirements.
We wanted to bring a more convenient form of fare payment to our customers, so we are piloting accepting contactless debit cards/credit cards, the global standard for paying for goods and services. By accepting contactless debit cards/credit cards aboard Capitol Corridor, customers are able to pay for a transit ride the same way they do for other everyday purchases—without stopping to download transit agency–specific apps, buy or reload multiple regional farecards, or juggle exact change. (And if a passenger does not have a contactless debit card, they can order a free one. See “How do I know if I have a contactless-enabled bank card?” below.)
Sign-Up and Payment Method
Cards that are contactless-enabled have the following symbol (on the front or the back) of them:
Many banks and financial institutions have switched to contactless cards to make payments safer, faster, and more secure for their customers. Check with your card issuer if you are unsure if your card is contactless.
If you do not have a contactless card, you can order a free contactless-enabled Cash App Card or Venmo Debit Card.
Traveling
While we have started to install Tap2Ride payment readers across Capitol Corridor train cars, you should plan to use the Tap2Ride readers in the “cab car,” the train car at the opposite end of the locomotive:
Once inside the cab car, you’ll find a payment reader near each door and at the top of each set of stairs:
You will need to Tap On when you board, and Tap Off before you offboard (see also “When should I tap off?,” below).
The contactless payment readers know the train’s location at all times, and after the train gets a certain distance past the previous station, the readers will display the “next station” name in the bottom left corner—enabling you to tap off as soon as you see the name of your destination station:
Please check the other readers in your train car, as only one may be out of service. (For location of readers, please see “Traveling: Where are the Tap2Ride payment readers located on the train—and how many times do I need to tap for each train trip?”)
If all readers in your train car are indeed out of service, please let your conductor know and be prepared to show the “Welcome Letter” we emailed you when you joined the pilot (email subject line: “Welcome to Capitol Corridor’s Tap2Ride!—get ready to begin tapping!”). The Welcome Letter acts as proof of pilot registration, and conductors are asked to honor it for a free ride when there are technical difficulties.
If you want to let us know about a reader that’s down, you can reach us via this Feedback Form (choose Tap2Ride and select “Tap2Ride Feedback”).
Fares, Discounts, Rewards
Tap2Ride fares are based on $2 off the adult single-ride fare; explore our fare calculator to determine your Tap2Ride fare.
Tap2Ride participants will also earn one free ride for every four one-way trips between the same origin and destination stations within any 30-day period; this rolling 30-day period begins with your first tap, and your fifth ride must also be between the same stations in order to be free. Our ride counter resets after your fifth trip or after 30 days, whichever is sooner.
Yes, to take advantage of fare capping (see above)—and redeem any free rides you earn in a 30-day period—you must always tap your registered contactless bank card on the payment reader (both when you board and before you disembark), even after hitting the 30-day cap.
Tapping your card takes the place of a ticket by acting as proof of payment when an Amtrak conductor performs their fare inspection on your registered bank card, so please continue to Tap On and Off every time you ride on Capitol Corridor.
Don’t worry, we’ll help you correct your taps if you’re charged an incomplete journey fare due to a missed Tap Off or an equipment issue with the payment readers. We proactively monitor our systems for missing taps, and we do a proactive weekly sweep of incomplete transactions and adjust those fares.
You can also reach out to us via this Feedback Form (choose Tap2Ride Program and select “Tap2Ride Charges”) to tell us where you disembarked, and we’ll help amend your incomplete journey fee by adjusting the fare to what you would have been charged if you’d tapped off as you got off the train at your destination station.