My mom and I will be in SF for about 5 days over Labor Day weekend. We may rent a car for a day or two during our stay to do some day trips.

In the meantime, we will need to visit some friends and family who live in the Bay Area, using Muni, CalTrain, and BART.

My mom is 65 and lives in TX. She has a TX drivers license. Not sure if she has received her Medicare card yet or not.

Per MUNI's website, she can ride for 50 cents (except Cable Car).

Per CalTrain's website, she can ride for 1/2 price.

But for BART (we're using to get to/from airport only), it looks like she'll have to pay full price.

Did I get this right? I assume she doesn't have to be a CA resident to be eligible for the senior discounts on Muni or CalTrain, right?

BART has a smart card that you can purchase in advance. The green ticket for Seniors costs $9

http://www.bart.gov/tickets/index.aspx

When we are going to use BART we buy a special ticket for seniors. Buy a Green Ticket for her:

BART Green* Ticket
A 62.5% discount for seniors 65 years and older: $24 ticket for only $9. Here are a number of vendors in SF where you can purchase the discount ticket:

Most Safeways seem to sell the green ticket.

AC Transit 425 Mission St., Transbay Terminal
San Francisco 94104
510-891-4895

Go Getter's Market 61 Gough Street
San Francisco 94102
415-621-2031

Lucky 1515 Sloat Blvd.
San Francisco 94132
415-681-4300

New Lite Market 1416 Haight Street
San Francisco 94117
415-626-7457

News Spot #1 220 Montgomery Street
San Francisco 94104
415-296-8656

Hills Plaza News Spot 345 Spear Street, #114
San Francisco 94105
415-541-0666

Sonia's Convenience Store 333 Bush Street
San Francisco 94104
415-398-1038
$48

Walgreens 730 Market St
San Francisco 94102
415-397-4800

Walgreens 825 Market St
San Francisco 94111
415-543-9534

mytransitplus Civic Center BART Station
San Francisco 94102

mytransitplus Montgomery BART Station
San Francisco 94105

mytransitplus Embarcadero BART Station
San Francisco 94105

Lucky 1750 Fulton Street
San Francisco 94117
415-923-6411

mytransitplus Powell Street BART Station
San Francisco 94105

Hope this helps with your plans. I think you might be able to utilize BART for more than just your trip to/from the airport.

Thanks - I looked at the BART website and somehow didn't occur to me that she can get the Green Ticket. Looks like she can buy one at the SF airport (information booths) when we arrive.

If I understand this correctly, she'll pay $9 for it, and it has $24 stored value on it?

That isa correct. You can use the fare calculator to determine the amount that will be deducted from the green card.

Just in case you need the Santa Clara Valley/ San Jose transit info:
http://www.vta.org/schedules/fares/vta_fares.html

Yes, she will pay $9, and the ticket will have $24 printed on it.

Every time she puts it in the machine for entrance first, then for exit, she will see how much money left on that ticket. It will be printed after exit.

On MUNI: get a transfer (ticket) from the driver, this allows to take other buses for free till the time indicated on the transfer, just show it to the driver.

I have never been asked to show my age on MUNI. Just have her pay the fifty cents.

I have a slightly unrelated question. On de Young Museum's website, it states:

Muni riders with Fast Pass or transfer receive a $2 discount.

Does that mean that when we take a Muni bus there, if we ask the bus driver for a transfer, we can show the transfer ticket for the discount?

You will receive a transfer automatically if you pay with cash, but just in case, you must ask for a transfer whether you will need it or not because that is your proof of payment.

YK, yes, you show any proof of MUNI payment in the museum, and they will take off $2 even off the senior citizen entrance fee.

This applied to the Legion of Honor also, and maybe other museums. Never hurts to ask

Thanks, Michael & Faina. I never pass up a chance to save a few bucks if possible!

The de Young ticket will also allow entry to Legion of Honor on the same day, but I think we'll be too tired after one museum, plus we want to visit the Japanese Garden and Conservatory of Flowers.

I think we'll go visit Legion of Honor on a different day, in fact a Tuesday, which happens to be the first Tues of the month when it offers free entry.

Another question:

When paying for bus fare, does the bus driver take $1 bills? Or does it have to be exact change in coins?

Nevermind, found the info on Muni's website:

Except in Muni Metro underground stations, fares can be paid with US $1 bills plus additional coins to add up to your fare.

Yes, the bus takes bills and coins. If 2 people travel, the payment can be combined. For example, you should pay $1.50 for yourself, and 50 cents for mom, you can put in 2 one-dollar bills.

Just warn the driver, you're paying for 2 people. Once I was too fast to pay for 2, and the driver stopped Mr Again

Thanks again, Faina. So I'll have to remember to tell the driver:

1) I'm paying for 2, an adult and a senior
2) I need 2 transfers

BTW, why does the public transportation in San Francisco/Bay Area this complicated? Street cars, metro, buses, cable cars, BART, CalTrain etc etc etc. They should come up with a stored value card which one can use on any mode of transport and be done with it!

1) "Street cars, metro, buses, cable cars" - all covered with a MUNI pass

2) we love to keep things complicated to deter visitors

3) isn't it fun to carry several tickets, needing time to figure out which one to use?

4) if you think payments are complicated, start using buses! 3-4 different routes under same number, shorter, longer, going here or there!

Line 1 I take from work, goes to Fillmore, Presidio, 33rd Ave - 3 in one.

Line 2 going to Embarcadero ferry on weekends, shorter route to Montgomery on weekends. Have seen so many confused visitors getting off, looking lost.

Etc, etc, etc...

Hey at least we have public transportation! And the reason that there are different systems i.e. BART, CalTrain, etc. is because the Bay Area is a multicounty area; many counties have their own transit systems coming into SF. BTW there is a a regional pass system in the works--it's called Translink, although it has yet to be fully operational.

Hey at least we have public transportation!

That's certainly true, and I appreciate that. However, as a visitor, trying navigate the various websites of Muni, BART, CalTrain turns out to be quite a task. Buying a Muni Pass won't be a good deal for me because we will only be taking 2-3 rides a day.

I wish every city would follow the footsteps of Hong Kong's Octopus card. It is a stored value card and can be used on every mode of public transportation (bus, trams, underground, light rail) even though each is a privately run company. The Octopus can also be used for paying at parking meters, parking garages, grocery stores, 7-Eleven... No need to count coins, buy tickets, get transfers etc.