News

Getting around the Bay Area by transit is about to become simpler, cheaper, and more convenient. Starting December 10, transit agencies are rolling out Clipper 2.0, upgrading the decades-old Clipper Card with a modern and effective fare payment system.

What you need to know

Clipper 2.0 comes with many benefits, two stand out:

• Free (up to $2.85 off) transfers between agencies: each time you transfer to another transit agency, the second tap will give a discount equivalent to a bus fare
• Credit/debit card payment: riders will be able to pay for transit with their contactless credit or debit card, Apple Pay or Google Wallet. This is especially useful for travellers and occasional riders who won’t have to dig their Clipper out of a drawer

Riders who use employee transit benefits, monthly passes, and BART High Volume Discount tickets will still need to use a physical Clipper card.

Free transfers?!

That’s right: If you take Muni to BART or Caltrain, that train trip will get a $2.85 discount to reflect the fare you just paid for your bus.  If you take one bus to another bus, say, Muni to SamTrans, the SamTrans trip is free.

This is revolutionary for riders: no more fare penalty for living just a little bit too far away from BART or Caltrain. For example, a rider taking Vine Transit to BART to Muni can save on a one-way trip from Oakland to San Francisco.

Transbay Coalition and Seamless Bay Area have put together a Clipper 2.0 Savings Calculator to help you learn how much you can save on your commutes or other trips that use multiple agencies.

How can I get these benefits?

Clipper 2.0 launches on December 10th. On that day, you’ll be able to start using your credit or debit card to pay adult fares for transit, and get free transfers with it. Clipper users with Youth, Senior/RTC, and START cards will have their cards automatically upgraded within the first 1-2 weeks, and every Clipper user will have their card upgraded within 8-12 weeks.

If you don’t want to wait, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission says the Clipper Card website will be upgraded with a feature to request your card be updated as soon as possible. 

To be notified when you can request a Clipper 2.0 upgrade, sign up for the Seamless Bay Area and Transbay Coalition mailing list, where we’ll let you know as soon as it launches!

What’s left to be done

Unfortunately, the benefits are not yet equally distributed. Contactless payments means that people paying Adult fares no longer need to keep a balance on their Clipper cards. But when Clipper 2.0 rolls out, people eligible for Youth, Senior/RTC, or START discounts cannot yet get these discounts when paying with a credit/debit card. MTC has said they plan to offer the ability to link your credit/debit card to your discount, but do not yet have a schedule date for this.

This means that the most financially precarious populations will be left storing their limited income on their Clipper cards, while others benefit from not having to do so. Other contactless payment systems around the state already allow riders to link their credit and debit cards to get their discount directly. For more about how Clipper 2.0 falls short of the equity and fairness that we need now more than ever, read Transform’s new report on Fair and Accessible Fares.

The results are in, and Vine Transit’s beloved animal mascots officially have names, thanks to the creativity of local students across Napa County. More than 200 entries were submitted by TK-5^th-grade students, making for tough judging.

The Vine Transit Owl is now Ollie, named by Kimber, a student at Alta Heights Elementary, who summed it up perfectly: “Ollie is cute and sounds like someone who is my friend.”

The Bee has been named Poppy by Genesis of Calistoga Elementary, who tied science to creativity with this sweet logic: “Bees are the primary pollinators of poppies.”

Fittingly, the Monarch Butterfly on the St. Helena Shuttle is now Mari, named by Eleanor of St. Helena Elementary. While several students submitted versions of this name, Eleanor’s thoughtful explanation stood out, honoring California and Mexico’s deep history and the Spanish word mariposa, meaning butterfly. Her name, she wrote, is “a nod to California’s history.”

And the fierce Red-Tailed Hawk now answers to Talon, thanks to Cody from Willow Elementary, who offered simple, expert-level reasoning: “Hawks have strong talons.”

To celebrate, each student will receive a pizza party delivered to their classroom in a bus featuring the mascot they named, plus Vine Transit swag for themselves and their entire class.

“We were truly blown away by the creativity of Napa County’s students,” said Rebecca Schenck, Director of Vine Transit. “With more than 200 thoughtful entries, choosing the winners was incredibly difficult, and we’re so proud of every student who took part.”

Keep an eye out for Poppy, Mari, Ollie, and Talon soaring through Napa County on many of Vine Transit’s zero-emission buses.

As part of its ongoing work on the Coombs Street Rehabilitation Project, the City of Napa will be closing different sections of Coombs Street between 5th Street and Imola Ave (Monday – Friday) from November 3 – November 14 between the hours of 7:00AM – 5:00PM. This road construction will result in Route G detouring onto Jefferson Street and missing all of the bus stops located along Coombs Street. To see the suggested detour for each affected bus stop, click on the bus stop links below.

OUTBOUND ROUTE G STOPS
• Coombs Street at Division Street South
• Coombs Street at Laurel Street
• Coombs Street at Elm Street South
• Coombs Street at Franklin Street South

INBOUND ROUTE G STOPS
• Coombs Street at 5th Street (By the Library)
• Coombs Street at Oak Street
• Coombs Street at Pine Street
• Coombs Street at Elm Street
• Coombs Street at S Franklin Street (NB)

Got questions? Reach out to transit planner Libby Payan at [email protected] or call at 707-259-8782

Vine Transit will be updating its schedule beginning on Sunday August 10, 2025. The most significant changes are highlighted below:

• Route C: The last weekday trip that departs the transit center at 7:00pm will be eliminated
• Route D: The timetables will be adjusted to accommodate the Camille Creek Community School schedule
• Route 10: All northbound trips will begin at Napa Valley College and minor changes to the timetables will go into effect
• Route 11X: It will no longer serve the Imola Park & Ride but will begin serving the Soscol Gateway Transit Center, Napa Valley College, South Napa Marketplace, the Sereno Transit Center, the Vallejo Transit Center and the Vallejo (view schedule map below to see the new route path)
• Route 29: Will now operate nine roundtrips on Saturdays
• American Canyon & St Helena School Trippers: Will resume. The American Canyon School Tripper timetable has been updated

As part of its ongoing work on the Rancho Del Mar Paving and Utilities Improvements Project, the City of American Canyon will be closing Rio Del Mar from Carolyn Drive to Highway 29 on weekdays (Monday – Friday) from July 30, 2025 – August 28, 2025 between the hours of 7:00AM – 5:30PM. This will affect the following Routes:

Route 11 Southbound (towards Vallejo)
The southbound bus will travel south on Highway 29, turn right on W Donaldson Way, and then turn left on Elliott Drive to go back on route. This will close the following stops:

• Rio Del Mar at Highway 29 (7-11)
• Rio Del Mar at Carolyn Drive
• Donaldson at Benton Way

Riders wanting to be picked up at the Rio Del Mar at Highway 29 (7-11) or Rio Del Mar at Carolyn Drive bus stops are advised to either walk to the northeast corner of W Donaldson and Elliot Drive or utilize the temporary bus “flag down” area on Highway 29 just south of Rio Del Mar. Make sure to wave at the driver so they know you intend on boarding the bus.

Route 11 Northbound (towards the City of Napa)
The northbound Route 11 bus will travel north on Elliott Drive, turn right onto W Donaldson Way, turn left onto Highway 29 and then proceed on-route at the next bus stop in the Walmart parking lot. This will close the following northbound stops:

• Rio Del Mar at Carolyn Drive
• Rio Del Mar at Hwy 29 (7-11)

Riders wanting to be picked up at these bus stops are advised to walk to the Route 11 bus stop located on the west side of the Walmart Parking lot or to the Donaldson Way at Benton Way bus stop located on the southeast corner of that intersection.

American Canyon School Tripper (Morning Loops)
The three scheduled morning trips will all start their trips at the bus shelter located next to Walmart to accommodate any students wishing to board at the Rio Del Mar at Hwy 29 bus stop. Riders wishing to board at the Rio Del Mar at Carolyn or Donaldson at Benton Way stop are advised to walk to the temporary bus stop at northeast corner of W Donaldson Way and Elliott and board the bus there.

American Canyon School Tripper (Afternoon Loops)
The scheduled afternoon school trippers will travel westbound on Donaldson Way East, continue straight onto Donaldson Way West, then turn left on Elliott Drive and proceed on Route. Riders wishing to exit at the Rio Del Mar stops are advised to exit the bus at the corner of Donaldson Way E and Elliott Drive

Got questions? Reach out to transit planner Libby Payan at [email protected] or call at 707-259-8782

Starting Saturday, Aug. 16, Vine Transit will expand its popular Route 29 Napa-BART Connector to include Saturday service, offering nine roundtrips between Napa and the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station.

The added Saturday service makes it easier than ever to plan a car-free day in San Francisco or the East Bay, enjoy a weekend in Wine Country, or access the San Francisco and Oakland airports via BART. With a direct route from the Redwood Park & Ride in Napa to the El Cerrito del Norte BART Station, riders have a new affordable and sustainable way to explore the Bay Area. Both Vine and BART use Clipper Cards for a seamless rider experience.

“Our community has asked for more connectivity in the Bay Area, which was the impetus of the Route 29 Saturday service,” said Rebecca Schenck, Director of Transit for the Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA), which oversees Vine Transit.

This new service is made possible through a partnership between the NVTA, Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the County of Napa. It will operate as a pilot program from August 2025 through June 2026, at which time its performance and community impact will be evaluated to determine next steps.

“We’re excited to offer more options for weekend travelers,” said Danielle Schmitz, Executive Director of the Napa Valley Transportation Authority. “This expansion improves regional connectivity, helps reduce traffic congestion, and supports both tourism and residents who rely on transit.”

Bay Area transit agencies have been syncing schedules in a whole new way to make riding transit even faster and improve transfer reliability and timing. Transit agencies from across the region are rolling out new schedules in mid-August in coordination with each other and have now aligned the timing of schedule changes twice each year, once in summer (mid-August) and once in winter (mid-January). This is the third iteration of a coordinated Big Sync in the Bay Area. Agencies meet several months in advance of each schedule change to share planned changes and to look for opportunities to improve transfers. Advancing schedule change alignment is a key priority for Bay Area transit general managers who meet on a weekly basis to make transit more rider-focused and efficient.

On August 10, 2025, Vine Transit will also begin service improvements to Route 11X, the Napa-Vallejo Express. The new Route 11X will cut travel times in half from Napa and Vallejo by providing a limited stop service between the cities. Beginning at Redwood Park and Ride, Route 11X will now serve the Soscol Gateway Transit Center, South Napa Marketplace and Napa Valley College, before continuing on to American Canyon and the Vallejo Ferry Terminal.

The Route 11X will no longer serve the Imola Park and Ride.

Also on Aug. 10, Vine Transit will launch its school year bus schedule, with slight service changes across local routes to re-align with NVUSD school schedules. Riders will see the new schedule go live on August 10 at VineTransit.com, Google Transit, and the Transit app. View route maps and current schedules. You can download the new schedule here, but remember, it doesn’t start until August 10. Paper maps can be picked up at the Soscol Gateway Transit Center, 625 Burnell St.

For more information, call 707-251-2800.

On August 10, 2025, Vine Transit will also begin service improvements to Route 11X, the Napa-Vallejo Express. The new Route 11X will cut travel times in half from Napa and Vallejo by providing a limited stop service between the cities.

Beginning at Redwood Park and Ride, Route 11X will now serve the Soscol Gateway Transit Center, South Napa Marketplace and Napa Valley College, before continuing on to American Canyon and the Vallejo Ferry Terminal.

The Route 11X will no longer serve the Imola Park and Ride.

 Riders will see the new schedule go live on August 10 at VineTransit.com, Google Transit, and the Transit app. You can download the new schedule here, but remember, it will NOT be implemented until August 10.

Vine Transit is gearing up for a new school year — we’re here to help your student(s) get to and from school, activities, and work. We adjust our transit schedule to better align with the bell schedules of local schools, helping students get where they need to go quickly. Buses are safe, affordable and reliable.

Traveling Trainings

Do you need help demystifying the local transit system? From how to pay, to how to transfer, to how to signal a stop, we will cover everything you need to know to Ride The Vine with confidence. You’ll go home with a 31-day free pass so you can continue practicing. To schedule a free training, please call our main administrative line at (707) 259-8631.

Vine Transit

Napa County’s fixed-route bus service operates with a set schedule. With extensive routes in the City of Napa, and connections all across the county, Ride the Vine to local hot spots or after-school activities.

Community Shuttles

Within the Cities of Calistoga, St. Helena, American Canyon and the Town of Yountville, Vine Transit offers community shuttles. They operate similar to a ride share app — you can order a ride on demand (15-30 minute wait time) or schedule a ride in advance. Just download the Ride The Vine app. Shuttles are ideal for any student who needs to get around without leaving the city limits. Each shuttle has its own fare (from free to $1), and operates on slightly different hours, so be sure to click on the link and bring exact change!