
Employee Commuter Benefits
San Mateo County’s Employee Commuter Benefits Program provides a suite of flexible resources and incentives to help County employees cut commute costs, reduce commute stress, engage in healthier habits, and minimize their contribution to traffic congestion, local air pollution, and climate change by avoiding the need to drive to work alone.

Over the past 20 years, the Commuter Benefits Program (previously Shift) has helped thousands of County employees commute car-free, avoiding millions of pounds of pollutants from being emitted into the air, and millions of miles of vehicle travel on Bay Area roads.
Free, Unlimited Transit through Clipper BayPass
Clipper BayPass is an unlimited transit pass that provides free access to bus, rail, and ferry services across the Bay Area, including BART, Caltrain, SamTrans, Muni, and more. Starting November 2026, BayPass is available to regular San Mateo County employees as part of their commute benefits. To get it, you just register your Clipper card through a short sign-up form.
Other Commuter Benefits Program Options
Commute Cash
The Commute Cash program offers employees $8 per day for each day that walking, biking, or carpooling to work. Log your trips, earn rewards!
Part-time, extra-help, temporary, and seasonal employees aren’t eligible for BayPass, but can also log transit trips through Commute Cash and earn $8 per day.
Vanpool & Micromobility Subsidy
This subsidy helps cover the cost of joining a vanpool or renting an e-bike or e-scooter to get to and from work.
Other Commuter Benefits Programs
County employees may use as many of the following programs as they’d like.

Clipper Cards
You can add a free digital Clipper card to your phone’s digital wallet (Apple Wallet or Google Wallet) or through the Clipper app. If you’d prefer a physical card, you can order one online through Get a Clipper card or pick one up at participating retailers like Walgreens. Questions? Contact us at commute@smcgov.org.
Free Bike Lockers
Bike lockers are a great way to keep your bike or scooter safe and dry while you’re at work. They’re free, and one can be yours for as long as you work for the County.
To request a bike locker please reach us at commute@smcgov.org or
Priority Carpool and Vanpool Parking
Vehicles used for carpooling and vanpooling get better parking spots! To apply for a priority carpool/vanpool spot, have all drivers fill out this form. Once all drivers have completed the form, let us know by contacting us at commute@smcgov.org or
To be eligible, carpools and vanpools must consist of at least two County employees.
Emergency Ride Home Program
The Emergency Ride Home program assists County employees in getting home during or at the end of the workday when an emergency arises, if they didn’t drive alone to work, by reimbursing Taxi/Lyft/Uber expenses. Please see the Emergency Ride Home Program (PDF) details to learn more.
Eligible reimbursements might include:
- Sudden illness of self or immediate family members or carpool partner.
- Personal or family emergency.
- Dependent care or daycare emergency.
- Supervisor-approved, unscheduled overtime.
- Carpool/vanpool emergency resulting in loss of ride home.
- Bicycle theft or breakdown.
Pre-tax Parking at Transit Stations
Employees that park at transit stations can pay for parking passes at using pre-tax deductions. Please see the instructions for Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit (PDF) to learn more.
Contact Us
If you need help figuring out how to best use our programs, planning how to get to work without a car, finding a carpool or vanpool, or if you just have some feedback to give, please email commute@smcgov.org.
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