Muni Payment Changes: MuniMobile Single Rides End August 1, Cable Car Fares Rise in January
How you pay to ride Muni is about to change, in two rounds. On August 1, 2026, single-ride tickets and Muni-only day passes will no longer be sold in the MuniMobile app, according to the SFMTA. Then in January 2027, cable car fares move to a new two-tier structure and the small discount for paying with Clipper goes away. Both changes trace back to the two-year budget the SFMTA board approved in April 2026 to help close a $307 million deficit, as reported by the San Francisco Standard.
What Changes on August 1
MuniMobile stops selling adult single rides and Muni-only day passes on August 1, 2026. Cable car tickets and the 1, 3, and 7 day Visitor Passports remain available in the app.
If you have been using MuniMobile for single rides, you have two main options. You can pay with a Clipper card, either the plastic card or the digital version stored on your phone, which works across all Bay Area transit systems. Or you can tap a chip-enabled credit or debit card directly on the Clipper readers on board vehicles and at Muni Metro fare gates, an option the SFMTA added on December 10, 2025. Cash still works on board with exact change, and at ticket machines in Metro stations.
What Changes in January
Cable car pricing is the bigger shift. The current fare is $9 for a one-way ride. Starting January 4, 2027, a one-way ride costs $12, and a new $18 “Cable Car Plus” pass covers unlimited travel on all Muni services for one day for one adult and up to two children. The Standard reports the $12 one-way option is scheduled to be eliminated on January 3, 2028, which would leave the $18 pass as the main choice for riders without a monthly pass.
The same month, the SFMTA eliminates the remaining discount for paying with Clipper, so the standard adult single ride becomes $3 whether you pay by card, phone, or cash. There is one piece of good news attached: when the discount ends, the agency plans to introduce fare capping, meaning riders who pay for two Muni trips in a day are not charged for additional rides that same day.
Current Prices, for Reference
Through the rest of 2026, an adult single ride is $2.85 with Clipper or MuniMobile and $3.00 cash. A day pass is $5.70. A cable car ride is $9. Visitor Passports, which cover Muni, Metro, historic streetcars, and cable cars, run $15 for one day, $35 for three days, and $47 for seven days. Riders 18 and under ride free on everything except cable cars. Current prices are listed on the SFMTA fares page.
If you are visiting this summer and plan to ride the cable cars, the math still favors a Visitor Passport or the $5.70 day pass plus a $9 cable car ticket, depending on how much you plan to ride. For what else is happening around the city this month, see our guide to things to do in San Francisco in July 2026.
Photo: Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
