The Clipper card is a type of electronic fare payment card used for public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was introduced in 2002 as a replacement for the various paper tickets and passes previously used by the different transit agencies in the region. The Clipper card can be used on a wide variety of transit systems in the Bay Area, including buses, light rail, ferries, and cable cars. It allows riders to easily switch between different types of transit without having to buy separate tickets each time.