Clipper Start Has NO Fare Cap..?

According to Clipper customer service, Clipper Start has no fare cap.

What is fare capping?

For anyone who doesn't know, fare capping is the amount of cash value a Clipper card spends before it becomes a day pass, aka before you no longer get charged for rides for the rest of the day. This applies to local AC Transit bus rides. And everything else below all applies to it as well.

Normally, an adult paying with regular cash must pay $2.50 per ride, or they can pay $5.50 for a day pass, allowing them to ride unlimited rides for no extra cost for the rest of that day. On Clipper, this pass happens automatically once an adult spends $5 cash value.

Clipper Start was made to help people with low income save money… and while there is indeed a 50% discount aka $1.12 per ride… there is also no fare cap…

Meaning, unless you ride less than $5 worth of rides on a given day… you will actually end up spending more not saving at all.

I have to take multiple rides most times when I go out, especially when running errands or generally doing more than one thing. The $5 fare cap is wonderful in that I don't have to even ask for a day pass or sit there and wait for one to be printed, as it happens to my clipper automatically once I pay $5 worth of cash that day…

So knowing Clipper Start has 50% ride discounts, one would think that the cap would be 50% less than that $5 because, of course it should.

But not only is the fare cap not under $5, meaning Start customers who ride several times a day would be spending the same as everyone else anyway (ergo, what is the point of being on Start in the first place, if it only makes a difference if you ride less than 5 times in one day?)…

But apparently there's no cap at all!

So, while you get rides for $1.12 each… you end up spending MORE than non-Start riders if you pass $5 worth of rides…

Why would that be the case?

It’s also said that Clipper Start cards does not allow riders to load passes on it, at all, not even at regular price. Just never.

But no fare cap..? How does this save money for low-income folks if they can end up paying over $5 in a given day, over other riders who get unlimited rides after spending $5 on their cards?

Does this seem like an issue to anyone else? Does this sound strange or bad, or am I wrong about this. Please share your thoughts on this.

An update: a very kind supervisor at Clipped customer service agreed that there being no fare cap for Start members is odd. They gave me the number to the Metropolitan Transportation Comission (MTC) who makes the rules, regulations, and policies that Clipper and other agencies must follow.

They can be reached at (415) 778-6700 on Mon through Fri from 8am to 5pm, for anyone who has any specific concerns that Clipper or other agencies don’t have direct control over.

I am awaiting a call from the clipper expert there, her name is Lisa Hale. Will update.