Caltrain Changes Could Slam Commuters

Looming Caltrain service cuts have Palo Alto riders worried, prompting them to make their voices heard. 

Hundreds of riders on Caltrain every day will be affected by fare changes and service suspensions that are being considered by Caltrain officials.

Locals have taken advantage of several opportunities in recent months to speak up about the options on the table for Caltrain to deal with its financial troubles. More than 800 residents around the three counties – Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties – sent comments to staff regarding their opinions on the different options.

With a deficit of $12.5 million for the fiscal year 2011, Caltrain officials are forced to look at ways to save money, such as fare increases everywhere and service suspensions including for Gilroy and on weekends, according to a power point presentation given to the board by staff at the regularly scheduled Sept. 2 meeting.

At the Sept. 2 public hearing, Caltrain Executive Director Michael Scanlon commented that the rail agency faces a budget deficit of nearly $30 million for the 2012 fiscal year and that "more drastic cuts will be coming."

Weekend and South County service suspension will be reconsidered next summer, according to Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn.

Most would agree local residents oppose any changes to current Caltrain service. Gary, a Palo Alto resident who declined to provide his last name, said he is "most strongly against getting rid of weekend service" because many students don't have cars and weekend service cuts would have a major impact on him.

"If less trains are going and combined with high fares and no weekends, it doesn't make [riding Caltrain] appealing to me … that makes me wonder why I should take [Caltrain]," said Palo Alto resident Samiha Mourad. She rides the train every day on her work commute to Santa Clara.

"It is absolutely ridiculous not having or limiting access, to public transportation,"  said Deidre Depree, a San Francisco resident who got off at the California Avenue station.

The main changes still on the table are reducing weekday early morning, midday, and/or late evening trains, increasing one-way zone fares by 25 cents and increasing Go Passes from $140 to $155.

Go Passes are employee-sponsored that feature unlimited rides through all zones, seven days a week. About 10,000 faculty and staff at Stanford University are eligible to receive Go Passes, according to Brodie Hamilton, Stanford's director of Parking and Transportation Services.

In a letter to the board, dated one day prior to the September meeting, Hamilton noted, "Should the proposed increase be implemented, Stanford will have experienced a 130 percent increase in Go Pass prices in the last eight years."

All of the changes on the table would affect Stanford employees and staff, Hamilton said.

"There may be alternative pricing structures to the proposed 10.7 percent Go Pass increase as well as other general funding models," he said.

Yoriko Kishimoto, the former mayor of Palo Alto, is leading a new group called Friends of Caltrain that hopes to increase ridership and assist in the financial crisis.

Kishimoto occasionally uses Caltrain and her husband uses the train every day at least one way to get to work, she said.

"It's long past due for all of us on the Peninsula to come together and work toward dedicated funding for Caltrain… no Caltrain means no growth on the Peninsula, which is one drastic way to think about it," Kishimoto said.

"If we don't have ridership, we can't fund the trains. I think people need to start talking people into using the trains," said Don Gage, a Santa Clara County Supervisor and a board member of the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board.

The board will make a recommendation for a final proposal at the Oct. 7 board meeting and the changes will go into effect Jan. 1, 2011, Dunn said.