The Green Caltrain blog is sponsored by BayRail Alliance, an all-volunteer non-profit organization supporting green rail transit in the Bay Area. This blog and BayRail have no affiliation with Caltrain.Rider feedback protects weekend, Gilroy service – daily schedule still at risk
Based on rider feedback, Caltrain is now saying that they are unlikely to cut weekend or Gilroy service. But the daily schedule is still at risk – Caltrain is considering cutting early morning, mid-day, and late night service. Yet cutting service makes the train less convenient, which drives down ridership and revenues. So it is not an effective way of balancing the budget. Other options Caltrain is considering include raising the price per zone by 25 cents, increasing the Go Pass price, and discontinuing the use of 8-ride passes by multiple riders (due to mandatory transition to Clipper Card).
At meetings held by Caltrain to get feedback on proposed service cuts, riders had different ideas about what could be done instead of cutting service to meet a budget gap. Riders had a wealth of suggestions to increase ridership and improve efficiency. Riders proposed suggestions about to run baby bullet trains on the weekends, increase bike capacity, promote commuter passes, take advantage of social campaigns such as Drive Less Challenge, promote the environmental benefits of the train, and more. Riders also had suggestions for decreasing costs without cutting service, including construction efficiencies, negotiating the terms in the upcoming labor contract.
According to the San Mateo County Times, more than 350 people have e-mailed comments to the agency so far, and more than 200 riders attended community meetings held in four cities Thursday August 19.
At an upcoming meeting at 10am on September 2, the Joint Powers Board will review rider suggestions and Caltrain staff recommendations. Let them know that cutting service is not the way to go, and keep sharing ideas for increasing ridership and saving money. Come to the meeting if you can, and keep sending your suggestions to Caltrain, at changes@caltrain.com.
The meeting is at Caltrain/Samtrans headquarters, 2nd Floor Auditorium, 1250 San Carlos Ave near the San Carlos train station.
August 30th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
More comments than that. Check the Caltrain Agenda posted on the Caltrain website (too lazy to get the link for you).
860 something emails, that comprised 1200 something requests for Caltrain to do something. For example if someone said “Save Gilroy and weekend” that would put a request to not cut more than one thing.
239 – Don’t cut Gilroy
214 – Don’t cut weekent
189 – more bike space
Everything else – much less.
What do those three have in common? Those topics had a PUBLIC – not Caltrain – advocate doing outreach.
The proposed weekday cuts are also posted. The first train each way, 236/237/256/257 and one of the later (but not the latest) trains are on the chopping block.
So many things Caltrain could do. My train pulled into MV tonight, with an 8 deep line of Giants fans at the ticket machine. The conductor had 2 choices – wave them on and let them ride for free – or refuse passage, at which point they would walk back to their car and drive. Either way – no money for Caltrain. Why not partner with the Giants to sell Day passes dated for the same day at the Giants tickets, perhaps at a small discount. This advertises the service, sells some tickets to people who will end up not using them (heh), and decongests the ticket lines to increase fare capture day of. The Giants have to love it – have you seen how much the fans who know they don’t have to drive drink at the games?
August 31st, 2010 at 2:18 am
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August 31st, 2010 at 12:16 pm
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September 1st, 2010 at 7:11 am
Re: The other John’s combined Giants/Caltrain tix. When I was I Perth, Australia, last year I went to a soccer game and the soccer ticket was good as a flash pass for a ride to and from the stadium on mass transit. Kept all the drunken Australians off the roads. A joint program with the Sharks and Giants would make a lot of sense.
September 4th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
This really isn’t very complicated. All Caltrain needs to do in the coming years is to transition from capital *spending* to capital *investment*. Any money they spend to improve the corridor should lead to an improvement in the bottom line. If it doesn’t (follow my gaze to San Bruno), then DON’T DO IT.
September 12th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
How much money would be saved by reducing the pay and pensions of public employees who operate Caltrain??? I support employee unions in private enterprise, but not for government workers!!!!!! If you are a government worker, you are supposed to be there to serve your country, therefore your interests should be the same as that of your employer!!!! Government employees should be paid the same as the military: there is a budget for personnel pay, and how much each level of employee is paid is based on that budget, with NO POWER OF NEGOTIATION on the part of the employees!!!!
Base pay for a government employee should be the state minimum wage, $8/hr. You should have to stay in for 20 years to get a pension, and only get 100% of your pay if you are VERY high in rank. I wonder how much money this would save.
–Brian
September 12th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Also, they should have turnstiles which prevent you from entering the area where you wait for the train to arrive unless you swipe your ticket through a scanner.
I’m talking about 8 foot tall turnstiles which you can’t jump over to bypass, similar to those used in factories, shipyards etc.
Proof of payment is lame, I have taken many rides on Light Rail here in Silicon Valley without ever seeing a ticket inspector. It should not be possible to get free rides on these systems (unless they have so much tax funding that payment for rides is not necessary).
–Brian