From Andy Chow, President of BayRail Alliance:

I remember that I was a part of the team at BayRail that hosted a community forum on high speed rail nearly 10 years ago in San Jose. At that time we had Jim Costa as the keynote speaker (who drafted the HSR bond in 2002, which was approved just before the event when he was in the state Senate, and now he’s a Congressman). We held the forum because we wanted to bring community awareness of this project and drum up support for it. At that time HSR was mostly an imagination and it was still about two years away before the Caltrain Baby Bullet got started.

Since that time, we at BayRail Alliance fought and won small battles to keep the project alive and viable. In 2004, there was a developer that wanted to build a skyscraper that would be on the way of a rail tunnel getting into and out of the Transbay Terminal. I remember going to a SF Supervisor meeting with Margaret (former executive director of BayRail) and others late into the night just to make a testimony in support of Transbay.

Even though we supported HSR, we had different ideas about the project that we wanted the authority to study and adopt, such as the Altamont Pass alignment. Despite our difference on some issues, we fought hard against an attempt by Governor Schwarzenegger to delay and defund high speed rail in 2006.

With the approval of the HSR bond in 2008, it presented a huge opportunity and also a huge uncertainty as the project continued to move forward. We were extremely disappointed the way the authority handled the environmental process in 2009-2010. When I attended one of those outreach meetings, I saw a plan to completely rebuild a rail line on the Peninsula that the communities couldn’t accept, and which there wouldn’t be enough funding for. We were also disheartened to see HSR becoming a political wedge issue when it shouldn’t be.

Despite the growing doubt over the project, we are pleased to see policy makers, including Governor Jerry Brown, working hard to turn this project around. We applauded Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Senator Joe Simitian, and Assemblyman Rich Gorden for their support of the blended approach last year. We also support the recent HSR business plan which includes Caltrain electrification as a part of the early investment package. Caltrain electrification has been one of the top agenda for BayRail since its founding nearly 30 years ago. Electrification is essential because it would deliver rapid acceleration, reduction in pollution and noise, and the ability to serve the new Transbay Transit Center in Downtown San Francisco.

With the passage of SB 1029, we now have a clearer vision and a clearer path towards Caltrain electrification and high speed rail. Nonetheless, we believe that, in order for the HSR plan to be successful, Caltrain and the High Speed Rail Authority need to engage with the community throughout the planning process. We will continue to act as a watchdog to ensure high speed rail and Caltrain electrification are implemented effectively and responsibly.

Caltrain is planning to eliminate 8-ride tickets and raise fares on paper tickets. The 8-ride tickets, which is available on Clipper cards only, offer a 15% discount off the regular one way fares. Besides eliminating the 8-ride tickets, Caltrain also plans to increase fares on one way and day pass paper tickets by 25 cents and 50 cents per zone respectively. However the one way fares for riders using Clipper Cards would stay the same.

If this proposal takes effect, regular riders using Clipper and 8-ride tickets would have to pay a higher fare for each ride, but not as much as those who buy paper tickets. On the other hand, riders currently buying paper tickets could avoid the fare increase by paying with a Clipper card.

Is this proposal fair to those who use 8-ride tickets? Caltrain will be accepting public comments at four public meetings throughout the three counties later this month and at the JPB meeting in February.

JPB meeting

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 at 10 a.m.
1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos

Public meetings

Caltrain will hold four public meetings to present the proposal and receive comments. The meetings will take place in:

Gilroy – Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.
Gilroy Senior Center, 7371 Hanna St.

San Francisco – Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.
San Francisco Tennis Club, 645 Fifth St.

Mountain View – Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.
City Council Chambers, 500 Castro St.

San Carlos – Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.
Caltrain Administrative Office, 1250 San Carlos Ave.

Caltrain also accepts written comments by email: changes@caltrain.com

Five public information meetings will be held from November 2, 2011 through Nov. 10, 2011 to provide information on the Dumbarton Rail Corridor project. The goal of the project is to provide regional rail service from the East Bay to the Peninsula via the rail corridor located south of the Dumbarton Bridge. Currently this project is going through an environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Additional information about the project is available here.

• Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, 6 pm – 8 pm
  Silliman Aquatic Center
  6800 Mowry Avenue
  Newark
• Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, 6 pm – 8 pm
  Fremont Community Center
  40000 Paseo Padre Parkway
  Fremont
• Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, 6 pm – 8 pm
  Kennedy Center
  1333 Decoto Road
  Union City
• Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, 6 pm – 8 pm
  Redwood City Main Library
  1044 Middlefield Road
  Redwood City
• Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, 6 pm – 8 pm
  Menlo Park Senior Center (Belle Haven)
  110 Terminal Avenue
  Menlo Park

For upcoming events relating to Caltrain and regional transit, see the Calendar

The Caltrain board voted today to postpone the decision to cut service for two weeks and asked the staff to continue working with MTC and other funding partners to identify additional funding and keep the current service level.

Due to the opposition from the Caltrain riders and elected officials last month, Caltrain staff revised the budget and released a 76 train schedule that would maintain off peak, Gilroy, and weekend service. On the other hand, the 76 schedule would eliminate the popular Baby Bullet along with basic peak hour local trains. Many stations would lose weekend, and some also weekday, service. The net savings of reducing service is estimated to be $3.3 million (with a loss of $2 million in fare revenue). The public had too little time to review and comment on this proposal (presented two days before the meeting), which still contains substantial changes.

Friends of Caltrain and BayRail Alliance applaud the board’s action to postpone the decision for two weeks. The two weeks will allow staff at Caltrain and MTC to identify additional funding to fill the remaining gap. According to the Caltrain Executive Director Mike Scanlon, the funding allocated to the operation of yet-to-be-built Dumbarton Rail is not a part of the funding package that resulted in the 76 train schedule.

Since last year, Caltrain has experienced a substantial growth in ridership (with full capacity on some peak hour trains) even though the agency reduced midday service. Weekend ridership has grown by over 20% from last year. Bicycle ridership also increased as Caltrain added bicycle capacity on every train. If the board approves the service cut, it would result in overcrowding and more bike bumping (the plan would cut up to 800 bike spots).

Even if we can avoid further service reductions this year, we still need to support dedicated funding to preserve, restore, and enhance Caltrain service in the long run. We hope that by preventing deep cuts, we can demonstrate that Caltrain is a successful and efficient regional transit service that is worthy of support from voters.