Caltrain, successful public transportation and innovation

The Daily Journal (San Mateo), Staff Report, 8/3/12. "Caltrain ridership hits high."

Caltrain pictures

"Caltrain’s ridership in June reached 50,000 riders a day for the first time in the railroad’s 150-year history, the agency announced yesterday.  An average of 50,390 riders took Caltrain on weekdays in June. The total number of riders in June was 1,319,404, an increase of nearly 11 percent over June 2011 and also a ridership record. June also marked 23 straight months of ridership increases.


Farebox revenue is also up more than $10 million or 22.1 percent higher than last year, according to Caltrain. .... “It took courage on behalf of the board, hard work by staff and patience from our riders to achieve this success,” Caltrain Chief Executive Office Mike Scanlon wrote in a statement. “But as gratifying as this is, we are still facing a formidable challenge in 2014.”  .... Despite increased ridership, Caltrain does not have a dedicated funding source and has relied on one-time funds in recent years to meet its operating budget.

In 2004, Caltrain introduced its baby bullet service and ridership increased 17 percent less than six months after its launch.  Although ridership dipped in 2008 with the economic recession and the accompanying job loss, it has increased steadily since then. The increase has been in spite of fare increases and service cuts.

Caltrain was just awarded nearly $700 million to electrify its system to be compatible with the state’s high-speed rail project. Caltrain could be electrified as soon as 2019."  Read Article. 

Reference -  San Mateo County Transit District (SMCTD).  "Caltrain provides commuter rail service along the San Francisco Peninsula, through the South Bay to San Jose and Gilroy."

Posted by Kathy Meeh