Gilroy – Caltrain ridership dropped 6.4 percent in South County
in 2006, bucking a countywide trend toward higher ridership.
Transit officials say recent service cutbacks and ongoing trends
toward driving, caused the decline.
Gilroy – Caltrain ridership dropped 6.4 percent in South County in 2006, bucking a countywide trend toward higher ridership. Transit officials say recent service cutbacks and ongoing trends toward driving, caused the decline.
“Ridership was falling before we had to reduce service,” said Janet McGovern, a Caltrain spokesperson. In late 2005, the agency cut back on trains to South County, paring back from eight trains a day (four in the morning, four at night) to six.
But other factors had already reduced ridership. Improvements to U.S. 101 made commuting by car more appealing to some riders, said McGovern. Job losses in the South Bay also slimmed the numbers of South County commuters taking the train north for work.
“Caltrain ridership is virtually all commuter ridership,” added Greg Sellers, South County’s representative on the Valley Transportation Authority board. “When there’s less traffic on 101, those folks tend to stay in their cars.”
Still, Sellers cautioned that Caltrain remains a vital service for South County, especially as the area continues to grow.
“Any reasonable long-term projections show that South County can fill virtually all available Caltrains in the coming years,” Sellers said.
Last year, to combat dropping ridership, Caltrain teamed up with VTA for a direct-mail promotion, targeting 88,000 Santa Clara County households. The promotion offered a free trial pass valid on any VTA bus, light rail or Caltrain during one week in May 2006. McGovern estimated that ridership jumped about 3 percent after the promotions, but didn’t stop the overall decline.
Still, Caltrain representatives were pleased by significant countywide ridership increases. Weekday ridership is up 5.7 percent since 2005 and 32 percent since 2004. Fare revenue has increased 79 percent since 2004, and the agency recently received the Federal Transit Administration’s “Success Enhancing Ridership Award.”
