Caltrain’s board of directors decided Thursday to delay voting
on revised service changes for two weeks as the struggling rail
line looks for additional funding and ways to save all 86 of its
trains.
Caltrain’s board of directors decided Thursday to delay voting on revised service changes for two weeks as the struggling rail line looks for additional funding and ways to save all 86 of its trains.
On Monday, Caltrain announced it was pondering a list of cuts, less daunting than previously projected, which no longer would include stations in Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Martin as casualties in a quest to fill a $30 million budget gap.
Under those plans, Caltrain would cut three stations, eliminate 10 trains and raise fares starting this summer, said Christine Dunn, Caltrain public information officer.
Now, the agency will look for ways to save all trains and suspend service to the San Francisco-Brisbane Bayshore station, San Mateo Hayward Park station and San Jose Capitol only temporarily.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Cat Tucker, Gilroy City Councilwoman and member of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s policy advisory committee, about the Gilroy station being saved. “This will work for now until we get a long-term solution in place.”
Executives from Caltrain’s three member agencies – the VTA, San Mateo County Transit District and San Francisco’s Metropolitan Transit Agency – reached an agreement Monday with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission on a tentative plan that would significantly lessen Caltrain’s projected $30 million deficit for its 2012 fiscal year and allow more service than an earlier proposal, according to a Caltrain news release.
Weekend service at nine other stations also would be halted: 22nd Street in San Francisco, South San Francisco, Broadway in Burlingame, Belmont, San Carlos, Atherton, California Avenue in Palo Alto, San Antonio and Lawrence in Sunnyvale. Weekend shuttle service between the Tamien and Diridon stations in San Jose would disappear as well.
Base fares would see a 25-cent increase, and parking fees would rise from $3 to $4 daily and from $30 to $40 monthly, Dunn said.
The new proposal includes 76 trains for weekday service, 10 fewer than it has now, and differs from a 48-train scenario Caltrain rolled out in February.
At that time, Caltrain’s plan, described as a worst-case scenario, also included the elimination of up to 16 stations and all service south of San Jose.
The new revised schedule would cut operating costs by $3.3 million, and fare and parking increases would generate roughly $2.5 million, Dunn said.
Caltrain would also receive $1.5 million for “preventative maintenance” from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, $4.5 million from San Francisco’s Metropolitan Transit Agency and $10.2 million from the VTA, Dunn said.
SamTrans would contribute $3.7 million in capital funds to be exchanged for operating funds, and would give $2 million of a $5 million chunk handed to it by the VTA. SamTrans is expected to use the remaining $3 million for 2013 contributions, Dunn said.
Caltrain’s projected 2012 operating budget is expected to be $97 million, a total that would match its predicted revenues, if the changes and funding options are approved, Dunn said. Under a 48-train scenario, Caltrain would still run a $4.7 million deficit, Dunn said.
Dunn said Caltrain would use a projected $7.5 million surplus from its 2011 budget to help cover its 2012 costs. Dunn said that figure comes from “little savings throughout the year.”
“We knew this day was coming,” she said.
The agency also expects to save $250,000 in administrative costs, mostly by not filling vacant positions.
Tucker said the one-year save was “a relief for right now,” but said Gilroy residents, Caltrain advocates and private-sector companies needed to extend efforts to keep the rail line operating.
“We have to continue long-term planning,” she said. “We need a stable source of funding for Caltrain.”
