Caltrain has proposed cutting service to South County, raising
fares and ending weekend train service as ways to shore up a $10.1
million budget gap.
Caltrain has proposed cutting service to South County, raising fares and ending weekend train service as ways to shore up a $10.1 million budget gap.
The transportation agency came up with eight ways to help it cover its deficit for the 2010 fiscal year, which begins July 1. Among the proposals are increasing fares, increasing the price of long-term passes, increasing parking fees, ending all weekend service, reducing midday services and ending service to Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy.
Don Gage, who serves on Caltrain’s Board of Directors, said that ending service to South County simply would not happen, but that everything has to be put on the table.
“It would actually cost them money to shut the service off. It wouldn’t make it worthwhile,” he said. “There’s not enough savings involved. Every other cut on the table is more significant than the cuts to South County.
“We’re going to look at everything, and do what makes sense logically,” Gage said. “We’re not going to cut lines that make revenue, we’re going to cut lines that don’t make revenue,” And, Gage said, if a service costs as much to maintain as Caltrain is making, then they’re going to leave that service alone and go back over big-ticket items.
“It would have to get pretty bad off before we whacked (Gilroy service),” Gage said.
Morgan Hill City Councilman Greg Sellers, who sits on the Valley Transportation Authority’s board of directors, said it was imperative to keep the system whole.
“To temporarily reduce or eliminate that is really unacceptable for the long-term integrity of the system,” Sellers said. He noted that if Morgan Hill’s Measure A passes tonight, “It gives even more credence to the efforts to maintain the routes.” Measure A, placed on the ballot by the city council, would allow 500 additional units in the downtown area but keep the city’s population cap of 48,000 people by 2020, and was touted as “green” city planning since it would condense housing near the Caltrain station, thus theoretically boosting mass transit use.
Longtime Gilroy activist Herman Garcia was angered by the proposal to suspend service being on the table at all. Garcia, who spearheaded the movement to get Caltrain service extended to Gilroy in the early 1990s, said the move would be devastating.
“It’s understandable that everybody’s in a crisis and there’s a deficit, but there are so many reasons why we should have Caltrain,” he said, naming improving air quality and addressing the need for alternative, reasonably priced transportation.
A one-way ticket on the Caltrain from South County to Santa Clara is $6. A day pass is $12, and a monthly pass is $159. Proposals include increasing the one-way fare by 25 cents and increasing all other full fare and eligible discount fares in proportion to this increase.
The $10.1 million budget gap is attributable to revenue losses coupled with increased expenses. The City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit District and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority all typically make annual 3 percent increases to their Caltrain contributions by routing state money to them – but that money won’t be coming in for several years, Dunn said.
And, for the first time in many years, ridership was down last month, which Dunn attributed to the general recession and job loss. Fares cover 45 percent of Caltrain’s expenses, she said.
Caltrain has an average weekday ridership of 39,122 for February 2009, according to the Caltrain Web site. That includes an average 324 South County riders, down from 349 from February 2008.
The agency scheduled three simultaneous community meetings at 6 p.m. May 27 in San Francisco, San Carlos and San Jose to hear Bay Area residents’ opinions.
Then, two public hearings are scheduled in early June. The board will likely vote on changes in July, and any approved changes won’t be effective until October, Dunn said.
Proposed changes:
-Suspend South County service
-Suspend all weekend service
-Reduce midday service to 1-hour headways
-Increase parking fees
-Increase the Full Fare One-way base and/or zone fares by 25 cents
-Increase all other Full Fare and Eligible Discount fares in proportion to the Full Fare One-way increase
-Increase Go Pass pricing up to the equivalent of the full fare three-zone Monthly Pass
-Increase Go Pass participation rate up to the equivalent of 100 passes
Source: Caltrain
Community meeting
What: To hear residents’ opinions on the proposed changes
When: 6 p.m. May 27
Where: VTA Administrative Offices, Auditorium, 3331 N. First St., San Jose
