Caltrain officials have agreed to explore potential new governance structures for the railroad and one option is to have Caltrain be an independent agency separate from the San Mateo County Transit District.
At an off-site meeting in Half Moon Bay Thursday, Caltrain’s board of directors decided to form a working group or ad-hoc committee comprised of board members and staff to study potential governance models. The board also agreed to hire special counsel to assist with the process.
It has not yet been decided who will be a part of the working group, but the plan is to have it return to the full board with recommendations within six months.
The board could ultimately choose to create a new independent agency to run Caltrain or it could choose some variation of the current structure in which the railroad is operated as a joint powers authority with board members appointed from the three counties it serves. The San Mateo County Transit District, or SamTrans, oversees this county’s bus service and also shares staff with the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, which oversees sales tax revenue for transportation. Caltrain staff is also shared with SamTrans.
“There’s a recognition in general from the entire board that this organization will have to change and grow to meet the demands of the service vision we have in mind,” said Board Member Charles Stone, also a Belmont councilman.
That vision is to significantly expand service and triple ridership from 65,000 daily riders to 180,000 daily riders within 20 years.
Caltrain is currently struggling to balance its budget because it lacks a dedicated revenue source and of course more funding will be needed as the railroad grows. Officials have proposed the much-needed revenue source be a sales tax and are currently working out the details of two potential 2020 ballot measures: a Bay Area-wide one-cent sales tax known as FASTER Bay Area that would include dedicated funding for Caltrain or an eighth-cent sales tax in the three counties served by Caltrain to help fund the railroad.
Caltrain board members in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have in the past indicated that their support for a future revenue measure would be contingent on governance changes, but now appear to be less insistent on the matter, according to San Mateo County board members.
“One thing that came out of [the meeting Thursday] is it’s very clear San Mateo County and San Francisco’s position is that moving forward with important funding measures should not be held up by what’s going to be a somewhat lengthy governance discussion,” Stone said. “Santa Clara County appears to be headed in the same direction, but that was less clear.”
After the meeting, Board Member Cindy Chavez, who is also a Santa Clara County supervisor, said she acknowledges the need for Caltrain revenue measure, but doesn’t see it as a separate from the governance discussion.
“I have been very focused on making sure I can be as accountable as I can be to the Caltrain board while also recognizing I’m coming from Santa Clara County and making sure I as a Caltrain board member and VTA member and elected official coming from Santa Clara County can be as accountable as I can be to the residents of the county, to the VTA board and its riders,” Chavez said. “When you think about it from that perspective, one must put everything on the table to make sure we’re meeting that obligation.”
Board Member Dave Pine, also a San Mateo County supervisor, suggested the success of any future revenue measure for Caltrain is dependent on the support of the entire board.
“Caltrain affects three counties and it can’t move forward in a productive way if all three counties aren’t supportive,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s a regional asset and we want all three counties to feel comfortable and go the extra mile to support the direction we go in.”
Chavez said she does not have a particular governance model in mind for Caltrain and said she wants to let the working group “do its work.” Stone and Pine echoed the sentiment, but Board Member Shaman Walton, also a San Francisco supervisor, said he wants Caltrain to be an independent agency.
“I’d definitely prefer Caltrain being a separate [agency], but I don’t know what that looks like yet,” he said. “A lot of conversation and analysis is needed first.”
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(1) comment
There are too many transit agencies in the SF Bayarea and of them all, overly spot focused
My #3 root cause to our SF Bayarea traffic problems...Public transit isn’t good enough
There should be one master and all subordinate to that master
Duplication might become too large is component of splitting this up and the waste of both funds and time that comes
Key would be with the master...that organization must allow the local to focus finely, but align with the rest of the whole
Balance of funds or the stability of the larger organization might level the ups and downs of losing focus of managing their product. Fiduciary responsibility of course a must
Would like to insist or make it a mandatory for all management of travel via public transit a min number of days per month. Including being a pedestrian and bicyclist with minimum miles per month. Ditto all city council members
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