Caltrain is moving ahead with cost-cutting and revenue-growing measures to narrow a gaping deficit, with plans to remove a 13-year-old discount for Clipper card users and potentially schedule further fare increases through 2030.
Despite a surge in ridership as a result of electrification and more frequent service, the rail agency is facing an average $75 million annual shortfall starting 2027 and has repeatedly warned it could cut back on service if significant funding is not secured.
That funding would come from a ballot measure next year, where Bay Area voters will decide whether to approve a 14-year sales tax that would shore up transit operators’ deficits, including Caltrain and BART. The money would prevent service cuts and keep agencies afloat but is not intended as a long-term funding source.
The agency has held back on hiring new full-time employees, explored property leasing opportunities and is even contemplating more flexibility in its pricing structure for charter trains. It also just enacted a 25-cent increase on its base fare in July.
Starting Jan. 1, the 55-cent discount Clipper card users have enjoyed since 2012 will also be removed, and the Board of Directors will vote on additional fare increases next month, which would last until at least 2030. The proposal would alternate each year between a 25-cent base fare increase and a 25-cent increase per additional zone traveled.
Leaders hope the increases won’t negatively affect ridership, which has shown tremendous improvement, a 55% increase, since fully electrified service went into effect last year.
“Revenue growth is primarily driven by ridership growth, not price increases,” Melissa Jones, deputy director of policy development, during a recent board meeting. “Our operating costs are projected to grow approximately 5% per year. Our other revenue sources that are in our operating budget are projected to remain relatively flat, so our main revenue source that has the potential to grow is our fare revenue.”
The board did not unanimously support automatic increases over the proposed four-year span, though board Chair Steve Heminger was supportive, noting it wasn’t uncommon for other agencies to do so.
“My preference would be to have a policy that dictates that we move forward over time with gradually increasing fares to cover increasing costs and that we make it a little bit difficult on ourselves to change that policy in the future,” Heminger said, though, he added he wanted more data on how the changes could impact ridership trends.
The board will vote on the additional increases during its meeting in December.
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(3) comments
The agency should also target employer provided transit placing fees on those. Google and Meta can clearly pay more than the transit agencies, for a limited number of drivers. These riders could be Caltrain and SamTrans rider, but are not since they use employer provided buses. The buses actually make traffic worse while the occupancy is uncertain if these are empty or only have a few riders it is not fair to other commuters and should not be allowed to operate under these conditions. The buses actually use SamTrans bus stops for pick up and drop off of their riders, but do not pay into their up keep.. And the biggest elephant in the room is while Caltrain runs from around 5am to well after midnight, if you need to connect with a bus (not along ECR) you need to be home by 7pm. So either after 6 pm either bus service needs to improve or train service should be reduced. Lastly why not just implement a weekend pass which would be 125% to 150% a normal week day pass good from 5pm on Fridays to the last train on Sundays. to generate additional revenue for people going to Oracle, Chase, Levi, and SAP centers. Getting rid of the Clipper Card discount is great, but still need to find a way to get more of those working capital dollars from Clipper to the transit agency directly, having netter working capital mean less need for borrowing, more interest income form the unspent funds, and further cost savings..
The 101 "Lexus Lanes" were pushed through because of high-tech companies "sponsoring" San Mateo Democrats:
- their shuttle buses can use highway capacity without congestions
- their executives get company fastrack responders and also ride the Lexus Lanes for free
- the company can use the expense to lower income and therefore corporate tax.
All the other residents - who paid for these lanes but can't afford - have to live with increased congestion as highway widenings just draws in more cars.
We don't fight obesity with more sugar; we don't fight lung cancer by gifting free cigarettes; we don't fight opioid addictions with more fentanyl. You can't beat "congestion" with adding more cars.
SamTrans is fully funded through various sales tax measures. It could run all routes for free. But instead it is investing in to empty buses with batteries or with hydrogen, increases fares and cuts service to useless routes and times.
SamTrans is run by like a real estate company not a public transit agency.
The bigger question is why folks at Caltrain have not been cost-cutting through the years, especially during and after COVID, operating at 100% with only 50% or less ridership. These additional costs, whether via fares or tax proposals, are being implemented because union labor wages, pensions, and benefits continue to increase, unabated. With the loss of the discount, I wouldn’t be surprised if folks find alternative options. Until Caltrain begins to cost-cut their union labor and other waste, vote NO on any transportation proposals. Don’t worry, if you have voter’s remorse, there will be more proposals in the near and far future you can vote on. After all, ever-increasing union wages, pensions, and benefits need to be paid because Caltrain won’t do anything to rein them in.
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