Editor,
Your recent article stated that Caltrain paid a consultant $1.4 million in one year is inaccurate. That was a max authority to a consulting firm. Caltrain paid a quarter of that and is closing out the contract. As a Caltrain Board Member, a local city councilmember and someone with decades of construction management experience, it is important to provide accurate info.Â
Caltrain has been delivering an exceptionally ambitious capital program. With the $2.44 billion electrification project, Caltrain became the first railroad in a generation to transition from diesel to electric service, closing the project out with zero contractor claims — an extraordinary achievement. Caltrain is also the fastest-growing transit agency in the country. Caltrain has used specialized consultants to supplement staff because it is difficult to recruit professionals with the experience to manage complex, multimillion-dollar projects. Again, results matter. Having the right consultants in place saved the Guadalupe Bridge project over $25 million. The agency has worked to build more expertise in-house and remains focused on efficiency. Recently, the board adopted all early action recommendations from the SB63 Financial Efficiency Review Independent Oversight Committee’s report, which identified $76 million in Caltrain savings. Our budget includes savings from crew scheduling, reduced consultant spending, strategic hiring freezes, and we are pursuing new revenue from parking, fiber leases, real estate, retail and selling electricity back to the grid. We are committed to using public dollars responsibly and ensuring that riders and drivers who want less traffic, benefit from the service Caltrain provides.Â
Jeff Gee
Redwood City
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