From: adrian@ntmtv.UUCP (Adrian Brandt)
Subject: Re: More CalTrain Service
Followup-To: ba.transportation
Organization: Northern Telecom Inc, Mountain View, CA
Distribution: ba
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1993 01:12:54 GMT

Bruce Michael Roberts writes:

> I have taken Cal Train from Mt. View into SF and to work sometimes and
> find it convenient and quite enjoyable.

Welcome to the club.  And by the way, it's no big deal, but the
service is called "CalTrain" (no space between "Cal" and "Train").


> The train stops at Mt. View at 8:17 AM and at Castro at 8:20 AM.

Yes, that's what train #45 does.  I think your comments might be a
bit confusing to those unfamiliar with CalTrain, however.  I'll try
to clarify them a bit.

The Mtn. View station is at Castro and Evelyn adjacent to Central
Expressway.  This just off the downtown area (or "restaurant row").

On the other hand, the Castro station is NOT near Castro Street.
Instead it is adjacent to Rengstorff Park where Rengstorff crosses
Central Expressway.  This station takes its name from the Castro
family that figured prominently in Mountain View's history.  It's
kind of unfortunate, because this causes confusion among many riders
who are unfamiliar with CalTrain.  (People have been known to get off
the train at Castro, thinking that they were at Castro Street.)


> If you miss the 8:17, you have to wait another hour.

Yes, historically, CalTrain has been, and continues to be, operated
as a "commuter" service optimally designed to serve peninsulans that
work traditional office hours up in San Francisco.  This means that
there are relatively high train frequencies going north in the AM peak
and going south in the PM peak.  That's why after the 8:00 AM departure
from San Jose and San Francisco, trains run only hourly until the PM
peak.  This view of the rail transit market on the peninsula is now
well out of date, but for various reasons CalTrain service has been
slow to adjust to changing commute patterns and trip demands.


> And if you miss the 8:20, you have to wait until 4:2l PM.

This is only true at the Castro station.  The Castro station has
always been considered a very minor stop on the service.  Only
selected peak period trains stop there--less than half of the 60
weekday trains.  No trains stop at the Castro station on weekends and
holidays.  So if you want to catch a train outside of the CalTrain
"peak" service hours, you must go to one of the regular stations stops
such as Mountain View.

Since most riders using the Castro station do so because of the
connecting shuttle services, and because it is otherwise a less than
optimal station location, there are plans to remove it and build a
new station at San Antonio Road in its place.  The shuttle users
wouldn't be affected by this and the San Antonio location would draw
significantly more passengers from nearby businesses, housing, and
connecting bus services.


> I've talked to some folks where I catch the train who feel that adding
> another train between 8:17 and 9:17 would probably increase ridership.
> It would certainly mean that commuters who come to work around 9:30 to
> 10 would have more options.

No doubt about it.  One of the keys to increasing ridership will be to
move to a more transit-oriented (vs. commuter) service that provides
more off-peak service.  This will serve the increasing number of
commuters who work hours well outside of the traditional 8 to 5, as
well as many potential riders making non-work trips throughout the
day.  To do this, the 1-hour service gaps throughout the midday will
have to be closed by adding more trains.


> I spoke to some folks at Cal Train who felt that the transit authority
> would be receptive to this idea if there were those who were willing to
> sign petitions urging that more trains be added.

The JPB (Joint Powers Board) is responsible for running CalTrain.  It
is, as the name suggests, made up of joint powers of the three counties
served by CalTrain (SF, San Mateo and Santa Clara).  Amtrak has a
contract with the JPB to operate the trains and maintain the tracks.

I don't want to be pessimistic, but the reality is that the peninsula
counties and their appointed officials that sit on the JPB don't seem
to have the will and/or money to run CalTrain on anything more than a
bare-bones shoe-string budget.  CalTrain is quite cost-effective, as
far as transit goes, and by almost any measure deserves better.  On 
top of what I see as a weak commitment to CalTrain politically, there
are now some very real economic problems related to the state-wide
recession.  The JPB member-counties are all *very* tight on funds
right now.  On top of it all, in making the CalTrain operating budget
for fiscal year 93/94, they need to make up the approximately $11
million in operating assistance that CalTrans was contributing to the
service up until now.


> If you are interested in lending a hand, please respond and maybe we can
> unclog the 101 in the morning.

I applaud and agree with anyone lobbying for more train service,
because as fairly informed observer, I believe it is sorely needed
and well-justified.  But, based on my knowledge of the system and
some of what is going on behind-the-scenes, I doubt we'll get any more
trains (other than those already promised) any time soon.  However,
I also would encourage people everywhere to speak up and let their
views be known so that the key decision-makers involved with running
the service get the message that people value what service there is,
want more of it, and that they care.

On, or about July of this year, the Gilroy service is supposed to
increase to 8 trains per day (4 northbound in the AM and 4 south-
bount in the PM).  Other likely improvements we can expect this year
are the introduction of TVMs (ticket vending machines) and the
activation of the public address system.

For general CalTrain information call: (800) 660-4287.  They can
answer questions about tickets, fares, train times, workplace
shuttles, how to get a bike permit, how to order monthly tickets or
parking passes by mail, etc.

-- 

Adrian Brandt (415) 940-2379
UUCP: ...!ames!ntmtv!adrian
ARPA: ntmtv!adrian@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Newsgroups: ba.transportation