Caltrain Riders are "Return Customers," Survey Shows

Caltrain riders are a railroad version of "frequent flyers," according to the results of the latest passenger survey: nearly a third have been riding for four-plus years, and more than half ride the train five days a week.

Some 5,700 passengers completed Caltrain's annual survey earlier this year. In a departure from past surveys which were used to gauge the quality of Caltrain service, the 2003 survey was designed to give Caltrain a better picture of who rides the train and what Caltrain can do to make the service more attractive to existing and potential riders.

More than 79 percent of riders are commuters, and the primary reasons cited for taking the train were avoidance of traffic (20 percent of all responses), better use of time and stress reduction (both 15 percent).

The most popular morning northbound boarding stations were San Jose Diridon and Mountain View, both at 11 percent, and the most popular "on" station for southbound riders was the San Francisco terminal, at 47 percent, followed by the 22nd Street station in San Francisco, at 13 percent.

Although 78 percent of all riders have access to cars, only 64 percent of midday riders do. Nine percent of passengers bring a bike on board, and another three percent use a bike for one leg of their trip.

Fifty-nine percent of riders are male and 47 percent are married. More than half are between the ages of 25 and 44, and 38 percent have college degrees, while 30 percent have post-graduate degrees.

One in five Caltrain passengers has a household income of $100,000 to $149,999 per year. The vast majority (72 percent) do not have children at home, 12 percent have only one child and 10 percent have two children.

Many passengers added individual comments, which have been catalogued and will help Caltrain to make adjustments as needed.

The most frequently requested improvement was express service, mentioned on 10 percent of surveys returned with comments, and seven percent of the comments were about the lack of weekend service, which has been suspended until next spring because of track construction.

Thirty-two percent of passengers get their news from newspapers, 26 percent from television and 20 percent each from the radio and from the Internet.

Sixty-nine percent of passengers speak only English at home, while 31 percent speak another language instead of or in addition to English. The highest percentage was Spanish (13 percent).