Caltrain Ridership on a Roll

Caltrain has experienced four consecutive months of ridership increases, due in large part to its improved schedules.

Since the new Caltrain timetable took effect in June, which includes Baby Bullet express service, Caltrain’s ridership has increased nearly 17 percent, totaling more than 31,000 average weekday riders for the month of September.

Caltrain’s ridership fell below the 30,000 mark in late 2001, a result of the Bay Area’s economic slump and post-9/11 job losses.

More than two years ago, Caltrain set out on a customer service mission. Its goal was to answer the frequent requests from passengers for more express service, more trains and an easier to remember schedule.

The result came when Caltrain adopted a streamlined timetable with an introduction of 10 Baby Bullet express trains, improved limited-stop service and memory scheduling.

And the riders have responded. Often when Bay Area transit agencies introduce new transportation services it takes time for the service to build a ridership. But the numbers are clear, Peninsula commuters have been waiting for a service that is easy to use, responsive to their needs, and reduces their travel time.

Caltrain also is focusing on other customer service initiatives to improve access to the service and increase ridership.

Those efforts include extending the “Go Pass” pilot program. The Go Pass allows companies to purchase an annual pass for all of their full-time employees at a fixed rate of $79.50. This encourages employees to try transit and is an excellent benefit to attract new employees in the traffic-congested Bay Area. Companies that participate in the program include Stanford University, Adobe, Genencor and IDEO.

The result of Caltrain’s efforts is also showing in its bottom line. Revenues for the month of September came in at more than $1.9 million an increase of more than $200,000 over the previous September. These revenue increases will help to reduce other mounting operational costs like diesel fuel.

As capital and operational funding permits, Caltrain plans to continue to expand the new Baby Bullet express service.

Caltrain is a tri-county partnership of San Francisco Municipal Railway, San Mateo County Transit District and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Caltrain operates 86 weekday trains between San Francisco and San Jose, with commute-hour service to Gilroy. A total of 62 trains offer service on weekends.

11/8/04