Contact: Jonah Weinberg, 650.508.6238

Caltrain Pilot Parking Program Goes High Tech

Patrons who park in Caltrain parking lots at the Bayshore, Hayward Park, Belmont and Lawrence stations will find their commute a little simpler, starting this month.

On Monday, Aug. 14, Caltrain will implement a pilot program that will allow patrons to pay for their daily parking pass at the same Ticket Vending Machine where they buy their train ticket. This one-stop approach seeks to streamline the commuting experience for train-riders.

At the station platform, customers can both purchase their ticket and input their parking space number for a daily parking permit at the TVM. Customers will not need to place this permit on their dashboard. The TVM will store their paid parking space in its memory so that parking enforcement agents can check occupied spaces against a list of paid spaces.

“This is an example of Caltrain’s efforts to make the train commute as painless as possible,” said Caltrain Board Chair and San Jose City Councilman Ken Yeager. “Not only do our passengers benefit, but it provides a streamlined method for parking enforcement that will save the Caltrain time and money.”

This pilot program is being tested at four stations, which have lighter ridership activity. If the program proves successful, it may be rolled out to additional stations.

Caltrain runs 96 weekday trains between San Jose and San Francisco, with commute hour service to Gilroy. On weekends, there is hourly service from San Francisco and San Jose throughout most of the day.

For schedule and fare information, call 1.800.660.4287 (TTY 650.508.6448) or visit www.caltrain.com.

08/09/06 - jbw