Caltrain Ridership Continues On A Roll
In the first full-year verdict since Caltrain’s
“reinvention” for faster commute service,
average weekday ridership has increased
nearly six percent during the last year.
Ridership on weekdays rose from 32,031 in
2006 to 33,841 this year in the annual February
count, for an overall 5.7 percent increase.
Added to the gains since Caltrain introduced
Baby Bullet express train service in 2004,
average weekday ridership is up 32 percent.
“That’s a pretty phenomenal number and
we are proud of that – 32 percent in three
years,” Caltrain Chief Operations Officer
Chuck Harvey said. What’s more, ridership
rose last year at the majority of stations, even
those without Bullet train service. Fare revenue
over the three years is up more than 79 percent.
What’s noteworthy about the one-year results
is that none of the key factors in rail service had
changed since the “reinvention” of the railroad
in August 2005.
At that time, the train schedule was completely
retooled to offer a combination of express,
limited-stop and local service, and the number
of weekday trains rose to an all-time high of 96.
“This is the first time since then that we are able
to compare apples-to-apples for a full year,” said
Michelle Bouchard, Caltrain’s Manager of Rail
Planning and Analysis. “We consider that level
of increase to be pretty successful.”
Bouchard said the ridership increase reconfirms
the popularity and performance of Caltrain service,
but fuel costs and the improvement in the local
economy also are factors.
“If the reinvention wasn’t working,” she noted,
“people wouldn’t continue to come – and they have.”
Two stations which became Baby Bullet stations
during the 2005 reinvention recorded notable
gains: the Tamien (San Jose) and Sunnyvale
stations saw 19.1 percent and 12.4 percent
gains, respectively.
Some non-Bullet stations saw healthy increases,
including South San Francisco (5.1 percent);
Burlingame (3.8 percent); Menlo Park (4.5 percent)
and San Antonio in Mountain View (4.5 percent).
After a two-year shutdown for construction in
2002, weekend ridership has finally rebounded,
up 10.9 percent last year.
The one area where ridership has declined is
between Gilroy and San Jose, which took a 25
percent service reduction to help balance Caltrain’s
budget. The number of riders dropped from 471 to
441 riders last year. Part of the decrease is
attributable to freeway improvements and job
losses in the South Bay.
Caltrain’s new service model received some
validation from the highest levels of the transit
industry recently when the Federal Transit
Administration honored Caltrain with its “Success
Enhancing Ridership Award.”
In the top population category, Caltrain was one
of three winners for the national award recognizing
winning ridership strategies that other transit providers
potentially can replicate.
04/10/07 - jrm
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