Summit on Caltrain's Bleak Future Attracts Hundreds

It was standing room only just minutes before the first speaker began at Saturday’s summit about Caltrain’s future.

, a grassroots organization of residents and civic leaders, brought guest speakers—including Congresswoman Jackie Speier—panel discussions and breakout brainstorming sessions to Saturday’s event. 

“With the daunting challenges in front of us, to see this many people energized to come out on a Saturday morning is encouraging,” said Sean Elsbernd, San Francisco supervisor and chair of the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board.

With around 200 people in attendance, the event builded on last week's 

The day, spent at the SamTrans headquarters in San Carlos, tackled Caltrain's dismal financial situation—the agency faces a $30 million deficit starting in the new fiscal year in July—followed by sessions in which attendees brainstormed ideas about what can be done and what the public needs from Caltrain.

“I think eventually we’ll have to come up with a dedicated tax for Caltrain – you can count on me to support that,” said Congresswoman Jackie Speier.

Speier warned however that the public would not support new taxes until it sees changes in how transit systems operate.

While Speier was very clear that overcoming the deficit and avoiding more reductions would be a challenge, she was quite optimistic. The administration costs of Caltrain are at six percent, whereas rail agencies across the country are as much as 17 percent, according to Speier. 

“Even if you don’t ride Caltrain, you want it there because you never know when you’ll need it… we can do this,” said Speier. “There’s a vision to create and a train to catch.”

Friends of Caltrain’s efforts to save Caltrain are clearly and publically backed by many government officials, and residents seemed pleased with the environment.

One member of the audience, and a regular Caltrain commuter, said he was pleased to see a discussion happening.

The summit consisted of two panel discussions, allowing the audience to ask questions after each, with experts such as

transportation director Jessica Zenk and Deputy CEO of Caltrain Chuck Harvey present.

After a lunch break, the crowd broke up into groups to discuss different concerns and topics, such as the long-term vision for Caltrain.

, Deputy CEO of Caltrain, said with the current deficit in mind the rail agency is considering ridding itself of weekend service, mid-day service, trains to special events like Giants games, and trains south of the Diridon station in San Jose.

Even eliminating all those services would still have the rail agency in a $4.7 million deficit. 

“It looks really horrible but it’s what we can afford,” Harvey said.

Nothing is decided yet. Harvey said the agency is open to ideas and will hold public hearings in February and March.   

Andy Chow, one of the leaders of Friends of Caltrain, said this is an ongoing process and will keep the public’s suggestions and hopes in mind.

Chow said the next step is to develop a report and work with Caltrain as it develops its budget for July.