On June 16, the VTA board approved a visionary plan for much more frequent service, based on community feedback earlier in the year. At full implementation, the Visionary Network would offer 83% more service compared to current 2023 service, with 77% more service on weekdays and 87% more service on weekends. The service improvements […]
The news on saving California transit last week includes a small amount of progress but not enough to prevent major cuts. Earlier in May, the governor’s updated budget proposal had offered nothing to help save transit. Last week, the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Transportation (proposal) and the Assembly Budget Committee (transit recommendations page 78) approved
At its May board meeting, the Caltrain board advanced a 2-year budget with plans to provide steady service, and with the likelihood of partner contributions to the capital budget. Choices that Caltrain makes within the next two years have the potential to make a significant difference in ridership regrowth and revenue. Operating budget with steady
New polling data from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission shows that voters support transit but want improvements – and there’s a virtuous cycle between better transit and voter support. At its workshop in Napa on April 26, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission discussed the new polling about potential ballot measures for public transportation and housing. Overall, voters
In late February, the BART board held its annual board workshop. Major themes this year were financial stability and improving customer experience to regrow ridership. The need for a sustainable funding strategy including new funding was front and center given the change in work patterns affecting BART revenue. BART’s ridership historically has closely tracked downtown
This week the state legislature is holding the last two key hearings on transportation funding before the “May Revise” of the governor’s budget proposal. At last week’s budget hearing, there were over 30 public comments supporting funding to prevent transit service cuts and help regrow ridership. Read on for opportunities to take action this week.
This week and next, the California state legislature will start to consider whether to step in to address the fiscal cliff that risks steep service cuts and a spiral of decline for transit in the Bay Area and the state. Transit agencies including Caltrain, BART, SFMTA and AC Transit face steep budget shortfalls soon as
The state legislature in Sacramento is looking into the challenges facing public transportation as the fiscal cliff facing agencies comes into sharper focus. On Monday, February 27, a Joint Assembly/Senate Transportation Committee hearing will cover the impending public transportation fiscal cliff that is impacting 72% of transit agencies in California, and opportunities to regrow ridership
On Thursday, February 2, the Caltrain board will discuss short-term opportunities to regrow transit ridership. Caltrain is looking at single agency strategies that it can fully control. These strategies will be helpful, but this narrow focus on short-term independent actions underestimates the depth of the challenge Caltrain is confronting. The railroad is struggling to break
On January 31, the State of California announced that it is awarding $367 million to Caltrain to finish its electrification project, which is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2024. The funding for Caltrain complements $43 million in federal funding, adding up to the full $410 million gap needed to complete electrification, which will enable
Governor Newsom’s proposed budget grapples with a projected $22.5 billion state budget deficit by slashing funding for public transportation capital projects (and other climate investments) while ignoring the fiscal cliff facing transit agency operating budgets, creating risks of service cuts. In California’s multi-step budget process, the governor’s proposal is only the first salvo in a
The San Francisco Central Subway just opened after over a decade in construction and about $1.6 billion. The BART Silicon Valley project may get better station access but the cost is now over $9 billion. What can be done to help transit megaprojects be planned better, delivered faster and more cost-effectively? Join Friends of Caltrain,
On Friday, January 13, the MTC Legislation Committee will receive updates will about preparations for a regional transit funding measure in partnership with transit agencies. The presentation was also given at MTC’s Policy Advisory Council on Wednesday January 11. This groundwork is being planned for 2023, for authorizing legislation in 2024, for a potential
The Federal omnibus spending bill included $43 million to help complete Caltrain electrification. Additional funding is expected in early 2023 from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP), which has funding guidelines that favor projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are currently under construction. The electrification funding may help defer the fiscal
This week, SamTrans and VTA are considering next steps to speed buses in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Wednesday: SamTrans ECR Bus Speed and Reliability Study Buses on El Camino Real could travel 25-30% faster compared to 2019 travel times along the 25 mile El Camino Real corridor if improvements in a new SamTrans
Caltrain will be the first major agency in the Bay Area to face a fiscal cliff, as federal relief funding runs out and ridership grows back more gradually. This could result in cuts to service and/or maintenance starting this coming year. To address the transit fiscal cliff as a region, the MTC has requested that
A new study funded by the State of California concluded that there are potential benefits to be gained from regionalizing capabilities of the region’s fragmented rail system. ‘Regionalized’ capabilities would be led and managed by a single entity across the region. The Regional Rail Partnership Study was conducted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in partnership
At this week’s MTC Programming and Allocations Committee meeting on Wednesday morning and BART board meeting on Thursday morning, the Bay Area’s regional planning organization and largest regional transit agency are starting to grapple with the impending financial crisis when federal Covid relief funding runs out as transit ridership has been returning gradually. The Bay
At the September board meeting, Board Chair Steve Heminger reported that had requested that staff bring back recommendations for potential service cuts. His remarks are at 2:33 in the meeting video. Heminger noted that Caltrain’s strategy to regrow transit ridership has included running more frequent all-day service. However, Caltrain’s ridership recovery from the pandemic is
September 12: Panel on MTC Megaproject Advancement Policy On Monday September 12, SPUR is hosted a panel with Kenneth Folan of Metropolitan Transportation Commission, discussing the Regional Megaproject Advancement Policy that is under development to identify and monitor cost and delivery risks for megaprojects. The panel also includes Paul Lewis of think tank Eno Transportation
