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Uploaded: Thursday, July 2, 2009, 4:28 PM

Caltrain to raise parking fees, cut service
Parking fees to jump from $2 to $3 in September

Posted by jfp, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jul 2, 2009 at 5:11 pm

maybe instead of increasing the parking fee, they should just enforce the current one.

Posted by Sarah, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jul 2, 2009 at 7:49 pm

Do a lot of people not pay the parking fees? I had not heard that was a problem.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jul 2, 2009 at 8:06 pm

These moves will not increase ridership. How about off peak cheap fares, family day passes (valid after 10.00 am), tickets that incorporate muni fares for SF or light rail for SJ to encourage day trips and tourists use?

Posted by James Hoosac, a resident of the Green Acres neighborhood, on Jul 2, 2009 at 8:08 pm

Caltrain in deep red. BART union strikes. AC Transit on the verge of bankruptcy. All these bode well for the future of HSR.

Posted by Kate, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Jul 2, 2009 at 9:31 pm

Amtrak is an infinite sink of money down the drain and is heavily subsidized by the Federal Government. The Northeast Corridor trains in and out of Boston, NYC, and DC are heavily traveled but also need government help. Where are the statistics that HSR from SF to Los Angeles will fare any better? If our local and state governments can't run these railroads, how can they even presume to run HSR?

Posted by Sarah, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jul 2, 2009 at 10:18 pm

My friend told me Bart train operator got $80,000 base salary plus pension and their main job is to open and close the doors by pushing buttons. Teachers with higher education who teach our kids only got around $60,000 per year or less. Is it something wrong in our system? Is it something Caltran should look into? Union system still fit in today's world? Most corporate companies have no Union or big pension benefits anyway, look at US auto industry, is it a joke?

Posted by Evan, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Jul 3, 2009 at 11:01 am

To Kate,

You should probably get your facts straight before you make statements like that. Amtrak is heavily subsidized because its trains run through the states of so many US Senators. Therefore, efforts to cut lines in highly unprofitable, long-distance Amtrak corridors has met staunch resistant from the US Senate. The Northeast Corridor line, however, is heavily used and is typically profitable (though not in 2009, as the recession has taken a deep toll on business ridership).

If Amtrak were to slice out the NEC, that line could actually turn profits on a regular basis. That's the portion of Amtrak that HSR is more related to — not the entire, antiquated Amtrak system.

If built correctly, HSR could be immensely popular and have similar popularity and, perhaps, profitability. But before you demand that this new piece of transportation infrastructure turn a profit, you might want to think for a second: When was the last time that Highway 101 turned a profit? Or 280? Just because something built by the government isn't profitable does not mean its successful and worthy of building.

All this being said, I would like to add that I'm sad to see Caltrain raising prices and cutting service. Sitting on Caltrain as I write this, it's a wonderful system that allows me to rarely use a car. It should have a strong base of funding and not have to scavenge for funds. Thank goodness the Courts just confirmed that the State of CA should not be raiding public transit funds.

Posted by Hugh, a member of the Terman Middle School community, on Jul 3, 2009 at 11:32 am

Typical Pin Headed Government Bureaucrats:

We will reduce service and raise fees to provide substandard service on the monopoly that we have.

Let's institute a Customer satisfaction rating, if the customers are satisfied, employees get salary increases, if customers are dissatisfied, employees get no increase and could potentially lose their jobs.

This is how it is done in the private sector and there is absolutely no justification for it not to take place in the government sector.

I won't hold my breath.

Posted by Sarah, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jul 3, 2009 at 11:42 am

It is nice if the state cannot steal money from public transit. Unfortunately, that does not stop one transit agency from stealing money from others. One reason that Caltrain is in such poor shape is that BART regularly steals money from Caltrain. Caltrain has long planned to electrify their trains and extend the line north to the San Francisco financial district. Unfortunately, BART stole that money for their SFO and San Jose extensions.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jul 3, 2009 at 12:11 pm

I have said it before and I am saying it again. It is about time that we had one transportation oversight for the Bay Area even if we have to continue 12 separate bodies. The one oversight should make decisions that does what is best for Bay Area transportation as a whole and works out pricing, routes and connections/ticketing overlaps work. It is becoming too silly for these systems to compete against each other rather than complement each other.

Posted by Sarah, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jul 3, 2009 at 12:16 pm

The MTC is supposed to oversee all Bay Area transportation (highways and public transit). How good a job they do is debatable.

Web Link

Posted by news, a resident of the Meadow Park neighborhood, on Jul 4, 2009 at 12:30 am

Have you heard about the overhead tram they're designing to cross over from north to south Palo Alto. They're talking about starting just south of the mall, passing over downtown and then right along Alma almost to San Antonio. Amtrak is going to run it. There's also a plan in the works to build a center bike lane down Alma (separated from traffic by a double concrete barrier)

Posted by MeMe, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jul 4, 2009 at 10:00 pm

<< Amtrak is heavily subsidized because its trains run through the states of so many US Senators. >>

Huh? How does that work? Each state has two senators. No matter which state Amtrak runs through, two senators will be involved.

Posted by WilliamR, a resident of the Fairmeadow neighborhood, on Jul 6, 2009 at 10:59 am

'News'-- Please cite sources.