Caltrain focusing on under-18 ridership by creating $1, $2 fares
Caltrain is looking to regain its ridership, and it's doing that by focusing on the future.
A Caltrain trip is the last leg of Sam Greenberg's commute from Berkeley to Redwood City.
He's a regular public transit user for many reasons – from not having to sit in traffic to doing his part to contribute less to climate change. However, he credits some of his comfort with riding public transit as an adult to riding as a kid.
"It makes cities more accessible and just completely changes the way you can see and experience cities," he said. "When I was 17, my friends and I set a challenge to ride the entire LA Metro Light Rail system in one day."
Caltrain wants to grow back ridership by making it easier for more people to grow up with the train.
A one-way ticket for anyone 18 or under now only costs $1. A day-pass costs $2.
"If you give folks the opportunity to ride transit at a young age rather than just having the opportunity to just get around in cars, you give them a sense of independence. When young people have a sense of independence, there are unquantifiable benefits to that," Greenberg said. "$1 youth fares, I think, are going to pay off big time for Caltrain. I think it's something other agencies need to be looking at to bring in new riders."
Getting people back on board and new riders on board is essential for Caltrain's viability into the future.
"We've gained about 20% of our ridership over the last year. We've got more people coming back," said Dan Lieberman, a Caltrain spokesperson. "We're still a little under 40% of our pre-pandemic numbers."
The $1 youth fares are just a part of Caltrain's bigger effort of betting on the future.
"Caltrain needs to continue to grow. We need to bring more people on board to make sure that we can keep things running," Lieberman said. "Studies have shown when young people start riding transit, they're much more likely to be life-long transit users. So, the more we can get people involved in the system, the more they'll be taking advantage of Caltrain, other transit systems throughout the Bay Area, and throughout the country."
The system will also expand service when it fully transitions from diesel trains to faster and more climate-friendly electric trains on Sept. 21, something Lieberman thinks will also help get people back on board.
"When we're talking about any sort of improvement like electrification – that's not just an improvement for today. It's an improvement for today, tomorrow, next year, next decade, next century – and that's the sort of work that we've done here," he said. "Transit is absolutely vital for the future of the Bay Area."
Looking at the bigger picture, Greenberg said he'd like to see lawmakers pass a regional funding measure not just to keep struggling Bay Area public transit agencies afloat but moving forward.
"Transit being strong is good for everybody. It reduces congestion, increases quality of life," Greenberg said. "We need to pass a regional funding measures that fully funds operations to pre-COVID levels for all Bay Area transit agencies that also funds important capital improvements. Really, anything we can do to keep transit competitive, because there is sort of a spiral if you don't give transit agencies the resources they need in this time. If service has to be cut, fewer people will ride the train, more people will drive, more people will have to buy a car, and then you have decreasing ridership and decreasing fare revenues."
