Cash-Strapped Caltrain Has New Friends In Its Corner
SAN JOSE (KCBS) - A newly formed grassroots group, Friends of Caltrain, has a goal of preventing service cuts on the peninsula commuter rail.
The transit agency is considering drastic cuts to unbury itself from a $30 million deficit. Weekday service would be reduced to just once an hour and weekend service could disappear entirely.
"It's hard to imagine a future without Caltrain and this is a time when Caltrain needs a little help from its friends," said former Palo Alto Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto.
She and others met for the first time this week to talk about ways of keeping Caltrain's problems in the public eye and to brainstorm possible mechanisms to keep it funded.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
The best options would be gas taxes or sales taxes in San Francisco, San Mateo or Santa Clara counties, said Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute.
"It's the only system in the United States that I know of that doesn't have a dedicated source of funds for their own use, but have to rely on other transit agencies," he said.
Kishimoto said Friends of Caltrain would also offer recommendations on how to reduce costs and increase ridership. The group's official kickoff event is scheduled for January.
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