Caltrain Ridership Continues to Climb

Caltrain ridership is continuing to climb, after the agency reported record-breaking ridershipnumbers throughout last year, Caltrain officials said Thursday.

Average weekday ridership in November 2012 was 47,326, which is an increase of 5,061 or 12 percent higher than the previous year.

On-time performance also improved, from 83 percent in October to 91 percent in November, according to Caltrain officials.

The increase in ridership brought a corresponding increase in farebox revenue, of $3,969,762 or 15.6 percent more than budgeted.  Expenses also were down 3.5 percent for the month.

Additionally, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which owns and operates Caltrain, met Thursday and unanimously elected Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, representing the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, as board chair. This is the second time that Yeager has held the position.  

Tom Nolan, chair of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, was elected as vice chair. Nolan was the founding chair of the Joint Powers Board and was an instrumental figure in the creation of the JPB and the acquisition of Caltrain in 1995.

The board meets the first Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. at 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos, two blocks from the train station.

For more information about the board or for other Caltrain information, visit www.caltrain.com.