Politics & Government
Caltrain Will Look for Additional Funding to Maintain Weekend Service in South San Francisco and Other Stations
Caltrain Board of Directors called for staff to find additional funding so that no budget cuts are needed next fiscal year.
If the Caltrain Board of Directors gets its way, come July, South San Francisco may not see any change in Caltrain service after all.
The Caltrain Board of Directors on Thursday rejected certifying a proposal that would have cut 10 trains from its current schedule and eliminated weekend service to South San Francisco.
Board members said they didn’t want to make any cuts and directed staff to find an additional $3.5 million in funding for next fiscal year’s budget, a Caltrain press release said.
Find out what's happening in South San Franciscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“The system is not broken, but we’re looking today to break it,” said Director Adrienne Tissier, in the statement. “It is a model for a system that runs beautifully.”
The board’s postponement of decision on service reductions comes just days after a to increase contributions to the commuter rail service.
Find out what's happening in South San Franciscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The San Mateo County Transit District, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority were expected to chip in an additional $25.3 million to Caltrain next fiscal year to plug a $30 million budget gap.
Caltrain staff proposed a 76-train schedule that would have eliminated weekday service at Bayshore, Hayward Park and Capitol stations and suspended weekend service at 11 stations, including South San Francisco, Belmont and San Carlos.
Caltrain initially presented a much starker budget scenario that would have .
But if Caltrain can close its remaining budget gap, riders may not see any difference next fiscal year except a 25 cent fare increase and higher parking fees.
Caltrain will be looking at funds allocated for electrification and regional money from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as possibilities to close the remaining budget gap, the press release said.
“Let’s not lose what we have when we can see that there are some funding sources out there,” said Director Liz Kniss.
The Caltrain board will resume discussion of the issue on April 21 at a special meeting.
