Caltrain Fare Increase Takes Effect July 1

Caltrain will raise its fares effective Friday, July 1, adding 25 cents to the base fare charged to ride thePeninsula commuter rail service.

This will be the sixth time Caltrain has raised its fares since 2005. 

The Caltrain Board of Directors approved the 25 cent increase after extensive public input on resolving the rail system’s current and ongoing fiscal problems. There were four public meetings on Caltrain’s fiscal issues, as well as a formal public hearing before the Board.

Members of the public, including customers, frequently commented that they would be willing to pay more to ride Caltrain if the increased fares helped to resolve the immediate budget crisis.

A chart showing the new fares can be found below and on the Caltrain website: www.caltrain.com

The daily parking fee also will be increased to $4 and the monthly fee will be $40. 

Approximately 40,000 Caltrain customers use the rail service every weekday.

Fares paid by customers cover approximately 44 percent of the cost of providing Caltrain service.

During public meetings, there were suggestions that Caltrain charge what it costs to operate the system. That would require an increase in fares of more than 100 percent. A current round trip fare from San Joseto San Francisco costs $21.

Earlier this year, the board rejected an initial proposal to slash weekday service from 86 trains to 48 and close up to 10 stations.  Instead, Caltrain was able to patch together funding to keep the service operating at the current level for another year. 

In an effort to increase revenue and at the urging of customers, Caltrain implemented a pilot project to test the success of express service on weekends.  The weekend Baby Bullet trains, as well as the local trains scheduled before and after them, have seen a 30 percent boost in ridership since the beginning of the year.   

Caltrain also increased on-board bicycle capacity, assuring that all trains will have two bike cars.  In the past two years, Caltrain has increased on-board bike capacity by more than 56 percent.

Over the last three years Caltrain has aggressively looked for ways to balance its budget. In 2009, the agency underwent an extensive reorganization, laying off employees and eliminating two executive-level positions. Administrative wages and benefits make up just 6.5 percent of the operating budget.