Caltrain Threatened with Service Cuts, Citizens to the Rescue?

The mobility of Caltrain’s 40,000 daily riders on the Peninsula and the South Bay could drastically suffer under deep service cuts being considered to close a $30 million budget gap, but a movement to get the commuter rail service agency out of the red and on a path toward long-term sustainability is gaining momentum.

“Everyone says it’s ironic, because it really is one of the best performing transit agencies in the whole Bay Area, but it’s the one potentially in the most trouble because we lack any dedicated funding,” said Yoriko Kishimoto, a Palo Alto councilmember and Friends of Caltrain organizer.

Yes, the bad news is that one of the nation’s leading commuter train services (one I used to ride daily and loved) is being threated due to a lack of funding.

And the good news is a lot of people are rallying to try to save this highly useful and efficient Northern California train service.

Streetsblog San Francisco has the story: Growing Movement To Save Caltrain From Potentially Devastating Cuts

And here’s more info on this weekend’s Caltrain Summit, which includes some big names (from the link above as well):

“Save Our Caltrain!” Summit

Speakers at this weekend’s summit will include Executive Director of the Sierra Club Michael Brune, San Francisco Supervisor and Caltrain Joint Powers Board of Directors Chair Sean Elsbernd, as well as Congresswomen Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier.

“Speakers and panels in the morning will tell the Caltrain story and explore a range of options. The afternoon will be devoted to workshops to solicit the public’s innovative ideas on supporting Caltrain at this time of general fiscal crisis.”

When: Saturday, January 29, 2011, 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.

Where: SamTrans Auditorium, 1250 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos (near Caltrain).

Sign up: FriendsofCaltrain.com

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1. Public Transportation Saves U.S. 785 Million Hours a Year
2. Save $9,656 a Year, Ride Public Transit

Flickr Photo: Nick Fisher