Catrain is in financial trouble. SamTrans is in financial trouble.
So, what else is new? Why isn't MTC creating a regional TRANSIT plan
rather than merely a regional "rail" plan? Sure, the Peninsula is a
three-county problem. They say, trim costs and boost revenues.
Haven't they been doing that? Is it working? Actually there are many
more than three counties involved in moving people to and from work,
shopping and recreation. Why is there no REGIONAL, Bay Area transit
plan in the works, with financing from all the involved
jurisdictions? Either there are huge numbers of transit riders being
well served, or there are not. If not, fixing Caltrain won't fix
anything. Caltrain and SamTrans are pushing insufficient funds back
and forth. What will that solve? It's a Systems problem and it
needs a Systems solution, financing being only a part of that
solution. There are too many mini-empires, each independently
struggling to survive.

The first step to any solution is a change of mind-set. Stop thinking
San Mateo County, stop thinking Caltrain. Start thinking Bay Area
transit network. Start thinking nine county financing. Start
thinking public service utility. This is naive and unrealistic? So
how successful has "realistic" been working?

You've heard this before: A comprehensive, networked, interconnected
transit system using multiple modes of transportation. Every train
station should be a "Transbay Terminal." The Caltrain thread needs
to be woven into a fabric of transit services. Right now, if you
haven't noticed, trains are for middle class people and buses are for
the blue-collar poor. Until they are seriously interconnected, they
both will continue to do a poor job. That needs to be fixed. Until
everybody is able to ride on everything comfortably and conveniently,
each agency and each mode of transit will continue to limp along,
always on the edge of financial disaster.

Published Saturday, May 12, 2007, by the Redwood City Daily News

Transit agencies face deficits
For Caltrain and SamTrans, budget problems are intertwined

By Will Oremus
Daily News Staff Writer

Both of San Mateo County's major public transit providers are once
again scrambling to close budget deficits before the new fiscal year
begins July 1.

Despite record-high ridership and revenues, Caltrain faces a $3.7
million shortfall for the upcoming year, and it's unclear where that
money will come from. Meanwhile, the San Mateo County Transit
District faces a $10.1 million gap of its own.

The two agencies' ongoing financial problems are intertwined,
spokesman Jonah Weinberg said, explaining that a long-term solution
for one could go a long way toward solving the other's problems.

Caltrain's fortunes have taken a turn for the better in recent years,
with increasing revenues pulling it back from the brink of ruin. Its
$3.7 million projected deficit this year is not as bad as last year
or the year before.

But the regional rail line still relies heavily on funding from three
other transit agencies, including SamTrans. And it's weighing them
down.

SamTrans started as a bus agency, and the half-cent county sales
tax that supports it used to be more than sufficient to cover the
gap between its fare box revenues and expenses. But its financial
obligations have expanded over the years as ridership has stagnated.

One major expense for the agency is paratransit shuttles for riders
with disabilities, Weinberg said. Federal law requires bus agencies
to provide door-to-door service for people with impaired mobility,
but that service isn't funded with federal money.

SamTrans recently worked its way out of another financial burden by
reaching a settlement with BART over operation of its Millbrae/San
Francisco International Airport extension. That took a chunk out of
SamTrans' budget deficit.

The third major drain on SamTrans' budget is Caltrain, which it is
subsidizing to the tune of about $16 million annually. Jim Hartnett,
who sits on the board of both agencies, pointed out that SamTrans'
$10.1 million deficit wouldn't exist if not for its obligations to
Caltrain.

But if SamTrans or either of the other two transit agencies were to
pull that funding, Caltrain would be doomed.

So what can be done?

In the short term, Weinberg said, both agencies need to keep working
to trim costs and boost revenues. SamTrans has the cash to close its
gap this year; Caltrain is hoping for one-time funds from the state
budget.

But in the long term, perhaps the best hope is a new, dedicated
revenue stream for Caltrain, said Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers
Board Member Jerry Hill.

"Caltrain serves more than just the county, and it should be funded
through some larger, regional funding source," Hill said. That could
eventually come from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission,
which is in the process of developing a Regional Rail Plan for the
Bay Area.

E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@...

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1621 Stone Pine Lane
Menlo Park, CA 94025
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