Gilroy and Caltrain Meet Over Uncertain Future

The chance that a financially strained Caltrain could stop coming to Gilroy this year was met with great concern from more than 50 people at a public meeting that the agency held in the city Thursday night.

While the Caltrain board of trustees won’t vote on the cuts until April, proposals to bridge the agency’s unprecedented $30 budget gap include eliminating all service south of San Jose to Gilroy.

“Truly, what we’re here to do is listen to what you have to say, to hear your comments,” said Michelle Bouchard, Caltrain’s director of transportation.

It was the last of four public meetings in which Caltrain collected comments for its board of directors and answered questions about the cuts. Last week, the agency proposed nearly halving its number of trains and eliminating both weekends and the Gilroy service.

For many at the meeting, that would mean losing a system they have come to depend on.

“I’m the extreme rider, San Francisco to Gilroy,” said Henry Schaper, an 11-year rider and Wells Fargo employee. “Not being able to ride there would pretty much stop my employment.”

Several members of city government were present at the meeting, including Mayor Al Pinheiro, council members Cat Tucker and Dion Bracco, and City Transportation Engineer Don Dey.

“I think we need to hear what the people have to say,” said Pinheiro. “People depend on it for their jobs.”

Much of Caltrain’s current crisis stems from the “dire financial straights” of San Mateo County’s SamTrans, which said it would slash its $14.7 million contribution to the system to $4.7 million, Bouchard said.

“We’re expecting San Francisco and VTA to follow suit,” said Tasha Bartholomew, public information specialist for Caltrain.

More than half of Caltrain’s funding comes from the contributions of San Francisco, SamTrans and Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), which together form the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, according to the presentation.

Agencies usually contribute money based on the number of riders in their region, putting the majority of the burden on SamTrans and VTA. However, in the past few years, the increasingly cash-strapped agencies that help pay for Caltrain have had to adjust their contribution around their budgets.

While VTA General Manager Michael T. Burns announced that VTA would not cut its own contribution in a letter to supporters last week, Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Tucker said that it would be unfair to have the agency go a step further and pay to bridge Caltrain’s budget gap.

“Santa Clara taxpayers should not be subsidizing the cost for San Mateo County,” she said.

Tucker serves on both the Caltrain Citizen’s Advisory Committee and the VTA Policy Advisory Board. Fellow council member Perry Woodward serves on the VTA Board of Directors.

During the council’s last meeting, Woodward said that it might be possible for VTA to fund Caltrain’s route into Gilroy.

For some, like one San Martin man, losing the train would come at a huge cost.

“My wife has a condition where she can’t drive on the highway. Without Caltrain, she cannot get to work,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous. His wife has ridden the train for 13 years.

Caltrain’s board of directors will hold its next meeting on March 3 to consider the public’s comments, but a vote on the proposed cuts won’t occur until April 7. Changes would come into effect in July.

“Like with anything—once you lose it, it’s hard to get it back,” said Councilman Bracco.

“It was fought like the dickens to get it here, and we should keep it,” Tucker said.

When Gilroy’s Downtown Specific Plan was completed in 2006, officials expected Caltrain ridership to grow with an increasing residential population. The Valley Transportation Authority estimated there would be 2,300 commuters from the Gilroy station in 2015 and 3,000 in 2030.

The widening of Highway 101 in 2003 may have lead to a decrease in the train’s popularity, however. Daily ridership at the Gilroy station peaked at 569 in 2001, experiencing a gradual decline to 119 in 2010, according to Caltrain’s annual ridership study.

Currently, three trains provide service to Gilroy on a limited schedule.

Yet, despite the declining ridership, many speakers shared the view that eliminating service south of San Jose would have a huge impact on South Valley residents.

“It seems like, as far as Santa Clara County goes, the South County is the stepsister,” said Swanee Edwards, a Morgan Hill resident.

Cutting Caltrain service in the South Valley was considered in the current budget but was spared after an outreach campaign found many dedicated riders in the region.

Losing the train would also affect plans for high-density housing and the overall aesthetic of Gilroy’s downtown, a district that is slowly gaining momentum after the recession.

“The city has other assets, but this is just one more component that makes Gilroy more attractive,” Pinheiro said.

One of Caltrain’s biggest challenges, Bouchard said, is the lack of a dedicated funding source. Instead of a voter-approved funding measure, it has relied for years on the unstable contributions from its partner agencies.

“It’s not an ideal way to fund a transit system,” she said.

Even with the proposed cuts, reducing 86 weekday trains to 48, Caltrain still anticipates a $4.7 million funding gap next year.

“We are intending to preserve the core of the ridership,” Bouchard said.

Other projects, like the long-anticipated electrification of the Caltrain system, would be on hold until further notice, she said.

"We don’t know what’s going to happen ultimately, but we want you to know what’s on the table,” Bartholomew said.

Members of the public are encouraged to attend the next meeting of the Caltrain board on March 3, 10 a.m., at 1250 San Carlos Ave. in San Carlos.

Comments can go to the Penninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board at changes@caltrain.com. People can also call 800-660-4287 (TDD is 650-508-6448). The board will also receive mail at:

District Secretary

Caltrain P.O. Box 3006

San Carlos, CA 94070