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Citizens Advisory Committee

PENINSULA CORRIDOR JOINT POWERS BOARD
CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Caltrain Headquarters, Bacciocco 2nd Floor Auditorium
1250 San Carlos Avenue
San Carlos, CA 94070-1306

MINUTES

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.

STAFF LIAISON: Robert Doty, Director of Rail Transportation

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Paul Bendix, John Hronowski, Bruce Jenkins, Michael Kiesling, Sepi Richardson, Brian Wilfley COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Suvashis Bhattachary, Michael Blackman, Gerald Graham

STAFF PRESENT: Robert Doty, Rosemary Lake

Chair Kiesling called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of March 21, 2007 were approved by the Committee after the following corrections: Mr. Hronowski and Mr. Graham made and seconded the motion respectively to approve the minutes. In the approval of minute’s paragraph on page one of four member should read Mike Kiesling. On page four of four in the first paragraph, Bruce Jenkins and Mr. Jenkins should read Brian Wilfley.

Public Comment
Jeff Carter, Burlingame, contradicted management’s comments at the April 5 Joint Powers Board (JPB) meeting noting that there are train stations close together on the metro systems in Chicago and New York. He said increases and fluctuations in ridership are not uncommon on Caltrain. From 1987 through 1990 ridership increased 37 percent, 1995 to 1998 saw an increase of 35 percent and 2004 to 2007 shows an increase of 32.5 percent. Factors that can increase ridership include higher gas prices, an improved economy, lowered unemployment rate, and weekend service.

Mark Duncan, Menlo Park, said with Caltrain’s capacity on the four Baby Bullets running 2,000 riders in an hour compared to 2,000 cars per hour on the 101 freeway, Caltrain provides tremendous benefit to everyone that uses 101 by effectively adding a lane each way at the peak commute hours.

Presentation
Project 2025 Update
Mr. Doty, Director of Rail Transportation, gave the following update on Project 2025. An element of the 2025 presentation looked at running non-compliant equipment that is of a lighter weight and generally of a higher performance but is not physically considered compatible by the Federal Rail Administration (FRA) with the heavy rail equipment that we run with freight. California High Speed Rail representatives recently spoke with the FRA about running high speed equipment on heavy rail lines and the FRA said they would consider the possibility.

In March, the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) presented Caltrain with a national award for service improvement. FTA Chief Administrator Mr. Jim Simpson set up a meeting with Caltrain and the FRA to talk about the issue of running non-complaint equipment. This meeting was followed by specific meetings with staff from the FRA with the remarkable outcome that the FRA would consider mixed traffic which is compliant and non-compliant on our railroad if we provided a collision avoidance system. The FRA essentially said they are willing for us to bring a proposal for a collision avoidance system in conjunction with the California High Speed Rail Authority and other commute rail properties in California, but would require a type of advanced grade crossing protection for non-complaint equipment.

Caltrain staff is preparing a white paper in conjunction with High Speed Rail representatives for an appropriate solution to be delivered to the FRA with a meeting to follow in June. The FRA is looking for a solution that must be compatible to high speed rail for the entire state of California. The FRA wants one leadership group, one test place, and they want to have it tested in a controlled environment where they can observe it before considering its use for mixed traffic.

Mr. Doty said April ridership is up 14.8 percent from last year and is the best in the nation. Giant’s ridership is up 154 percent and our revenue these past three years is up 84 percent with excellent on-time performance and these successes give you the benefits of success.

Chair Kiesling attended a High Speed Rail meeting in Sacramento today and said a major issues discussed was which part of the high speed rail do you build first and what are the implications for attracting funding and riders. Caltrain has local plans for electrification, improving grade crossings and station upgrades and would be in line for one of the first projects here on the Peninsula.

Ms. Richardson said that when gas prices were $1.50-$1.60, we received 16 cents of every dollar or so and asked if we are still receiving 16 cents with gas at $4 a gallon. Mr. Doty said it’s a flat fee.

Ms. Richardson said the transportation issue can’t be looked at just from the improvement side but must also relate to more efficiency and asked how the benefits of our success come to cities without close connections to Caltrain. Mr. Doty said we need to look at California as a country and develop our transportation system as a network and the population must demand a system so entire networks flourish to support arteries similar to transit systems that exists in European and Asian countries.

Mr. Wilfley asked if our need to coordinate our efforts with other California transit entities will make the job too complicated. Mr. Doty said it actually simplifies the issue because the FRA said they want us to be the lead agency. There are two elements in California that the FRA is concerned with: that Caltrain is in front of this issue and that high speed rail is being sponsored by the FRA. The meetings with the FRA will promote building an initially acceptable approach to achieve our goals.

Mr. Doty said the next item in the process has to do with Los Angeles and their focus on crash worthiness. Mr. Kiesling said part of the issue is the geography of Los Angeles which has more freight traffic than the Bay Area.

Mr. Wilfley asked if you need to solve the Los Angeles problem in order to get a system. Mr. Doty said we have to solve high speed problems for Caltrain without freight.

Mr. Wilfley asked when this will next come before the JPB Board. Mr. Doty said the Board has had a presentation similar to the one at this meeting but at this point we are on a fairly aggressive path to get the white paper to the FRA.

Mr. Kiesling said the next California High Speed Rail Authority meeting will be held on May 23 at 10:00 a.m. at the San Francisco Airport or in San Francisco and they will be discussing more about sequencing and how financing and financials play into the sequencing of the project.

Presentation: Introduction to Government Affairs Dillon Auyoung, Manager of Government Affairs, was introduced and said he is responsible for the development of the annual legislative policy programs. This involves the coordination and advocacy of agency policy and legislative objectives, working with internal staff and external agencies, managing and monitoring of legislative activities, providing governmental relation support of agency plans and projects and the management of state and federal lobbying efforts. The 2007 Caltrain state and federal legislative program was adopted to help guide the District advocacy efforts.

Ms. Richardson asked if this was a new position. Mr. Dillon said the position was vacant for a few months after the previous manager Ed Stewart resigned and the primary focus of the job with Mr. Stewart involved reporting to the SamTrans Board, but that his position represents the District overall.

Mr. Wilfley asked Mr. Dillon what top three issues he will be tracking. Mr. Dillon said it is 1) financial stability for transportation, 2) seeking reform of state policies that improve project delivery and 3) reform within regulatory agencies.

Ms. Richardson suggested Mr. Dillon work with city councils to explain these goals. She asked for a copy of Mr. Dillon’s job responsibilities which will be provided.

Mr. Doty said there are some legislative positions in some major unions that we work with as well.

Chairperson’s Report
Chair Kiesling reported the following:
Chair Kiesling talked about his experiences and challenges getting from Sacramento to tonight’s meeting and concluded there needs to be more frequency and better connectivity with SamTrans buses. He expressed his concerns about the pedestrian congestion at the 4th and King stations and the danger to pedestrians crossing at intersections adjacent to the Caltrain station.

Committee Comments
Brian Wilfley said we need track crossing enforcement activity at Mountain View.

John Hronowski said he is pleased to see express Caltrain service to Bay to Breakers and bus service for the return.

Paul Bendix asked if Caltrain could work with some of the short-term auto rental agencies in San Francisco and set up a web-based marketing effort whereby you purchase your Caltrain ticket and use one of the zip car spaces near the station.

Public Comment
Andy Chow, SamTrans CAC member, said that some SamTrans buses do operate every 15 minutes but in Redwood City where Mr. Kiesling arrived today from Sacramento, there is confusion when passengers are dropped because the locations to pick up other buses can be more than a block away.

Staff Report
Mr. Doty gave the following comments:

We have received tentative approval to proceed with the procurement of rolling stock. We are going to bid on eight cars, six trailers and two cab cars plus an option for an additional ten with delivery in approximately 14 months.
Caltrain carried 7,000 riders for the first Giant’s baseball game with ridership up this year 154 percent. Two parking lots near the stadium have been closed. Ridership should increase as Barry Bonds comes closer to breaking another record.
Traffic flow between the 4th and King Street Caltrain station and light rail is a hazardous situation. Preliminary work on the future station design will look at moving people to the station above street level.
Mr. Doty thanked Chair Kiesling for hosting a rail colleague for an entire day in San Francisco.
Chair Kiesling said August would be a bye meeting month.

Date/Time/Place of Next Meeting
May 16, 2006 at 6 p.m., Caltrain Headquarters, Bacciocco 2nd Floor Auditorium, 1250 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos, CA

Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.