The Joint Powers Board (JPB) approved the strategy and scope of work for the Caltrain Business Plan. The plan will define the long-term vision for the fast-growing commuter rail system that connects San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
The work outlined in the plan, which was passed by the JPB at its February board meeting Thursday, will allow Caltrain to identify a service model that supports long-term regional job and population growth, and surging ridership demand. This work will involve an exploration of economic, policy and technical approaches that will provide a better understanding of passenger needs and opportunities to maximize the value of Caltrain for local communities.
The scope of work defines how Caltrain will effectively implement this strategy. Caltrain staff will analyze changing demographics and travel patterns to identify options for the growth of the service, and to determine how best to serve the evolving needs of riders for the years to come.
The Caltrain Business Plan will also look at long-range opportunities to integrate regional rail services that could traverse and connect to the Caltrain corridor. The final Business Plan will include specific targets for service and capacity growth that will describe how Caltrain should grow to meet market demand. This includes development of an organizational strategy that provides a framework for contracting, management and governance decisions that will best support the service vision.
The Business Plan will also examine the impact Caltrain has on communities and will explore opportunities for increased rail service to support local and regional land-use strategies. This includes looking at the immediate impacts an evolving Caltrain service would have on the physical footprint of cities, particularly around stations and where the rail corridor crosses local streets and roads. The Business Plan will also evaluate funding opportunities to deliver the recommended improvements and support the long-term growth of the system.
Work on the Caltrain Business Plan began in spring of 2017 after the agency awarded contracts for construction of the Caltrain Electrification project, which will allow the system to replace decades-old diesel equipment with modernized electric trains. When complete, Caltrain Electrification will immediately improve the system’s capacity, service frequency and travel times, but the strategies recommended in the final Business Plan will need to be implemented to fully realize the benefits that electrification makes possible. The Business Plan will be completed with input from communities along the corridor and is expected to be complete by the end of 2018.
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About Caltrain: Owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain provides commuter rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with limited commute service to Gilroy. Caltrain enjoyed five years of consecutive monthly ridership increases, surpassing more than 65,000 average weekday riders. While the Joint Powers Board assumed operating responsibilities for the service in 1992, the railroad celebrated 150 years of continuous passenger service in 2014. Planning for the next 150 years of Peninsula rail service, Caltrain is on pace to electrify the system, reduce diesel emissions by 97 percent by 2040 and add more service to more stations.
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