Massive Caltrain overspending expected; BART eager to put bond on upcoming ballots

The Bay Area's transit system is considering batting its eyelashes and saying “pretty please” in future elections, as the favored solution to sinking ridership numbers is—ask taxpayers to cut more checks. Costs to run Caltrain keep rising, and post-pandemic passengers are both staying away and staying home. Bay City News reports on BART's proposed solution to a growing issue.

Caltrain's cumulative operating deficit may exceed half a billion dollars over the next decade without significant changes in ridership, funding and other factors, according to a new report on the transit system's financial outlook.

Caltrain has recovered just 26% of its pre-pandemic ridership as of November 2022, the lowest rate among the Bay Area's major public transportation systems, according to a report by the consulting firm Bell Burnett & Associates presented Thursday to Caltrain's governing board.

Passengers who ride Caltrain at least four times per week fell by nearly half. In 2019, 68% of Caltrain riders rode four or more times a week....

As a result, a potential long-term transit funding measure would likely be placed on the 2026 or 2028 ballots, officials with BART said in January during a discussion of its own financial problems.

A transit funding measure would likely support either the Bay Area's five main counties—San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Contra Costa—or all nine counties across the region.

This article originally appeared in the San Francisco Standard. Read the whole thing here.

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