Caltrain Fare Increases, Service Changes Effective Jan. 1

Beginning New Year's Day Caltrain riders will begin paying more to ride fewer trains.

At the stroke of midnight fares will increase a minimum of 25 cents on each zone and passengers will no longer able to ride northbound trains 237 and 257  or southbound trains 236 and 256 between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

However, Caltrain will add  two round-trip weekend Baby Bullet trains in an attempt to increase revenue and ridership, according to Executive Director Michael Scanlon.

The additional weekend service will initially be a three-month pilot program but could be extended if justified by ridership and ticket sales. The two trains will operate once in the morning and once in the evening for a total of four trips.

"We have to at least be able to break even to continue the service," said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn. The program will cost $100,000 and Caltrain officials hope to generate additional revenue from the weekend service.

There will be no extra charge for travel within the same zone.  But the fare northbound from Redwood City to San Francisco will increase 25 cents to $4.50  and southbound to San Jose will jump 50 cents to $6.50. Caltrain budget manager Eva Goode said Go Pass fares will rise almost 11 percent to $155 from $140.

Fares aren't the only increases Caltrain passengers will see. Effective Dec. 7, fines for parking violations jumped to $48 from $45, Goode said, because the railroad is passing along a $3 fee being collected by the state on each parking violation. 

Beginning Jan. 31 riders must begin using the Clipper system for monthly passes and eight-ride tickets, which can be purchased online  at www.caltrain.com/clipper.

Caltrain is also implementing other restrictions in the new year, including elimination of the monthly pass "grace period." Riders currently may use monthly passes until noon on the first day of the month when the pass expires. Beginning Jan. 1 the pass will only be valid until 11:59pm on the last day of the month. The 8-ride ticket will also no longer be transferable between passengers, and each rider must have their own. Another change will be the definition of "Youth"  as an individual "17 years and younger." During 2010, any high school student could purchase a youth ticket regardless of age. 

While these efforts are expected to close 2010-2011 fiscal year budget gap, Caltrain officials anticipate a $30 million budget deficit for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

As one of many options for reducing this deficit,  Scanlon proposed running Caltrain purely as a commuter line with no mid-day or weekend service. But before making any decisions on future service, officials say they must analyze ridership and revenue figures.