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Politics & Government

Redwood City Caltrain Supporters Join Crowd Opposing Service Cuts

Caltrain Administration Announces Fiscal Emergency, Considers Closing Stations and Reducing Trips.

Supporters of the Redwood City Caltrain station joined the more than 100 people who flocked to Caltrain headquarters in San Carlos to protest potential service cuts that could result in closing train stations, or reducing the amount of daily trains in circulation.

Both options, as well as fee hikes, have been proposed by the Caltrain administration in an effort to reduce its nearly $30 million budget deficit entering the fiscal year beginning in July.

As a result, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board members, comprised of community leaders from across the Bay Area, unanimously voted at their meeting to declare a fiscal emergency for 2012. The declaration eases the board's path toward hiking fees or cutting services.

Emerald Hills resident Mercedes Reshke spoke to the board in favor of keeping the trains in circulation at the current level.

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Reshke said her son rides Caltrain from the College Park station to Redwood City on a daily basis to get to school, and cutting service would make his commute much more difficult.

"There's no doubt these closures would affect a large number of people," said Reshke, who encourage the board to look into the possibility of floating a tax measure as a means of creating a long term funding source for Caltrain.

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Redwood City station is not in danger of being closed at this time, but service would be severly reduced should the amount of trains in circulation be cut.

To reduce the budget gap, the board is bandying proposals to cut the 86 trains currently circulating during the weekdays nearly in half to 48 trains per day. As well, closing seven of the existing stations has been proposed as well.

The 10 stations on the chopping block are: Bayshore, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Burlingame, Hayward Park, Belmont, San Antonio, Lawrence, Santa Clara and College Park. Only seven of the possible 10 would be closed, should the board elect to do so.

The purpose of this month's meeting was for members of the public to voice their opinion about the proposed budget cuts and fee increases.

No actions regarding service levels were taken at this meeting, but the board is expected to begin doing so next month, in an effort to finalize its upcoming fiscal year's budget.

Should the proposed reductions in service be approved, the budget deficit would be slashed from $30 million down to nearly $5 million, according to a report released by Caltrain.

The board is dealing with a structural deficit, as it has struggled with financing for the past several years.

Caltrain is financed by contributions from the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit District, and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Caltrain executive director Michael Scanlon said the rail organization is looking for a sustainable revenue source, as it is the only local form of public transportation that is not funded by a dedicated source.

Other potential budget balancing techniques proposed include a 25-cent fee increase per one-way ticket, as well as suspension of service for special events or during weekends and holidays or possibly all stopping service south of the Diridon Station in San Jose.

The public turned out en masse to speak out against the potential service cuts, and often showed a willingness to shoulder fee hikes for tickets and parking in exchange for maintaining current levels of service and keeping all stations open.

A 25-cent fee increase could generate $1.2 million in additional fee revenue. Nearly half of Caltrain's funding comes from revenue made at the fare box, according to a Caltrain report.

Scanlon said all suggestions for coping with the budget crisis are still on the table.

San Francisco Supervisor and JPB Chair Sean Elsbernd said more than 1,300 comments by the public were received before the meeting.

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