tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post7270919366712159208..comments2024-03-18T02:16:13.180-07:00Comments on Holier than You Blog: Caltrain - Broke?murphstahoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378354136823393492noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-10968296865079968492010-04-05T09:16:13.817-07:002010-04-05T09:16:13.817-07:00@Dan - the 'fiscal conservatives' would re...@Dan - the 'fiscal conservatives' would respond that the highways are the reason the land's value is so high. No roads, no development, and no high property values (and the property taxes that go with them).<br /><br />Kinda funny considering the whole idea of a national highway system started out as a New Deal liberal make work program.Yokota Fritzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04808661100114872654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-53581183246587110982010-04-03T07:09:00.689-07:002010-04-03T07:09:00.689-07:00I agree: I don't see many obvious fare evaders...I agree: I don't see many obvious fare evaders on the train. Of course, if it went full honor system, that would change. There's enough citations issued right now to keep folks like me in line.<br /><br />The root of the problem is the completely disproportionate subsidy for driving versus rail. The rental value of the land taken up by 101 and 280 combined, alone, is an order of magnitude higher than Caltrain's budget even after factoring in the land taken up by the tracks. That's a real cost, one of many.djconnelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01484858820878605035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-21494086792209911092010-04-03T07:07:52.221-07:002010-04-03T07:07:52.221-07:00I agree: I don't see many obvious fare evaders...I agree: I don't see many obvious fare evaders on the train. Of course, if it went full honor system, that would change. There's enough citations issued right now to keep folks like me in line.<br /><br />The root of the problem is the completely disproportionate subsidy for driving versus rail. The rental value of the land taken up by 101 and 280 combined, alone, is an order of magnitude higher than Caltrain's budget even after factoring in the land taken up by the tracks. That's a real cost, one of many.djconnelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01484858820878605035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-34130535540398780462010-04-02T21:51:33.358-07:002010-04-02T21:51:33.358-07:00Doubtful Kit. You either nail regular customers wh...Doubtful Kit. You either nail regular customers who screwed up and will get really annoyed(I forgot to buy my pass yesterday. Showed my stack of the last 12 and he said "buy your pass"). Or people you'll never collect from.murphstahoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17378354136823393492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-88489867529144786472010-04-02T16:51:33.315-07:002010-04-02T16:51:33.315-07:00I don't mean to throw kindhearted Caltrain Con...I don't mean to throw kindhearted Caltrain Conductors under the bus (or train), but if conductors stopped letting ticket violators off the hook, all the tickets written could do something to pave the way to being a little more in the black. I see or hear at least one rider getting out of a citation about once a week, in 1/2 a car on one trip. Imagine how many times it happens across the system in a given day.<br /><br />That is, assuming the money from citations actually go to funding Caltrain, which considering bureaucracy, probably isn't the case.kithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15361804236320595415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-41214856687552324042010-04-02T13:23:23.433-07:002010-04-02T13:23:23.433-07:00Yeeikes. I don't know why I expected Caltrain ...Yeeikes. I don't know why I expected Caltrain to hold up better than Muni, but this is a real surprise.<br /><br />I wonder how Stanford will respond. When I was an undergrad, my little dinky liberal arts college used to run a packed shuttle bus to Portland, a half hour away, every hour throughout the day and until midnight on weekends. There is enough money floating around at Stanford that they could start running their own private shuttle system like the tech companies. That'll be the death of Caltrain.crhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088077530659619506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-45494743623628094472010-04-02T07:58:15.016-07:002010-04-02T07:58:15.016-07:00The California High Speed Rail Blog has a story on...The <a href="http://www.cahsrblog.com/2010/04/no-april-fools-joke-caltrain-in-serious-trouble/" rel="nofollow">California High Speed Rail Blog</a> has a story on this. "No April Fools...."<br /><br />The key issue is the fiscal conservatives are justifiably against subsidized public transit: that's consistent with their philosophy. Why should someone who pays more to live close to walk and rides or walks subsidize someone to ride down the peninsula? The problem is these same conservatives should be equally fantical about eliminating subsidies from driving. No more free ride on Hwy 101 or 280.<br /><br />If it was a $20 each way trip up and down these roads, tolls + fuel tax, then Caltrain would have no issue running trains every 10 minutes all day long.djconnelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01484858820878605035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616818704326975625.post-4932477551835620212010-04-02T06:43:12.612-07:002010-04-02T06:43:12.612-07:00Unfortunately, Stanford grad students (like me) ha...Unfortunately, Stanford grad students (like me) have had to pay our own way on Caltrain for quite a few years now...<br /><br />Stanford employees (Teaching and Research Assistants apparently don't qualify) still get passes.<br /><br />But yes, I was almost always on a "mid-day" train (I'd ride the bike back home to San Mateo at night). Such is the life of a grad student.<br /><br />Somehow, we need to figure out how to get public and semi-public agencies (think mass-transit & post office) out of death-spiral moves: raise rates and cut service to "solve" a money crunch, when the main effect of those moves is to lose users and even more money...gazerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07822910943216900056noreply@blogger.com