Here are three Streetsblog news nuggets to start your weekend.
The region is just loving electric Caltrain
May I have some more please? That might be a good way to summarize what people are saying about Caltrain's electric service, launched in September. From a Caltrain release about a new favorability poll:
...82% of respondents report a favorable view of the transit agency. Riders of Caltrain report even stronger approval of the agency, with 84% of occasional riders and 91% of frequent riders reporting a favorable view.
High levels of support for the agency follow the launch of its new high-performance electric trains in September 2024 that offer a better experience for Caltrain riders and provide faster and more frequent service. It also comes alongside Caltrain reporting its best ridership numbers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Caltrain saw ridership grow to more than a half million passengers in December 2024, a 41% increase over December 2023.
The continued approval of Caltrain shows what this publication has always said: invest in high-quality transit and people will ride. More importantly, this is a strong foundation for future funding measures.
Also from the statement on the poll results:
...respondents recognize the need for additional funding for public transit, with 73% stating there is either some need or a great need for more funding. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in San Francisco and San Mateo counties would support a Caltrain funding measure, with support at 65% and 63%, respectively. A majority of voters polled in Santa Clara County also supported a Caltrain measure.
The poll was of 1,500 likely voters in Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.
Meet the teams that clean the BART
It may not always show—given the efforts some BART riders put into spilling drinks and leaving their trash—-but teams of hard working employees run into every train, every time it reaches the end of the line, and do their best to spruce things up.
From a BART release reminding people to appreciate their work:
Could you clean two 75-foot-long BART cars? Sweep them, mop them, spritz them in the short amount of time the train dwells at an end-of-line station before starting its next run? And – no pressure! -- that five minutes is a hard deadline. Even a brief delay can disrupt the highly choreographed network of trains that make up the BART system.
If you’re one of BART’s nearly 100 end-of-line cleaners, that’s just another day on the job.
BART put together a video montage of these folks hard at work. It's a dirty job, so be sure to say 'thanks' when you see them on the trains and platforms.
And lastly, no Central Subway service through March 14
The Central Subway has water incursion issues. So SFMTA closed the (mostly) underground portion of the system starting Wednesday, Feb. 26 to see if they can get it remedied. From an SFMTA release:
- Chinatown-Rose Pak, Union Square/Market Street, Yerba Buena/Moscone and 4th & Brannan Muni Metro stations will be closed.
- There will be no T Third Street train service between Chinatown-Rose Pak and 4th & Brannan stations. Instead, a T Bus shuttle will operate between Chinatown-Rose Pak Station and the 4th & King stop.
- The 30 Stockton and 45 Union/Stockton will continue to operate as usual throughout the closure and are good alternatives to the T Bus.
Meanwhile, the K Ingleside and T Third rail lines will operate as a single combined KT Train service that runs from Sunnydale to Embarcadero to Balboa Park.
