Finding Funding for Caltrain

The San Francisco Peninsula's Caltrain is currently facing a severe financial crisis. Due to Covid and the decrease in ridership for years after, Caltrain is looking at a $75 million deficit by 2027. This financial crisis could potentially cause Caltrain to cut a third of their stations, cut weekend service, reduce to hourly train service and cut trains after 9 PM. Even with these severe cuts, their deficits would reach $50 million by 2032. There is a call to Bay Area voters to vote on a transit sales tax to help with this financial crisis that Caltrain is facing.

If these cuts on Caltrain go through, it would be detrimental to communities that rely on this essential service. This means that low income residents, workers and students who rely on public transportation will make access to their jobs and education and even see their family members more difficult. While cuts are terrible and should not happen, we should not have to rely on voters or sales tax increases to keep our public services running efficiently. Instead, we need to ensure that we have a public transit system that is sustainable and we must ensure that there’s always funding for these essential services. Even BART and MUNI are at hrisk if we don’t put effort into funding our public transit. With prop 13 reform, we can get $17 billion a year from corporations not paying their fair share of property taxes, and bring it to our public services including Caltrain. Public services shouldn’t rely on voter bailouts, but should have sustainable funding to ensure that our communities are taken care of.

Caltrain could face ‘draconian’ cuts. Will the Bay Area pay higher taxes to save it?

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/caltrain-cuts-tax-21147433.php

By Rachel Swan | SF Chronicle | November 7, 2025