Caltrain Spring 2015 ConnectionInformation for Customers New Executive Director Leads Caltrain Authority Board of Directors, where he served most recently as vice chair. "This is personal for me," said Hartnett. "I grew up on the Peninsula. I rode the train before there was a Caltrain. I believe in what transit can do to make a better life for all of us and to preserve those things we so deeply value and treasure about living and working here. I understand the important role our train system plays in main- taining our quality of life and sustaining the economic vitality of our region." Jim Hartnett, veteran trans- Scanlon who retired after more Hartnett's appointment is portation and community than 15 years of service with the result of a nationwide leader, took the wheel of the the District. recruitment that took more San Mateo County Transit Hartnett, a Redwood City than six months. District as the new General resident, served five years on Manager/CEO this spring. He both the Caltrain Board of also serves as Executive Direc- Directors, during which time he Call for Proposals tor of Caltrain and the San also had a stint as chair. He was A significant milestone in Mateo County Transportation appointed four years ago to the electrification of the Authority. He replaced Mike the California High Speed Rail Caltrain corridor has been reached with the release of the Peninsula Corridor Electrifica- Caltrain Asks Supporters to tion Project Design Build Request for Proposals. Six “Stand Up 4 Transportation” previously qualified firms, Shimmick/Alstom, CalMod Caltrain joined transit agen- events around the country, fea- Partners Elecnor/Cobra; Balfour cies from all over the Bay Area tured speakers urging Congress Beatty, Mass Electric/Siemens; at the Temporary Transbay to pass a long-term transpor- Skanska-Comstock-Aldridge, Terminal in San Francisco in tation funding bill before the Peninsula Electrification April for Stand Up 4 Transpor- current bill expires May 31. Partners – PTG and Isolux- tation Day, a national campaign Sponsored by the American Corsan, can now submit pro- to draw public attention to the Public Transportation Associa- posals for the contract to design importance of transportation. tion with support from national and construct the project. The rally, one of more than 90 continued on page 6 continued on page 6 Caltrain allows her to be home 1,000 new employees to the in time to cook dinner. She takes downtown area. Fast Facts Transit-oriented Development advantage of her commute on The city of San Carlos re- Service for Holidays the train to check emails and cently approved plans to build a catch up on work. "I don't have Transit Village on approximately Caltrain will operate a Sunday Solves Last-mile Connection schedule on Memorial Day, May 25, to think about driving or six acres of property between El and on Independence Day, July 4. honking." Camino Real and the San Carlos Schedule information is available Bay Meadows is not the only Caltrain Station. SamTrans, the at www.caltrain.com. TOD on the Caltrain corridor. owner of the property, is leasing • • • The Crossings in Mountain the land to the developer. CalMod Electric Car Update View is across the street from The mixed-used develop- Customers weighed in on how Caltrain's San Antonio station. A ment plan calls for a three-story they'd like the new electric train former auto mall, The Crossings building that includes 202 rental cars to be configured, with an emphasis on issues like seating, is now a 540-unit neighborhood units, recreational facilities, bike capacity and bathrooms. that includes high-density hous- 25,800 square feet of commer- Customers were asked to fill out ing, retail shops and a daycare cial space and a public plaza. A an online survey aimed at gather- center. Narrow tree-lined streets new multi-modal Transit Center ing feedback for design specifi- cations of the rail agency's new and sidewalks and small pocket adjacent to the train station electric train cars. parks all combine to create a will provide parking for Caltrain Fifty-six percent of the 4,196 walkable, bikeable neighbor- customers as well as dedicated respondents who participated hood. The TOD shares parking areas for shuttles, buses and ranked increasing seat capacity as the top priority, giving it a with Caltrain. taxis. Construction could begin cumulative score of 4.5 on a scale In Redwood City, Crossings next year. of 5. Thirty-eight percent of the 900, a large commercial and TOD is supported by individ- respondents said that increasing retail development, is under ual city plans, as well as strate- onboard bike capacity was very important and 22 percent said that construction adjacent to the gic plans adopted by both Cal- increasing bike storage at stations 2 Caltrain station, which also is train and the San Mateo County was very important. Standing room 3 a major hub for SamTrans bus Transit District. Regionally, the came in next at 3.26 and bathroom service. The project, expected projects are ideal examples of usage was fourth at 2.18. to be completed by the end the transit-oriented development • • • The train station is becoming nine counties in the region are A recent survey of Bay of the year, includes 300,000 included in the Grand Boulevard Ride Share for that Last- a prominent feature of vibrant, expected to add about 1.6 mil- Meadows residents indicated square feet of office space, Initiative, a long-range planning mile Connection livable communities thanks to a lion new residents, an average of that 25 percent took Caltrain on 5,000 square feet of ground effort to develop El Camino Real Ridesharing companies like fast growing trend called transit 64.760 new residents a year. a weekly basis and 50 percent Uber and Lyft are opening up more floor mixed use and will attract into an attractive place to live, oriented development. Developments like Bay rode it at least once a month. transit possibilities for Caltrain work and play. commuters trying to get to their City planner-speak for com- Meadows, adjacent to the Residents are encouraged to use final destination. The app-based, munities clustered around trans- Hillsdale station in San Mateo, the train in the development's on-demand car services have filled portation hubs that include a offer an attractive solution to blog and the train schedule is in a big gap in the urban transpor- mix of housing, retail and office meet this growing demand. The published on the Bay Meadows tation market, supplementing, as space, TOD has a new appeal for 83-acre project on the site of website. Caltrain also is promi- well as complementing, existing Delayed Trains, Delayed Customers public transit. Customers take note people looking for a place to call a former racetrack will include nently featured in the develop- Caltrain service earlier this these tragedies since assuming the ride services may adjust their home. more than 1,100 housing units, ment's marketing materials. prices based on demand and time year hasn't been what it should According to the Peninsula 750,000 square feet of office Residents Aparna and Vineet operation of the railroad in 1992. of day. be. One day it's mechanical and • • • Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance, space, 90,000 square feet of Kannan love living the TOD All of these events cause signal issues that slow down City of Burlingame Installs Bay Area commuters spend retail space and 18 acres of lifestyle. When they began look- overcrowding on trains and cas- the train. Another day it might EV Charging Stations more than 155,000 extra hours parks when it's completed in ing for a home, Aparna said, "We cading delays. Service must be be large groups of riders or a restored. To do that a conductor Next time you catch the train in traffic - that's 17 years and about five years. Located within told our real estate agent that at Burlingame be sure to check out vehicle blocking the tracks that may determine that the train can more than $1.8 million of wasted walking distance of Caltrain and one of the most important things the newly installed electric vehicle causes delayed trains. productivity per day. SamTrans, taking public trans- for us was to be close to public no longer safely board customers. charging stations located in front Then, there are fatalities of the station depot. The city of The Association of Bay Area portation is an easy choice for transportation." In this instance and in an effort involving Caltrain that disrupt to get trains up the line to allow Burlingame recently installed pub- Governments projections indi- residents. With shopping, parks The couple finds that TOD lic EV charging stations at Califor- service. It's an issue faced by for service, some customers are cate that living in the Bay Area and restaurants nearby, there living offers a number of advan- nia Drive, next to the Burlingame railroads across the country. will become even more challeng- is very little reason to take the tages. Aparna enjoys cooking asked to get off the train so that Caltrain Station. The two duel-cord Caltrain has been dealing with it can express to a farther stop. electric vehicle charging stations ing over the next 25 years; the car out of the garage, or even to and the short commute on are capable of charging up to four have a car. continued on page 6 vehicles simultaneously. Harvest Time at Local Farmers Market 4 5 Spring is here and your local farmers market is filled with fresh, local grown produce and goods.