CALTRAIN BUSINESS PLAN ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT JULY 2019 DRAFT REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 1: Initial Assessment Identifying Key Issues and Areas for Focus ............................... 6 I. Objective and Organization ............................................................................................................. 6 II. Work Completed .............................................................................................................................. 7 III. Key High-Level Observations .......................................................................................................... 7 IV. Organizational Areas for Future Focus ........................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2: Defining the Standard Functions of a Major Passenger Railroad and Mapping the Caltrain Organization ............................................................................................................. 15 I. Objective and Organization ........................................................................................................... 15 II. High Level Overview of Railroad Functions and Outputs ............................................................ 15 III. High Level Overview of Typical Large US Railroad Organization ............................................... 17 IV. Detailed Discussion of Railroad Functional Units ....................................................................... 18 V. Summary of Standard Railroad functionality ............................................................................... 24 VI. Mapping the Caltrain organization ............................................................................................... 24 VII. Caltrain’s High Level Outputs ....................................................................................................... 25 VIII. Caltrain’s Detailed Functionality ................................................................................................... 26 IX. Observations .................................................................................................................................. 29 Chapter 3: Summary and Comparison of Organizational Structure of Other Commuter Railroads and Public Agencies .............................................................................................. 32 I. Objective and Organization ........................................................................................................... 32 II. General Review of North American Railroad Service Delivery Models ...................................... 32 III. Detailed US Case Studies ............................................................................................................. 37 II. International Case Studies ............................................................................................................ 48 Chapter 4: Organizational and Governance Review and Analysis ........................................... 52 I. Objective and Organization ........................................................................................................... 52 II. Definition of terms ........................................................................................................................ 52 III. High-Level Questions for Board/Member Agency Decision Making .......................................... 53 IV. Context ........................................................................................................................................... 53 V. Service Delivery Options ............................................................................................................... 54 VI. Internal Organization ..................................................................................................................... 59 VII. Governance Options ...................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 5: Organizational Assessment Recommendations .................................................... 95 I. Objective and Organization ........................................................................................................... 95 II. Service Delivery ............................................................................................................................. 95 III. Internal Organization ..................................................................................................................... 96 IV. Governance .................................................................................................................................... 98 Appendix ............................................................................................................................. 100 I. Participants in initial Stakeholder Interviews ............................................................................ 100 II. Key Reports Reviewed ................................................................................................................. 103 III. Howard Permut Personal Vita .................................................................................................... 105 The following report is an organizational assessment of Caltrain. It has been undertaken as one part of the “Caltrain Business Plan,” a long range plan analyzing the overall future of the Caltrain service and corridor. The delivery of this Organizational Assessment report has been deliberately timed to coincide with the Board’s consideration of different options for a “Long Range Service Vision” as part of the larger Business Plan process. As the Board considers what the long term vision for Caltrain rail service might be, this report sets out an accompanying spectrum of organizational considerations, options and recommendations that will need to be addressed as part of any larger transformation of the railroad. Caltrain is at a pivotal moment in its history and change is coming. Since assuming its current institutional form in the early 1990s, Caltrain has experienced nearly three decades of successful growth, becoming the US’s 7th largest commuter railroad as well as the most efficient major passenger railroad in the country. Looking forward, however, the decisions to electrify the railroad and to one day share the corridor with High Speed Rail have set the agency down a path of significant change and transformation. Similarly, the Caltrain corridor and service are central to a number of major, multi-billion dollar regional projects like the Downtown Extension in San Francisco, the rebuilding of Diridon Station in San Jose, and the planned and contemplated grade separation of dozens of at-grade crossings along the rail corridor. Caltrain’s organization is foundational to all of these changes. From its overall governance to the manner in which it delivers its day-to-day service, the railroad’s organizational choices will be instrumental to ensuring its continuing success as it prepares for a period of dynamic growth and change that may continue for decades. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Caltrain organization. It addresses the related organizational areas of service delivery, internal organization and governance and lays out a spectrum of choices, focus areas and recommendations for consideration by Caltrain and its partners as they prepare for the work ahead. The report is divided into five chapters, each with a different emphasis. • Chapters 1 through 3 provide important context, background information and comparative analyses that are intended to help the reader understand key issues surrounding the Caltrain organization and to relate the specific circumstances of Caltrain to the organizational structures and approaches used by other railroads around the country and world • Chapter 4 is an extensive analysis of the specific issues and options available to Caltrain in the areas of service delivery, internal organization and governance • Chapter 5 builds on the analysis of the preceding chapter and makes specific recommendations and outlines implementation steps This report has been prepared by Howard Permut, of Permut Consulting LLC with contributing assistance from the following individuals and institutions; • Professor Michael Bennon and the Stanford Global Projects Center (Chapter 3) • Ratna Amin, DB Engineering & Consulting (Chapters 3 and 4) • Lou Thompson, Thompson Galenson and Associates LLC (Chapters 3 and 4) • Renee Marler (Chapter 4) • David Miller, Hanson and Bridgett (Chapter 4) The author would like to express his gratitude to the individuals listed above as well as to the many Caltrain staff, Board members and external stakeholders who provided information and made themselves available for interviews throughout the researching and production of this report. Finally, the author would like to extend a special thanks to Stanford University whose generous financial and administrative support made this effort possible. This chapter serves as an entry point into the larger organizational assessment of Caltrain. It was written during the summer and fall of 2018 and includes a series of initial observations related to key context, themes and issues that were determined to be of importance to the overall organizational assessment. Many of these are addressed