Caltrain Conundrum

The third Webster's definition of conundrum is "an intricate and difficult problem".  To me, Caltrain is an intricate problem because of all of the parties involved starting with the actual railroad that owns the right of way (Union Pacific) and is often quiet on high-cost rail using said right of way all the way to the Joint Powers Board, Caltrain's organization itself, etc, etc, etc.  The Daily Journal did two nice pieces on Friday that note

Caltrain’s Board of Directors is on a tight schedule to secure funds if it wants to stay on track to award design and construction contracts in the comings months that will enable its growing commuter base to ride electric trains by 2020.  The board met Thursday morning to approve an updated agreement with its various local, regional, state and federal funding partners after staff realized the project cost had grown considerably from just $1.5 billion a few years ago.

The board members didn’t comment publicly during the meeting on the increased expense or discuss the project’s reliance on $713 million from high-speed rail and $647 million in not-yet-awarded federal grant money.

and the piece noted at least one guy who is paying attention

During Thursday’s meeting, some members of the public expressed skepticism whether relying on high-speed rail was wise.  “There’s a $600 million hole in this budget currently,” said San Jose resident Roland Lebrun, noting high-speed rail’s legal troubles. “It’s blocked in the court, it’s not going anywhere.”

High-cost rail may eventually "go somewhere" but it won't be up the Peninsula by 2020!  The second article goes to the design of the new cars themselves

The board and public gathered Thursday to discuss several key aspects of the new electric trains such as whether to include restrooms, how much space to leave for bicyclists and height of the doors.

The “discussion generally is centered around how to strike the balance between seats and standees, and bathrooms and general competition for onboard space in light of the growth we’ve experienced,” (COO Michelle) Bouchard said, later noting “one bathroom in essence equals 12 seats or 24 standees. And that’s quite significant if you look at it per car.”

So the conundrum continues as do the crowded trains, stranded cyclists and our closed B'way station.  A conundrum indeed, but with the salaries Caltrain is paying one would hope for some good resolutions!

Comments

[Tonight, Wed, June 1st at 6:30pm> High Density Housing Celebration!]

I know, Joe prefers to not post community events here.

However, now that you understand the positives and negatives of "Regionalism" via ABAG, "The Grand Boulevard Initiative", "High Density Housing", "High Speed Rail", etc, you might be interested to attend tonight's meeting in Burlingame to hear and discuss the official party line. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(politics)

Wednesday, June 1, 2016
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
City of Burlingame
Recreation Center Auditorium
850 Burlingame Ave
Burlingame

Join us as we host spring Plan Bay Area open houses in each of the Bay Area's nine counties!

Help chart the path for your community by participating in this critical, collaborative planning process.
Plan Bay Area is a roadmap to help Bay Area cities and counties preserve the character of our diverse communities while adapting to the challenges of future population growth. Our upcoming open houses will provide context for this vital planning effort and seek your input to help shape the future of your county and the Bay Area as a whole.
For more details, contact [email protected] or call (510) 817-5757. For transit information, visit 511.org.

[Joe]

This is OK by me (as a comment). I would be great to get a follow-up comment on how it went. I have a business meeting, so cannot make it.

[Joe]

Speaking of "the salaries Caltrain is paying", here are a couple of excerpts from today's DJ:

After two years on the job, the county’s top transit leader is now earning nearly $500,000 in total compensation including benefits following an annual raise and performance bonus. An attorney and former Redwood City mayor, this year Hartnett received a 3.5 percent raise, $50,000 performance bonus and an extension to his five-year employment contract.

But (Morris) Brown, the Menlo Park resident, said he took particular issue with Hartnett’s $50,000 performance payment, suggesting it’s been a rocky year for Caltrain. Brown noted the rail agency’s pending litigation with a contractor over installation of its federally-mandated new control system; and the estimated $20 million cost of extending electrification contracts due to the Federal Transit Administration deferring a grant decision.

- See more at: http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-04-20/countys-top-transit-official-now-earns-nearly-500000-caltrain-ta-samtrans-leader-jim-hartnett-receives-raise-bonus-with-other-benefits/1776425179050.html#sthash.JgnbQb9m.dpuf

The Post article on Hartnett's salary was more explicit on the litigation:

"Hartnett received the bonus and raise despite a lawsuit filed against Caltrain in March by a contractor on a federally-mandated safety project who claims it was unable to get its job done because of disarray and confusion at the railroad."

Some close observers believe that there is a scarcity of actual railroad operations experience at Caltrain and as the lawsuit unfolds, there may be some details about that since no big contractor like Parsons Transportation Group wants to be known for suing its clients.