Friends of Caltrain urge action

Friends of Caltrain has put out a request for action in order to secure funding for Caltrain through 2012:

1) The last stop for Caltrain funding for 2012 is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). The Planning and Allocations committee is meeting on Wednesday, June 8 at 10am - they are going to be reviewing the last $5 million to complete Caltrain's operating budget for FY2012 starting this summer. This is short notice, but if you can make this meeting to encourage MTC to fund Caltrain, please RSVP to friends@friendsofcaltrain.com for coordination and talking points.

2) The mechanical failures will only get worse if Caltrain can't make up a gap from capital budget funding cuts from San Francisco and Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Caltrain had planned for $12 million in FY2012 to keep trains in good running order; SamTrans put in $4 million, but VTA put in just $3 million and San Francisco only $2 million. Click here to urge San Francisco and VTA to work with Caltrain and MTC to fill the gap and keep trains running reliably.

3) If you live in San Francisco, there are two MTC Commissioners representing the City. Please send a quick note welcoming Scott Wiener and David Campos to their role, and thank them in advance for paying attention to keeping Caltrain running.

Contact:
scott.wiener@sfgov.org, david.campos@sfgov.org

4) To break the cycle of emergency funding, Caltrain will need a dedicated source of funding. Read this article for information about the likely sources of funding, based on research from the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and stay tuned for next steps for a campaign