On June 6, the Caltrain Board unanimously approved the staff recommendation for two bike cars with seven seats and 36 bike spaces per bike car, which was in opposition of SVBC's position. There was however energy among Board and staff toward better on-board security and building out bike parking and corridor-wide bike share before electrification in 2022.

Caltrain’s new electrified fleet will be rolling out for service in 2022. SVBC has been working with Caltrain on the design of their new train cars for years to ensure that the design continues to be as bike friendly as possible. Unfortunately, the staff recommendation for two bike cars on seven car trains raises serious concerns around bike security onboard.

We all want the same thing: more trains and more people biking, so it was great to explore options with staff, Board members, and community at the Caltrain workshop last week. The first half of the workshop focused on barriers and opportunities for people to park their bike and/or use bike and scooter share at the stations and the second half of the workshop considered ideas for redesigning two bike cars and redesigning three cars to include bikes.

SVBC has been working with Caltrain to address your top three concerns: space for bikes, theft, and last mile connetions. Recently, Caltrain has started the bikes board first program and made headway with new bike parking. Read more details and attend a workshop April 17 on future car design.

The legal challenges to Measure B spending are over after two long years! Last week, VTA gladly announced that approximately $360 million dollars, collected from Santa Clara County residents since April 2017, are now available to spend on critical transportation infrastructure needs. 

Bike security on board of Caltrain has been an ongoing concern of the bike community. Read the latest actions from SVBC and the Caltrain JPB to resolve this issue.