With no tax on ballot, doom day looms for Caltrain
Written by RT&S Staff
Grade-separated East 25th Avenue reopens.
Caltrain
Caltrain appears to be dead on the tracks. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors did not support putting a sales tax for the passenger rail system on the November ballot.
The three counties served by Caltrain all had to be onboard for the one-eighth of a cent sales tax. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors needed to introduce a resolution supporting the sales tax during a meeting on July 14. The board never made the move despite several people speaking in support of the sales tax during the public comment portion of the meeting.
COVID-19 has left Caltrain in terrible financial shape, and with the tax now off the ballot many experts believe the passenger rail system will shut down entirely. The tax also was going to help Caltrain expand service over the next 20 years. Caltrain is using federal funds to keep its operations alive.
Seamus Murphy, chief communications officer for Caltrain, says the San Francisco Board of Supervisors dropped the ball and could have saved the rail service from being shut down. Murphy says just last week he was informed the item would be introduced at the next board meeting, but it never was.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors wants to see changes in who controls Caltrain. Members want San Francisco and Santa Clara counties to have more of a voice. The board would support the tax, but not before those changes would take place.
Polls show almost two-thirds of voters in the three counties served by Caltrain would approve a tax measure on the ballot. Labor unions, businesses, environmentalists and other groups also supported the tax.
Read more articles on passenger rail.
