The Capitol Corridor's latest promotion effort to attract young riders to the trains includes this "wrap" on one of its cars, seen here in the Oakland maintenance yard. This summer features a "kids ride free any day (except Friday)" promotion, which has increased ridership by 30-40% on weekends. Capitol Corridor photo
Capitol Corridor Report
April 21, 2004
Suisun City Hall
Reported by Russ Jackson
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The CCJPA met in regular session meeting today. A quorum was present by having two board members participate by teleconference. The meeting opened with a ringing endorsement from Chairman Kathy Sands (Placer County) of the completion of the Yolo Causeway double tracking project, which has already resulted in On Time Performance of the Capitols to return above 90%. Ridership has been stagnant lately, and this will help return ridership to higher levels. The group also heard that the level of cooperation with the UP has been increasing, with the UP's OTP responsibility reaching 94% in March. A ten minute reduction in running time is shown in the timetables effective April 26. It is now 2 hours from Jack London Square to Sacramento. The plan to extend the Capitols to Reno is still on the front burner, but it may be years before funds will be available to accomplish this objective. In mid-May a special car, arranged by Art Lloyd, will be attached to the California Zephyr and make a physical recon of the route. (By the way, in Reno the "trench project is well underway, with the track 'shoofly' installed.) In Marketing, the big summer promotion will be the return of the Kids Ride Free plan, but they are making it available every day except Fridays (when ridership is the highest) this year.")
- With almost no debate the CCJPA (by a vote of 11-0) endorsed the California High Speed Rail Environmental Impact Report "as it is written." Managing Director Gene Skoropowski emphasized that in endorsing the report there was nothing implied as an endorsement of the exclusion of the Altamont Pass project. There "is nothing in the Report about it, and the Altamont project had been eliminated by the CAHSRA a year ago." Skoropowski did say, however, that the route entering the Bay Area from the South that is in the plan now "makes operating sense." With that route the trains will divide only twice, while with Altamont the route would be divided three times. East Bay and the Peninsula would "each get 50% of the service, rather than 33%." And, he pointed out there is a large cost savings with the current plan. He told this writer that having the high speed trains be a commuter service to the Valley defeats the purpose of high speed trains. Every stop adds time to a schedule, and the commuter service would best be left to the ACE trains. Board member Steve Cohn, a Sacramento City Councilman, emphasized the need for continuing to include Sacramento in the plan, which is now not included in the beginning phases. A statement of comments was included emphasizing need for coordinating connectivity with existing systems in the Bay Area/San Jose and Sacramento. Specifically, the CCJPA "suggests a mitigation that would indicate that the CAHSRA will work with affected rail entities to minimize service impacts to existing rail services in the construction and operational phases," particularly if the high speed trains will be sharing tracks with the Capitol Corridor. The CCJPA board will write a letter expressing their views to the CAHSRA.
- The Business Plan was also adopted by an 11-0 vote. In summary, the plan is "premised upon the state's continuing financial deficit situation." Its primary features are, 1) maintains the current 24-train service , with funding to support service increases to San Jose and Roseville/Auburn; 2) presumes no amount of additional capital programming available in the 2004 STIP which requires deferral of all unallocated projects for at least two years; 3) maintains aggressive, proactive marketing strategies; and 4) seeks opportunities where possible to add train and/or motorcoach service while staying within the State's budget allocation. On this latter subject it was noted that the CCJPA has stayed within its (frozen) state allocation for several years while service has increased 33%. What is of concern, however, are actions proposed, one by the Governor to suspend transfer of Prop 42 funds (about $2 billion a year) from the General Fund to the State Transportation Fund, and the other contained in SB 1759 (Denham/Battin) that would eliminate receipts from the sales tax on motor vehicle user fees from being transferred to the Public Transportation Account. This account is used to pay the operating costs for the state-supported intercity rail services and local transit agencies. The CCJPA voted 11-0 to oppose this bill, and are watching the budget actions of the Governor and the Legislature.
- AB2085 (Montanez) would increase fines for "Stopping on Railroad Tracks." There are now 14,000 grade crossings and 26 million registered vehicles in California, and we are among the top five nationally for rail crossing incidents. This bill seeks to increase the current fine from $101 to $311 for stopping on railroad tracks, which matches the level of fines for attempting to drive around a lowering gate. The CCJPA will write a support letter on this bill.
- The CCJPA was shown a video from CNN, which awarded the Capitol Corridor its "Champions of Industry" Award. Several board members and Mr. Skoropowski are featured in the video, which explains how the service has become so popular and how it operates within the state budget while increasing service. The video, from Pat Summeral Productions and narrated by former quarterback Troy Aikman, will be duplicated and proud board members will use it in meetings they attend.
