Caltrain: More Expensive Than I Remembered

BART service between San Francisco and Oakland has been shut down all day and won't resume until late afternoon. Although BART still ran cars from Peninsula locations to San Francisco throughout the day, I switched to Caltrain as a precaution.

It's common for old-timers to blanch at the escalating price of items, but I still was flabbergasted by the cost of Caltrain. A scant four years ago I paid less than $10 a day, all-in. Today it was $17.50 [$9.50 Caltrain round trip + $4 parking + $4 San Francisco light rail].  Including gasoline, it would have cost about the same to drive the 20 miles north to San Francisco and park at one of the discount lots a few blocks from the office. (By comparison BART from Millbrae to San Francisco is $10.50, including parking of $2.)

Caltrain's recent fare hikes and higher ridership have greatly strengthened its financial position. From this infrequent commuter's point of view, however, Caltrain needs to take a breather on price increases lest its hard-won gains vanish overnight.

Homes under construction at the old Bay Meadows site should add hundreds of Caltrain customers.