Published Saturday, October 12, 2002, in the San Mateo Independent

Weekend bus bridge receiving bad reviews

Caltrain replacement service drawing only a fraction of the ridership
of its predecessor

By Sara Zaske
Independent Newspapers

SAN MATEO -- Caltrain's weekend ridership option seems like no option
to the majority of riders stranded at bus stations throughout the
county and in San Francisco.

With weekend train service halted during construction of the Baby
Bullet train line, the alternative offered -- the RRX bus service --
is pulling in few passengers an~ even fewer positive reviews. Mass
transit riders are attempting to plan their travel via a route that
hits four Caltrain stations San Jose Diridon, Palo Alto, Hillsdale
and San Francisco at Fourth and King streets.

The RRX bus does try to imitate train services -- it costs the same
$3 from Hillsdale to San Francisco. It also runs on the same
schedule, which means Saturday's RRX runs northbound at a few minutes
after the hour and the southbound a few minutes after the half hour.
But on Sunday's there are often two-hour waits.

"I think it sucks," said Linda Derbyshire, on a recent Saturday
afternoon as she hoped to get from San Francisco to Palo Alto to
visit her family. She stood in line with more than 70 people, their
backs turned away from the parked train cars, hoping to get to the
Peninsula in a reasonable time. "It just seems like an awfully long
time to be shut down."

San Francisco passengers complain that the RRX hit only a few stops
and does not connect to the airport. With less transit options south
of the city, they also find it harder to get around once they get to
Peninsula and South Bay destinations.

Many in the line last week were planning to spend their time and
money in San Mateo County.

But several horse racing enthusiasts were undeterred by the long bus
line -- though they did point out that since the bus does not stop at
the Bay Meadows Race Track, they have to walk almost a mile from the
Hillsdale Station to place their bets.

Hilda Escobar and Leonor Sandoval wanted to go down to "beautiful
Burlingame" for lunch. It was the first time the two had heard that
the trains were not running -- and that there was no direct service
to their favorite lunch spot.

"Can you believe that? It's insanity!" said Escobar as the two headed
out of the Caltrain station, in search of a San Francisco eatery.

Although the bus service seems to be working well for county
residents living in close proximity to one of the four designated
stops, it fails for those who do not -- a fact reflected in ridership
numbers. A full 75 percent of weekend rail riders have disappeared
from Caltrain.

According to Caltrain, the Saturday average is 2,500 RRX riders and
Sunday gets 2,000 riders --compared to 10,000 and 7,000 riders who
used the train service before the weekend shutdown.

Caltrain spokesperson Jayme Maltbie said that the service is only
meant to serve 30 percent of weekend riders. As with Caltrain
service, the bus bridge is heavily subsidized and providing even this
level of service is expensive. Caltrain runs 12 buses on Saturday and
Sunday at a cost of approximately $2,000 a bus for a total cost of
roughly $24,000 a day.

"We don't have unlimited money to pay for this service. Every bus. we
add needs a driver, conductors at the stations, fuel, maintenance."
Maltbie said. "The cost increases exponentially."

Less than a dozen people waited at the Hillsdale station in San Mateo
on a recent Saturday afternoon for the Caltrain substitute. Most
lived close by and their destinations in San Francisco were either
within walking distance from the San Francisco station or required a
short ride on Muni.

"It's wonderful! We get there faster, and we are the first stop on
the freeway coming home," said Foster City resident Flo Baker as she
waited at the Hillsdale station in San Mateo. The bus bridge trip
from San Mateo to San Francisco takes only 33 minutes, compared to
the 44 minutes on the train. The speed can be attributed to the light
weekend traffic on Highway 101 and the fact that it stops at only
four stations, compared to a train which can serve as many as 11
stations between Hillsdale and San Francisco.

County residents who do not live near Hillsdale Station say they have
difficulty using the bus bridge. On this Saturday run, only two
people who lived outside the immediate area were waiting for the bus.
Millbrae resident Steven McCoy said he had to take a different bus
south to San Mateo to catch the RRX north to San Francisco, a
scenario that he said was still faster than using a bus and BART to
get to the city.

For trips from the Peninsula to San Francisco, riders say there are
not many other options besides driving. There is another bus service
to San Francisco provided by SamTrans -- which many riders have
nicknamed the "turtle bus" because it follows El Camino and stops
every few blocks.

Some rail riders say more people would use the RRX service more if it
ran more frequently and if it hit more stops -- perhaps with some
buses stopping at different stations. Rider Joan Jansen said she
wished there was a stop in her area. "Redwood City is a big stop. If
they ran service there, I think a lot of people would take it."

Caltrain will be looking at adding bus service to the Millbrae
station when the BART extension opens, but no other additional
service is planned.

The Caltrain Citizens Advisory Committee has asked for a report on
the bus bridge for its meeting on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the SamTrans
Headquarters on 1250 San Carlos Ave. The public is encouraged to
attend.


Sara Zaske can be reached at 650-652-6736 or via e-mail at
szaske@...