BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Caltrain’s new ticketing technology will make the already difficult job of fare enforcement even more challenging, according to the company that runs the trains.
Tickets will be checked with new cloud-based scanners that take at least 10 seconds to load, compared to two seconds for the scanners used today, said Jeff Allen, deputy general manager of operations for TransitAmerica Services Inc.
It doesn’t work in tunnels
The new scanners run out of batteries more quickly and don’t work in tunnels because they rely on cell service, Allen told Caltrain’s Citizens Advisory Committee on Thursday.
“It just takes a lot longer to get through everything,” Allen told the committee. The lag time will add up to more than two hours for a train with 1,000 riders, committee member Rohit Sarathy said.
The new ticketing system was spearheaded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, an agency made up of elected officials from around the Bay Area.
The MTC signed a $394 million contract with Cubic Transportation Systems in September 2018 to upgrade the region’s Clipper cards, which are used by 22 public transit agencies.
It’s the ‘next generation’
The MTC on June 2 added $5.1 million to contracts with five companies to help manage the contract, provide technical support and advertise the “next generation” Clipper system. The new Clipper system is supposed to make loading money onto cards easier and faster. The technology allows agencies to offer discounted fares for transfers from BART to Caltrain, for example.
Agencies are currently testing the new system and planning to transition customers starting in late July, according to an MTC report.
The MTC is also working to place a sales tax on the November 2026 ballot to fund struggling transit agencies.
Committee member Adrian Brandt on Thursday said the cloud-based design of the new Clipper system is “mind-blowing” and “unacceptable.” “We’ve spent a lot of money regionally, and it’s late,” Brandt said about the rollout. He encouraged Caltrain to work with Cubic Transportation Systems to find a solution.
Mountain View resident Doug DeLong agreed. “It’s kind of inconceivable that this ‘Clipper 2’ debate got as far as it did, and we’ve got hardware that won’t last a shift. It’s just really incompetent procurement,” DeLong said about the battery life of the scanners.
Fare enforcement
The issue of fare enforcement gained attention in January 2024 when San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller committed to taking public transportation for three weeks. Mueller said he quickly realized very few people are paying to ride Caltrain.
“I didn’t (pay) for a long period of time and was never checked, never asked a question,” Mueller said at a Caltrain board meeting. Executive Director Michelle Bouchard said she had “hard discussions” with the contractor that employs the conductors, TASI, after she met with Mueller.
“They understand the seriousness of the situation,” Bouchard said.
Caltrain riders were issued an average of 87 tickets a month throughout 2023, and then 289 tickets a month after Mueller said something, according to monthly reports by TASI. The ticketing rate has continued to climb to 630 citations issued in April.
No ID, no citation
Still, conductors lost out on 2,217 citations in April because the rider wouldn’t provide ID, the report said.
Brandt said conductors don’t like citing people.
“I see it all the time. They say, ‘Whatever, do it right next time,’” Brandt said.
Allen said Caltrain suspends ticket checks for Giants games, concerts and other large events like Bay to Breakers. Conductors also don’t cite minors or disabled people for not having a ticket, he told the committee.
“We don’t want to kick a 14-year-old off on a platform in Redwood City and then say, ‘Well, you should’ve paid that dollar,’” Allen said.