3 ms·

Lots of people take Caltrain to commute, and commute trains are often standing room only. But almost no one takes Caltrain at non-commute hours.

• bluGill 7y ago
  I just pulled up the schedule, just looking at the schedule I can confidently tell you that the only people taking CalTrain are going to work or have no other choice: From 10-11 am there is 1 stop at most stations/direction. Trains and buses that only run once an hour midday exist only for those who have no choice: those unable to drive (generally disabled - blind). You need to run at least every half an hour to even think about getting people who are not going to work. People going to work generally can adjust their schedule enough to make hourly work and once they figure it out they don't have to think about it again. Also those going to work generally have very heavy traffic as the alternative. If you want a train/bus to be used by people who have a choice you must run not less than ever half hour for 16 hours a day. The more often you run the more people who will ride, up to about 5 minutes where everybody knows you can just show up and get on. (unfortunately the amount of extra riders you get from coming more often isn't linear so you sometimes cannot justify coming more often by the amount of extra riders you get) Note, there is a 2 year lag between changes in routes/schedules and riders figuring out the new routes. I think Caltrain could get a lot more non-commute hour riders by coming more often but if you push them to make sure you make everybody aware that it will be 2 years before there is a change.