Caltrain
This past August, Caltrain had more than one million passengers, a 67% increase over August 2024. As Caltrain approaches the first anniversary of the launch of electric service, the agency says it continues to show strong ridership growth.
Caltrain had more than 1.07 million passengers last month, a substantial increase from approximately 643,000 in August of last year. Average weekday ridership stood at just under 40,000, a 61.5% increase from last August. Weekend ridership has been up since the launch of electrification “thanks to Caltrain’s half hourly weekend service,” but reached an all-time record in August with Saturdays seeing nearly 26,000 daily riders, while Sundays saw nearly 21,000 daily riders, both having more than doubled since last August.
“Caltrain is running the best service this corridor has ever seen, and our riders are taking advantage of it,” said Caltrain Executive Director Michelle Bouchard. “Eleven months of ridership growth is proof of the many benefits of fast, frequent, and reliable service. Every day, our service is reducing traffic, improving air quality and helping people get where they need to go.”
NYMTA
The New York MTA on Sept. 10 announced that subway crime fell to record lows this summer. Overall transit crime from June 1 to Aug. 31 was down nearly 10% from 2024 and 16.8% from the summer of 2019.
Year-to-date, transit crime is at record lows, while subway ridership is up 9%, with more than 311 million rides taken during the summer months. Transit felony assaults have been down every month this summer when compared to 2024. Together, June, July and August have had 119 felony assaults—compared to 150 last year—a reduction of 21%. There were 0.38 assaults per one million subway riders between June 1 and Aug. 31. Accounting for increases in ridership, there were 1.59 major crimes per one million subway rides this summer, down 30% from 2022 and in line with pre-pandemic lows.
According to NYPD statistics, July and August have been especially safe months, with new data confirming both were the safest July and August in history. Overall transit crime was down 22.8% this August compared to 2024, and felony assaults were down 40.4% compared to last year. Robberies were down 34% in the subway system in August compared to 2024.
This historic reduction in crime, MTA says, follows a series of investments in subway safety led by Governor Hochul. In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul allocated $77 million in state funding to support a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the NYPD to deploy officers on board subway trains during overnight hours. This deployment, the agency says, “provides peace of mind to riders and a deterrent to those who would commit crime in the system during overnight hours.” During this deployment, two NYPD officers patrol a subway train, moving from car to car during a train’s journey.
There has also been progress made responding to mental health challenges in the subway. Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams (SCOUT) pair mental health clinicians with MTA police officers, to provide a clinician-led approach to individuals with serious mental health needs in the subway. To date, SCOUT teams have made more than 750 referrals out of the subway system, and collectively, these patients have spent more than 2,000 nights in treatment, getting the help they need, according to the agency. Directed by Gov. Hochul, the MTA has now fully operationalized 10 SCOUT teams, with services provided throughout the subway system in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan.
Investments in transit safety include:
- Provided $77 million to partner with the NYPD to deploy two officers on every overnight train.
- $20 million to fully fund 10 SCOUT teams to provide a clinician-first response to mental health challenges in the subway.
- Placed 32,000 security cameras in the New York City Subway system—including more than 17,000 on all 6,000 subway cars and more than 15,000 in subway stations.
- Added new platform barriers at 74 subway stations, with the MTA on pace for 100 by the end of 2025.
- Installed brighter LED lights in more than 300 subway stations, on pace for all 472 by the end of 2025.
- Established two Transition to Home Units (THUs) at Manhattan Psychiatric Center, creating 50 beds to support homeless individuals with severe mental illness.
- Improved coordination between Law Enforcement and District Attorneys via a new MTA Criminal Justice Advocate.
- Installed cameras in the conductor cabs of subway trains to keep MTA employees safe. To date, the MTA has installed cameras in more than 1,100 conductor cabs.
“The subway is safer today than before the pandemic and we all know why: more cops, more security cameras, and more mental health outreach. These interventions and others—funded and supported by Gov. Hochul—have us on track for a third straight year of declining crime,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.
Bay Area Transit Systems
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Sept. 10 that the state “would work with struggling Bay Area transit systems on short-term financial help to keep them afloat while talks on a $750 million loan from the state continue,” according to a CBS News report.
In a press release on Wednesday, Newsom said the transit assistance would be in the “hundreds of millions of dollars” and that the Department of Finance and the California State Transportation Agency “would work with transit agencies and regional partners to design structured loans or financing mechanisms,” according to the report.
Newsom’s statement hinted that the state is “seeking a measure of oversight on how the funds are spent and how the loans would be repaid,” saying that the financing would “align with operational needs, protect service, and support fiscal reforms, with clear and reliable repayment plans,” CBS News reported.
According to the report, earlier this week, state Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley) said the Department of Finance informed them that “it would not finalize the details of the previously announced $750 million bridge loan for transit agencies before the end of the legislative session on Friday.” Without the funding, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), AC Transit and Caltrain were each looking at massive cuts in service, CBS News reported.
On Tuesday, officials said the talks on the state’s financial assistance loan were extended until Jan. 10, 2026, according to the report.
“Transit is a lifeline to millions of Californians—and after billions in state investment, we’re continuing to back Bay Area agencies with ongoing support tailored to their needs,” said Newsom in a prepared statement. “We’ll keep partnering with them now and into next year—aligning flexible financing tools to their timelines—so we can deliver a sustainable, rider-first transit system together.”
According to the CBS News report, the details of the “loans or other mechanisms” announced by Newsom were not immediately available. The Governor’s Office said the administration “will continue to evaluate options to ensure assistance remains responsive to agencies’ stated needs and strengthens the long-term financial stability of Bay Area transit.”
A spokesman for the Governor’s Office told CBS News Bay Area that the “ongoing discussions would determine the specific amount and mechanism,” according to the report.
Arreguín and Wiener, CBS News reports, “have authored a ballot measure, State Senate Bill 63, that is designed to provide a long-term funding source for Bay Area transit agencies facing a ‘fiscal cliff’ following the pandemic and the end of pandemic relief funding. SB 63 would authorize a regional sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties and allow Santa Clara and San Mateo and to opt in.”
The half-cent tax increase, according to the report, “would generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually to support transit systems’ operating needs. San Francisco would have the option to seek a higher rate, up to one cent, for additional support for the Muni system.”
