Transit: new faces, trains, ballot measure Transit: new faces, trains, ballot measure (June 23, 2004)

By Marion Softky
Almanac Staff Writer

San Mateo County's transportation agencies are on a roll.

Caltrain's new Baby Bullet express trains are whisking passengers between San Francisco and San Jose in less than an hour. A year's effort to craft a proposal for the November ballot to extend the Measure A transportation sales tax seems ready to go. And two new people have joined the leadership team to take on the new challenges.

Veteran Peninsula political reporter and columnist Mark Simon is joining the San Mateo County Transit District as special assistant to General Manager/CEO Mike Scanlon. He will help manage and promote the county's three transportation agencies: SamTrans, Caltrain, and the Transportation Authority.

Mr. Simon brings to his new job wide knowledge of local communities. He has been a fixture on the Peninsula news scene since he joined the Redwood City Tribune in 1976. Since 1992, he has been a columnist and political reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Mr. Simon will take on many functions performed by Deputy General Manager Jim Gallagher, who is retiring this summer after 28 years with the district.

Mr. Gallagher also came to the district from the news world. At the old Redwood City Tribune, he edited its Peninsula Living section for 13 years before joining SamTrans as one of its first employees in March 1976.

Mr. Gallagher said he may speak to senior citizens group to promote passage of a new Measure A transportation sales tax on the November ballot. "It's going to be tough to get a two-thirds vote," he said. "Senior citizens are going to be the key."

In another change of faces, Chief Development Officer Howard Goode retired this spring after overseeing major train and highway improvements for the district since 1990.

Mr. Goode led the construction projects that converted Caltrain from a creaky old railroad to a sleek commuter line with 86 trains a day. He has been responsible for most of the projects constructed under the present Measure A sales tax passed by voters in 1988, including railroad grade separations, auxiliary lanes on Highway 101, and the new interchange at Willow Road.

Mr. Goode also trained his successor, Ian McAvoy, who moonlights as a rock musician and recording engineer, paying tribute to the folk in his hometown of Liverpool.

Measure A

The new team at SamTrans faces a full plate of challenges.

The reauthorization of Measure A seems headed for the November ballot. Nineteen of the 20 cities in the county have supported the complex mix of transportation projects. It remains for the Board of Supervisors to approve the plan and put it on the ballot. The board plans to take up the measure at its July 6 meeting.

In the South County, Menlo Park on June 15 joined Atherton, Portola Valley, Woodside, East Palo Alto and Redwood City, in supporting the measure. Millbrae is expected to support it this week.

If approved by two-thirds of county voters, the next Measure A would raise $1.5 billion over 25 years for a complicated mix of projects. The list includes funds for Caltrain, buses, shuttles, highway improvements, grade separations, and local street projects, as well as projects for bicycles, pedestrians, and the disabled.

Over 25 years, the plan focuses on congestion in key corridors, improving connections with regional transportation systems, enhancing safety, and meeting local needs.

Meanwhile, the new Baby Bullet express trains show promise of reversing the decline in Caltrain ridership that followed the 9/11 terror attacks and dot-com bust.

While it's too early to get firm figures, some 5,600 people per day are riding the new trains, reported Caltrain spokeswoman Janet McGovern.

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