San Mateo County Transit District - Progress Report 2007
Main Reports > Intro > SamTrans > Paratransit > Shuttles > Caltrain > Transportation Authority > Transit Oriented Development > Financials > Board of Directors


Message From General Manager/CEO Michael J. Scanlon

Spurred by concern over high gas prices, the environmental impacts of the automobile and traffic congestion and its impact on the quality of life, residents of San Mateo County and the Bay Area are turning increasingly to mass transit for mobility answers.

We are meeting this challenge on many fronts, befitting our unique role as manager of three different transportation agencies – SamTrans, which operates our bus, paratransit and shuttle services; Caltrain, which operates the Peninsula commuter rail service; and the San Mateo County Transportation Agency, which oversees expenditures for street, highway, alternate transportation and transit projects.

As described in this progress report, the men and women of the Peninsula’s three transportation agencies are working hard to provide innovative, improved and expanded service to residents who are eager to find transit solutions to their mobility needs. This is as it should be – the residents of San Mateo County have wisely invested in transit, through the permanent half-cent sales tax for SamTrans and the half-cent sales tax reauthorized in 2004 for the Transportation Agency. The people of this community have always understood the benefits they gain from an effective system of transit, even if they may never actually use our services. We are proud of all we have accomplished, and we are excited by all we are planning to do. Most of all, we are proud of the people we serve.

The main constraint on our ability to do all we want to do has been budgetary. SamTrans and Caltrain have struggled in the last few years to make ends meet, and the struggle continues.

We made significant progress this year on two key issues that will have a positive effect on the SamTrans budget. We ended our partnership with BART for the operation of the Peninsula service, bringing to an end an annual fiscal demand on our budget that diverted resources from our other businesses. A good idea in concept, the relationship proved unworkable – financially and in practical terms. We also reached an agreement in principle with our partners in Caltrain – the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency – for the repayment of funds advanced by SamTrans for the purchase of the Caltrain right of way.

It is at the state level where we face our greatest challenges. Our budget struggles have been made all the more difficult this year by the unfortunate way budget decisions are made by the governor and the Legislature. Spillover funds – additional tax revenues generated by higher gas prices – are supposed to go to transit operators. It’s the best kind of money because we can use it for operations or capital expenditures. But the Legislature and the governor historically have conspired to take the money and use it for the state general funds, balancing the budget on the backs of transit operators.

As the coming year unfolds, we will be asking for the help of all our constituents – our customers, our residents, our taxpayers – in speaking up for transit in the coming years. We need the rest of the state – and, in particular, the state government – to understand that the time is now to fund transit, to build an infrastructure of services that will improve our environment, relieve traffic and end the drain on our economy that comes from people sitting in their cars, going nowhere.

In the meantime, the San Mateo County Transit District continues to move forward. Working with our partners in the community, we will make the most of the resources at our disposal to develop and implement the best possible transportation system for everyone who works or lives in this county.