In honor of Earth Day, Caltrain released its 2021 Sustainability Report this month, outlining the environmental progress it has made in the last two years. Even as the agency struggled with the effects of COVID-19, more gains were made demonstrating the importance of transit in the fight against climate change.
While Caltrain ridership has yet to fully recover from COVID-19 and the resulting shelter-in-place order, prior to that ridership had grown steadily over the last decade, displacing thousands of cars that would otherwise be commuting on Highway 101. Even despite lower ridership in the last two years, Caltrain reduced the agency’s net GHG emissions by 11%, air pollution generation by 10% and facility energy use is down 6%. Caltrain is also in the process of electrifying, which will further slash its carbon footprint and air pollution.
Over 40% of California’s GHGs are created by surface transportation. Transit services such as Caltrain are key to shrinking California’s carbon footprint and preventing the most devastating effects of climate change.
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About Caltrain: Owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain provides commuter rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with commute service to Gilroy. While the Joint Powers Board assumed operating responsibilities for the service in 1992, the railroad has provided the community with more than 150 years of continuous passenger service. Planning for the next 150 years of Peninsula rail service, Caltrain is on pace to electrify the corridor, reduce diesel emissions by 97 percent by 2040 and add more service to more stations.