Californians for Electric Rail

Funding is a major, underappreciated contributor to the high construction costs and long timelines that hold back electrification. In our new policy paper, Against Patchwork Funding, we propose a smarter way to fund rail: Multi-year Investment Frameworks. 🧵 calelectricrail.org/against-patc...

8 days left to vote YES on Measure RTM to save and improve transit in the Bay Area! Have you voted (and voted yes) yet? Help remind others to vote by making calls with us tonight! luma.com/connectbayarea

We're getting even closer to laying track! 🛤️ Crews are hard at work completing ballast and cable trough installation as we move quickly toward this next major milestone. Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to track laying! 🎉

I’ve supported many CEQA reforms, including laws that exempt from CEQA infill housing and projects that reduce pollution (bike, pedestrian & transit projects, etc.). But I’m voting no on 45, because it would make it easier to build things that seriously harm communities and our environment.

Menifee is once again one of the fastest growing cities in CA, but RCTC has no plans to extend Metrolink out there until 2050 - by which point car-dependent development will be completely baked in. www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...

"Alternative transportation not provided." A Metrolink rider writes about how Metrolink's governance and impending service cuts disenfranchise Riversiders, who have no real alternative to Metrolink. www.raincrossgazette.com/opinion-no-a...

Metrolink is pushing back the timeline for service cuts to January 4th and giving more time for public input - the official public hearing on the cuts has been pushed back to November. Good to have more opportunity for rider voices to be heard, but what chaos! metrolinktrains.com/about/board-...

Better transit = less traffic. Join us to save transit at luma.com/connectbayarea

Are you a Metrolink rider? Share your story with us using this form. Media and Metrolink decision-makers need to know what life is like for riders. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

And if you're outside of the Bay Area and want to help on THE BIGGEST TRANSIT ballot measure this election, you can help remotely by phone banking. Sign up here luma.com/connectbayar... Most people just need a quick, polite reminder that this is happening, so phone banking is easy, fun & impactful

Metrolink budget (item 22) is on consent at the Metro board meeting this Thursday. Massive service cuts to LA county service (67% reductions to AVL weekend service!) and the full board isn't even going to discuss it. boardagendas.metro.net/event/regula...

"Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)... is considering cutting 70% of its service and closing up to 15 of 50 stations, some 30%. Caltrain, the area’s leading local commuter rail system, could discontinue weekend service and shutter up to a third of its stations."

Are you voting early this weekend? Check out our voter guide before turning in your ballot. We recommend Yes on 2, Fresno Measure S, Bay Area RTM, No on 43, 45 Riverside Measure A. #NoKings calelectricrail.org/2026-califor...

The Bay Area faces a funding crisis for its public transit, but a ballot measure could come to the rescue. For @motherjones.com, I reported on the measure and talked with aging and disabled adults, who are more likely to use transit, on what's at stake for them. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Metro Ops Cmte mtg: now on report back on proposed Pico Rivera Metrolink Station boardagendas.metro.net/board-report...

Feels like Metro is more interested in covering its [fiscal] ass than rolling up its sleeves to make rail service work for L.A. County residents. (I don't think that Metro can solve all Metrolink issues, but their role could be more constructive, instead of sort of kicking Metrolink when its down)

The original issue was Metro wanted to pay 3% less than was needed to support 2025 service levels. Now that Metrolink has reduced service to cut the budget, Metro is paying what Metrolink is asking for. But we might not be in the situation if Metro hadn't announced the 3% reduction.

Metro Finance Committee meeting: now on Metrolink item - Metro's annual portion of the Metrolink budget boardagendas.metro.net/board-report...

Michigan just created a new position to coordinate transit and rail. State capacity gets the goods! Why not California? www.trains.com/pro/passenge...

Get your YES on RTM yard sign here! docs.google.com/forms/d/1QTS...

Streetsblog urges you to vote NO on Prop 45 la.streetsblog.org/2026/10/06/s...

Metrolink cuts make the local newspapers: www.dailybulletin.com/2026/10/12/m...

This is a huge problem and CA/SoCal leadership being entirely nonchalant about it is incredible discouraging. We've been talking about how these tracks keep falling into the ocean since I was a kid.

NO ON MEASURE A (RIVERSIDE CO.) - This extends the existing Measure A sales tax indefinitely, locking in a pattern of transit disinvestment and sprawl and highway construction. Just 12% of Measure A in Western Riverside County goes to transit, while Metrolink is in crisis and transit is substandard.

YES ON MEASURE S (FRESNO) - Measure S extends an existing ½ cent sales tax but makes critical shifts in funding priorities, investing in public transit, safe routes to schools and fixing existing streets instead of sprawl and highways. Important for future Fresno regional rail!

YES ON MEASURE RTM (BAY AREA) - If it doesn't pass, Caltrain could close up to 10 stations, eliminate weekend service, reduce frequency to hourly, end service by 9 p.m. - undoing all the success of electrification and devastating the local economy. Save Bay Area Transit, Vote Yes on RTM!

No on Prop 45 - We helped pass CEQA streamlining for electric rail (AB 2503/SB 71), but Prop 45 does nothing new for transit while making it easier to build sprawl and highways. It explicitly does not apply to CA High-Speed Rail. Reject 45 and come back with better, more targeted CEQA reform.

NO ON PROP 43 - This measure raises the margin to two thirds for citizen tax initiatives, meaning a super-minority of voters can veto transit investment from local government - like the Bay Area’s Measure RTM. Passage would make it hard to fix fiscal cliffs at Metrolink, NCTD, MTS, and others.

YES ON PROP 2. To get lower costs and more trains, we should be funding capital through multi-year investment frameworks that provide consistent funding over 5 years. But it's hard to do that with a roller coaster budget. Prop 2 increases the Rainy Day Fund for more consistent year-to-year funding.

Ballots are out, and election day (November 3rd) is coming soon! There are a number of ballot measures this year that affect our ability to consistently and sensibly fund transit capital and operations, so we created a statewide voter guide. calelectricrail.org/2026-califor...

2nd busiest passenger rail corridor in the country if it were a freeway, even redundant to other freeways, it would be fixed immediately like the 10 after the fire in LA

One of the biggest climate ballot measures in the United States this election is the Bay Area transit ballot vote on Measure RTM. A no vote would put hundreds of thousands of cars on the road, burn up a ton of oil and increase demand for gas. Solidarity phone bank Wednesday luma.com/04m2sps7

China’s railway system provided 25 million rides on a single day, October 1. For comparison, the US aviation system serves about 3 million travelers daily. Amtrak serves about 35 million riders per year.

The world is currently extremely dumb. You can help push back on that -- or, at least, feel better after talking to people offline -- by canvassing for the Regional Transit Measure tomorrow! Come join me up on Mt. Davidson for good views, a calf workout, and to help win this Nov! luma.com/tb5eaxdy