
Politicians considering permanent Caltrain shutdown - hedora
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Caltrain-derailed-Advocates-predict-shutdown-15411557.php
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_“Sales taxes are the most regressive form of taxation,” the supervisor
contended, meaning they hit low-income people as hard as wealthier residents.
“This is a railroad that, while it is an extremely valuable public
transportation resource, serves a very affluent clientele.” In an interview
later, Peskin pitched an alternate idea: Why not impose a regional tax on “the
wealthiest people in society who are more likely to use the railroad?”_

To claim that a rail service in car-first United States only serves "the
wealthy" is a bald-faced lie. The idea that it is only the "wealthy" who use
CalTrain runs totally contrary to my experience on the train system - what
I've noticed is that the "wealthy" pay their fare (overpriced - $20 just to go
from SF to Palo Alto and back!), while the "less affluent" clientele often hop
on and off without payment. I do see people of all incomes use the train,
especially when I sit in the bike section - less affluent people need the
CalTrain especially because it enables them to bring their bicycle with them
(not reliably so with buses that only have space for two bicycles), and a bike
is a _must_ for anyone not fortunate enough to have a car in the southern part
of the Peninsula.

So I think this next bit is on point:

 _Such arguments rankled Adina Levin, executive director of the grassroots
advocacy group Friends of Caltrain. “This is a circular argument,” Levin said.
“Caltrain does not have stable funding, and so it’s raised fares. And that
means the riders are higher income.” She pointed out that a share of the
projected $100 million-a-year revenue from the sales tax was supposed to fund
discounts for low-income riders._

