Caltrain’s 2025 Triennial Survey shows consistently high reviews for the faster and more frequent electrified Caltrain amongst its riders and revealed that a third of Caltrain riders are new to the system, according to the agency.
The survey showed that commute trips still make up the majority of ridership, with most riders getting on board two to three days a week, reflecting hybrid work schedules. Two-thirds of Caltrain riders have access to a car, while 37% of Caltrain riders are considered low-income.
Customer satisfaction is up, with the current schedule being rated 4.1 out of 5, up from 3.7 in 2022. On-time performance has gone from 3.9 to 4.4, and the Overall Caltrain experience is now rated 4.5 over 4.1 in the last survey. This is in line with other surveys since Caltrain launched its faster, more frequent, electrified service that show Caltrain’s growing approval.
The survey showed that 33% of Caltrain riders walk to their origin station, while 18% take transit, 17% use active transportation like bikes and scooters, 17% are dropped off via car or ride share and 16% drive and park at their station. The survey also shows growing use of Clipper, with 86% of respondents using it to pay fares, as paper ticket usage has fallen off.
The San Francisco Station remains the most popular station for both boardings (28%) and departures (19%). The other stations are spread throughout the three counties Caltrain serves, with Palo Alto (9%), San Jose Diridon (8%), Redwood City and Mountain View (5%), and Millbrae and Hillsdale (4%) in the lead for boardings and San Jose Diridon (11%), Palo Alto (10%), Mountain View and Sunnyvale (7%) and Redwood City (6%) leading for departures.
Caltrain received 3,622 responses over a four-week period last Fall, with a margin of error of +/- 1.47 percent, representing a 69% response rate. Caltrain uses this data to develop its service and better target promotion strategies.
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