Caltrain Denies Report On Salary Hikes
SAN MATEO (KCBS) - Caltrain officials are trying to set the record straight, following Wednesday's published reports of fourteen percent salary increases for administrative pay, on top of service cuts and fare hikes.
The agency claimed they've been working longer hours to solve their financial woes and refuted the report, saying the actual increase over three years amounted to around nine percent.
KCBS' Bob Melrose Reports:
That increase came out of two other agencies they oversee including SamTrans, which runs the County's bus service, and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, according to the agency.
"We run a lean and effective system. We have cut costs at every level to maintain services," said Caltrain's Deputy CEO Chuck Harvey.
Harvey told the Joint Powers Board (JPB) that Caltrain has half the administrative personnel as L.A.'s Metrolink, which serves the same number of passengers.
Salaries have been frozen, employees have been laid off in the front office, and some have been forced to take 17 furlough days, according to the agency.
"I say, for the record, that Caltrain has operated with very lean staffing levels," said Harvey just minutes before the JPB voted to eliminate four midday trains and raise fares 25 cents a zone which is about a seven-percent increase.
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