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What should I do after being cited for fare evasion on Caltrain?

pmdboi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:42:21 -0800

I was cited for fare evasion on Caltrain. What are my options, and which ones are wise? I bought a ticket by credit card from one of the electronic vending machines just before getting on the train on the Mountain View Caltrain station going to San Francisco. On the way back from SF, shortly before arriving at Mountain View, the conductor started checking tickets. I looked at mine and noticed to my dismay that, in my rush to get on the train that morning, I had inadvertently bought the one-way ticket instead of the day pass. When the conductor reached my row, I showed him my ticket, explained my mistake, and offered to make up the difference in fare (I had more than enough cash on me). He instead cited me for California PC 640(b)(1) ("Evasion of the payment of a fare of the system"). I received the citation in the mail today and the bail is set at $245. The maximum punishment is a fine of $250 and 48 hours of community service. I have the option to just forfeit the bail.

So, I have a few questions:

1. If I appear in court and tell my story, is there any chance that my fine will be reduced?
2. If so, should I request a court trial or just an arraignment?
3. Do I have anything to gain from pleading "not guilty"? I was not trying to evade the fare, and I was willing to pay when I realized my error.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Why can't I get a seat on the 5:58 out of Mountain View since the weekend?

crinklebat — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:30:27 -0800

Has Caltrain been noticeably more crowded since yesterday? If so, why? I guess this is kind of chatfilter since there probably isn't one single answer, but I'm hoping that the Bay Area population on MeFi can answer a question for me that I've heard posed by friends and strangers alike while on the train in the past two days. Yesterday and today have been the most crowded I've ever seen the train (since 2005 I've probably commuted by Caltrain regularly for about 13 months in aggregate, mostly during the intern-heavy summers). Like, the 324 coming into Palo Alto yesterday morning was like a car full of clowns. People just kept coming off. And some people I overheard on my evening commute said they couldn't get a seat, period, this morning. This probably came up because the platform I was waiting on was as full as I've ever seen it.

I'm thinking that it's probably some combination of ever-higher gas prices and possibly the 2 new evening trains they added last week. However, I'd be interested to hear your theories. Do you work at a big company that just started offering commute incentives? Are they demolishing a parking lot someplace? Or, since I don't drive I don't pay attention to gas costs at all; did they jump dramatically in the Bay over the weekend?

Alternately, this could be confirmation bias. If you ride the train and don't think it's been more crowded, feel free to tell me I'm crazy. Two days is a short sample time, I agree, so it could just be coincidence.

This is southbound in the morning, by the way, so we're going against the typical peninsula commute.

Getting from Mountain View to San Jose without Caltrain

epugachev — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:40:17 -0800

If you don't have a car, what's the best way to get from Mountain View to San Jose when Caltrain isn't running? I am staying near the Mountain View Caltrain station on Saturday night. I need to get to Santa Clara and Almaden in San Jose on Sunday morning for the start of this race. The race starts at 8, so I probably want to be there around 7. How should I get there?

Unfortunately, the first southbound Caltrain doesn't leave SF until 8 a.m., so that's out of the question. I have no experience with VTA--is it crazy to rely on it for a trip of that distance at an off hour? Is a cab my best option?

Where can I park over the weekend in Mountain View, CA?

I like to eat meat — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:20:38 -0800

Hello everyone. I'm going to be taking the caltrain from SF to Mountain View every weekday for work, and I was wondering if anyone knew where I can park my car in Mountain View over the weekends? Preferably near the Caltrain station. I'm OK with paying for a spot. Thanks!

Bay Area Early Morning Commute

mto — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 21:55:14 -0800

Coming from Palo Alto, I need to get to San Francisco by 9am on July 4th. What's the cheapest / fastest way to do this? I probably won't have access to a car. Caltrain operates on Sunday hours on Holidays, so they can't get me to San Francisco until 9:36am. In particular I need to get to Noe Valley, if it helps.

Can I take a taxi? If so, how much will it be? Should I rent a car for the day? What other options do I have? Also, I don't live in California so don't assume I'm too familiar with services, towns, etc.

If by some miracle I do get access to a car then how long should I expect my commute to take?

Commuting to Los Gatos from San Francisco?

hulette — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 15:50:09 -0800

Is there any way of using public transit for commuting to Los Gatos from San Francisco? I'd love to use Caltrain and some sort of shuttlebus combo, but have had a lot of trouble finding the correct combination of services. I've tried mapping the trip using transit.511.org but it doesn't seem to include Los Gatos in it's coverage area. I'll be working down there beginning next week, and would love to avoid driving as much as possible.