Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles (2018)

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11 COASTER North County Transit District San Diego County, CA The North County Transit District (NCTD) in San Diego County, California, provides the COASTER commuter rail. In addition to COASTER, NCTD operates SPRINTER hybrid rail, BREEZE buses, FLEX rural and on-demand service, and LIFT paratransit. The COASTER commuter trains run north-south through San Diego County serving eight stations between Oceanside and downtown San Diego. More than 20 trains run on weekdays, with additional service on the weekends. The rail line is 41 miles, and the entire journey takes about 1 hour. NCTD owns a 28-car, seven-locomotive COASTER fleet comprising remanufactured and new locomotives and multi-level Bombardier push-pull coaches. COASTER serves stations in Oceanside, Carlsbad (two stations), Encinitas, Solana Beach, Sorrento Valley, Old Town, and downtown San Diego. COASTER provides access to other transit systems at multiple stations. COASTER connects with BREEZE buses at all north San Diego County stations. The northern terminal for COASTER is the Oceanside Transit Center, where passengers can connect with NCTD’s SPRINTER hybrid rail, Metrolink commuter rail (service to Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties), and Riverside Transit Agency buses. Two southern stations, Old Town and Santa Fe Depot, link to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and the San Diego Trolley. The corridor is also shared by Amtrak Pacifi c Surfl iner trains running between Los Angeles and San Diego. These trains normally stop at Oceanside Transit Center, Solana Beach, and stations in San Diego, but eff ective October 2013, designated Amtrak Pacifi c Surfl iner trains serve six COASTER stations under an agreement between NCTD, the California Department of Transportation, and Amtrak. Four northbound and four southbound Pacifi c Surfl iner trains stop at six COASTER stations every day of the week. COASTER passengers may ride these select Amtrak trains at no additional charge by presenting any valid COASTER fare. HISTORY NSDCTDB began planning for the Coast Express Rail. NSDCTDB was established to plan, construct, and operate public transit in north San Diego County. The fi rst TransNet ordinance passed, providing key funding for COASTER. NSDCTDB acquired the San Diego Subdivision and the Escondido Subdivision from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) and entered into a shared- use agreement with ATSF. 1987 1982 1976 1992 1994 1995 2006 2013 NSDCTDB received the initial COASTER fl eet, signed a shared- use agreement with Amtrak, and selected Amtrak Commuter Contract Services to be the COASTER contractor. NSDCTDB created a non-profi t corporation called the San Diego Northern Railway (SDNR) to maintain, enhance, and operate COASTER. SDNR was later dissolved in 2002. .nageb ecivres RETSAOC ehT NCTD and Amtrak partnered to provide Rail 2 Rail service, increasing Amtrak stops of select state-sponsored Pacifi c Surfl iner intercity trains at COASTER stations. NSDCTDB’s name changed to NCTD.

12 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles NCTD oversees the contractor’s performance and regulatory compliance. NCTD also handles the reporting required by the Federal Transit Administration and California Public Utilities Commission. The contractor is responsible for most of the reports to the Federal Railroad Administration. The regional metropolitan planning organization, SANDAG, is primarily responsible for planning, funding, and construction of major NCTD capital projects, which are then handed off to NCTD upon completion. When major capital projects are under construction, NCTD assists SANDAG with design/ construction review to confi rm that contractors coordinate scheduling, ensure safety, and minimize confl icts. The contractor has the ultimate responsibility to perform safety fl agging and related signal support. NCTD takes the primary role for resiliency and emergency preparedness planning, coordinating with the other two major passenger rail operators, Metrolink and Amtrak. NCTD plans, funds, and manages all major capital projects (stations, track capacity, sidings, platforms, and positive train control [PTC] compliance) for COASTER. NCTD is responsible for reporting to the National Transit Database (NTD). The contractor provides necessary support for NTD data collection. Prior to 2016, NCTD contracted COASTER operations and maintenance to multiple contractors and subcontractors. The prime contractor managed day-to-day train operations under a train operations agreement and subcontracted maintenance of equipment and maintenance of way. NCTD also contracted with other contractors to provide train dispatching and signal maintenance. The prime contract ended June 30, 2016. After a competitive procurement, NCTD awarded a single contract to Bombardier Transportation, eff ective July 1, 2016. The new contract is a single, fully bundled contract for all functions for both the COASTER commuter rail service and the SPRINTER hybrid rail service. The California Legislature created the North San Diego County Transit Development Board (NSDCTDB) in September 1975. The board was created to plan, construct, and operate—directly or through a contractor— public transit systems in its area of jurisdiction. On January 1, 2003, a new state law was enacted (SB 1703) that transferred future transit planning, programming, development, and construction to the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), San Diego’s regional planning agency. NSDCTDB continued to operate BREEZE, COASTER, and SPRINTER. Eff ective January 1, 2006, NSDCTDB’s name changed to the North County Transit District. The NCTD nine-member board of directors is made up of one representative from each incorporated city in the district plus the Fifth District county supervisor. The Fifth District covers unincorporated areas of North County as well as the cities of Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, and San Marcos. CONTRACTED SERVICE PERFORMANCE STATISTICS Past Trends 2012–2016 Service Data in RY* 2016 GOVERNANCE *Report year: for each report year, NTD collects data refl ecting the reporter’s operation in the same fi scal year. Annual Operating Cost: $16,745,495 Total Directional Route Miles: 82 Passenger Car Revenue Miles: 1,372,271 Unlinked Passenger Trips: 1,556,056 Annual Total Passenger Miles: 43,722,519 Data source: NTD Operating Cost per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Operating Cost per Passenger Passenger Trips per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Passenger Miles per Passenger Trip $12.20 $14.19$13.84$13.48 $12.57 20162015201420132012 $10.76 $12.03$11.54$11.52$10.84 20162015201420132012 1.131.181.201.171.16 20162015201420132012 28.1027.9528.1527.5427.45 20162015201420132012 General Contracted Service Informa on Oversight and Responsibili es

COASTER 13 A—Agency; B—Host Railroad (RR); C—Amtrak; D—Independent Contractors (RR or Non-RR)Notes for Matrix: 1. NCTD has an extensive role in safety management to include development of key safety plans that the contractor adopts. 2. In addition to NCTD staff , a third-party provider provides support. 3. NCTD has a separate contractor for ticket vending machines. 4. NCTD counts the revenue at the point of sale, and then all tickets and passes are treated as proof of payment. Contracted Service Matrix The matrix below illustrates the responsibility for major service functions for COASTER. The capital letters A and D represent the NCTD in-house staff and the independent contractor (Bombardier Transportation), respectively. In this case, B for the host railroad and C for Amtrak are not applicable. A B C D Train Operations Maintenance of Infrastructure Maintenance of Equipment Specifi cally: Train Dispatching Services Train Operations Maintenance of Equipment Facilities Maintenance Maintenance of Way Provision of Electric Traction (na) Signals and Communication Positive Train Control Maintenance Station Operations and Maintenance Non-revenue Equipment Provision Safety Management (1) Security Services (2) Environmental Services Management/Oversight Services Materials Management Services Risk Management Assessment Customer Service Functions Marketing Communications Ticketing/Sales (3) Revenue Collection (4) Information Technology Systems Accident/Fatality Investigations/Support Supplemental Work (na) Other (na)