Riders are skittish. Cleaning costs are soaring. Some, like the Bay Area’s Caltrain system, face an existential crisis. Officials talked of shutting Caltrain after San Francisco supervisors last week declined to put a proposed tax increase on the November ballot. On March 1, the Bay Area’s Caltrain rail system was in the midst of a $2 billion plan to electrify its tracks , replace its aging diesel locomotives, and run more trains between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Now, officials warn that without serious funding help—about $100 million annually—Caltrain could shut down altogether. There are plenty of reasons why Caltrain is sui generis. Many stem from the strange—some might say perverted— governance structure of Bay Area transit . Caltrain is managed by a board representing the three counties through which the rail line travels, and a ballot measure to request new funding needs to be approved by the boards […]