More than 350,000 sports-related rides give Caltrain a major summer boost across the Bay Area
San Mateo, California – Bay Area sports fans are giving Caltrain a growing role in their game plans. Between July and September, the railroad provided more than 350,000 rides tied to Giants, 49ers, Valkyries and Bay FC games, as more spectators chose trains over traffic and stadium parking.
The crowds extended beyond the games themselves. More than 12,000 riders took Caltrain to the Valkyries Championship Parade, adding another sizable audience to a service increasingly connecting people with sports and special events.
The Giants accounted for the largest share of summer sports travel. Fans took 328,663 rides to and from 41 home games, averaging more than 8,000 per game. That marked a 2.3% increase over the same period last year.
Growth was sharper for the 49ers. Caltrain recorded 5,005 rides associated with three home games at Levi’s Stadium, up 17.4% from the same number of games a year earlier.
Bay FC also brought more passengers aboard. Across seven home matches at PayPal Park, Caltrain provided 5,508 rides, a 26% increase over 2024, the club’s inaugural season and the previous season the agency tracked. Ridership for Valkyries games at Chase Center rose 19% over last year as the team’s season continued through the Finals.
“More fans are figuring out that the easiest way to get to the game is to leave the car at home,” said Caltrain Executive Director Michelle Bouchard.
“Electrification gave us the frequency to make that work.”
The gains have continued beyond summer. Sharks game-day ridership is up 46.2% over 2025, while per-game ridership to Mountain View Station for 49ers games has increased 51.9%. Five Warriors games at Chase Center generated an 83.2% increase over the previous year.
For Caltrain, those trips matter as changing work schedules reshape commuting. Special events, mainly concerts and sports, accounted for the trips of 20% of first-time riders. The agency estimates it now serves 49,000 unique riders monthly, roughly 37,000 more than in 2021 and close to its 2019 total.
Half-hourly service, with additional trains during peak hours, supports that shift. Caltrain plans to keep tracking event travel as a new women’s professional hockey team arrives in San Jose and newly approved concerts come to PayPal Park.
The figures carry a qualification: Caltrain counts passengers boarding or leaving designated stations during an event window. Those totals can include people traveling for other reasons and may overlap when events happen concurrently.
