Quick Take
The idea to tear out the rail line and replace it with a trail-only approach was defeated by Santa Cruz County voters in June 2022. Matt Farrell, board chair of Friends of the Rail & Trail, believes Greenway supporters have not given up and are flooding the public with anti-rail messages, three years after their measure, known as Measure D, was defeated. He argues for following the direction provided by voters, and unpacks what that means for today’s debate about the future of the publicly owned rail corridor.
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Just three years ago, Santa Cruz County voters delivered a clear message in their defeat of Greenway’s Measure D: Build the trail and keep the rails for future use. Measure D lost by the largest margin of any countywide ballot measure defeated in Santa Cruz County in at least 45 years, and possibly ever. Despite this, and with the apparent assumption that voters will forget the outcome of the June 2022 election, Greenway supporters are executing a “flood the zone” campaign on Nextdoor and in letters to the editor to promote exactly what voters roundly rejected: tearing up the tracks in favor of a trail-only vision.
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Measure D, officially known as the “Santa Cruz County Greenway Initiative,” explicitly sought to rip out the publicly owned rail line, replace it with a paved path through “railbanking” and end all planning for rail service.
A relentless supply of social media posts and letters by anti-rail activists will not change the reality that local voters have decisively rejected Greenway’s flawed vision.
Some have asserted that Measure D’s defeat was due to voters in the City of Santa Cruz. However, the defeat was comprehensive throughout Santa Cruz County. As a reminder of the election results, and for those who might be new to the community, here are key facts about the results:
Greenway’s Measure D was defeated countywide by voters by a historic margin of 73.21% no to 26.79% yes.
Based on election results available from the Santa Cruz County Elections Department, analysis of each county supervisor district and each of the four incorporated cities shows just how historically decisive the defeat of Measure D was, including a loss by a supermajority of more than two-thirds (66.7%) in nearly every case:
- Supervisorial District 1 (Manu Koenig) – 69% no to 31% yes
- Supervisorial District 2 (Kim De Serpa) – 61% no to 39% yes
- Supervisorial District 3 (Justin Cummings) – 79% no to 21% yes
- Supervisorial District 4 (Felipe Hernandez) – 75% no to 25% yes
- Supervisorial District 5 (Monica Martinez) – 83% no to 17% yes
- City of Capitola – 60% no to 40% yes
- City of Santa Cruz – 79% no to 21% yes
- City of Scotts Valley – 76% no to 24% yes
- City of Watsonville – 75% no to 25% yes
Measure D was written and promoted entirely by Greenway. Greenway also chose the June 2022 timing to bring the measure before voters. Greenway supporters now bemoan what they call low turnout in that election as a cause of their defeat, despite the fact that they alone chose the timing for the vote on their measure. And surely no one is seriously arguing that low turnout in that election equates to questions about the outcomes for the many other issues and candidates that were on the same ballot, not the least of which was California’s governor.
At the core of Greenway’s Measure D was the concept (and hollow promise) of “railbanking.” Let’s revisit this locally rejected concept.
Railbanking involves declaring the rail line “abandoned.” If that designation is accepted by the federal Surface Transportation Board, it means tearing up the tracks, installing a paved trail and later, when funding is available, removing the trail, reinstalling tracks and returning the line to an active status. In the nearly 50 years since railbanking was introduced, it has not been fully implemented anywhere in America.
Railbanking is a fantasy. Once rail tracks are removed, they do not come back.
Today’s sustained effort by Greenway supporters to again promote the same plan that was rejected by voters just three years ago presumes, at best, a loss of memory on the part of voters. At worst, it represents a cynical rejection of the will of our local Santa Cruz County voters.
While Greenway has been attempting to sell our community on removing rail service as an alternative to cars, other communities in our region have been embracing rail. Since 2022, for example, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) and Caltrain have made significant progress in moving rail transit forward. Earlier this spring, SMART added a new station in Windsor and expanded service. The expansion has been complemented by news that ridership is up significantly, with SMART experiencing its highest single day of ridership on June 5, 2025.
Caltrain, which runs between San Jose and San Francisco, converted its trains to all-electric service in 2024. Since the conversion to electric, the popularity of Caltrain has jumped, with ridership in the first three months of electric service increasing 41% over the same three months in the prior year.
I can personally confirm the benefit of this new electrified Caltrain service. I have family in Marin County. During the holidays, I make a linked trip there via bike, bus, train, ferry and bike. The new electrified Caltrain cars enable boarding with a bicycle faster and more convenient, and the new trains make the trip much quicker. I can see why the new service is so popular – the benefits are myriad.
Back here in Santa Cruz County, the recently released initial findings from the Regional Transportation Commission’s Zero Emissions Passenger Rail & Trail report (ZEPRT) indicates a historically significant investment will be needed to support future rail service. Based on the norm for public transportation and infrastructure projects, state and federal funding is expected to cover 80 to 90% of costs.
Do we know yet how our community would pay for the local share of costs? No, not yet. Should we know the answer right now? Of course not. It is exceedingly rare for the funding sources to be identified at the outset of major infrastructure projects. And are local voters being asked to weigh in on how to pay for rail service right now? No, they are not.
On the contrary, and out of respect for the will of local voters who rejected Measure D, the RTC — with strong engagement from the community — must scrutinize the ZEPRT.
Specifically, we need third-party review of the report and the possible ways to secure funding. The RTC must apply necessary creativity, provided by qualified subject matter experts, in developing potential funding sources for the local share for future rail service.
In the meantime, for those whose core priority is to get the trail built, there is much to celebrate and look forward to: Segments of our community’s world-class trail continue to move forward and attract new grant funding, with a new segment recently opened in Santa Cruz. The North Coast segment is also now under construction, and active planning is underway for Mid-County and Watsonville segments.
The progress is real, even though major infrastructure projects never move quickly.
The rail and trail project is visionary, and the proof is in the continued strong success the RTC has had in attracting funding to build the trail, while retaining the rail line for future use. Funders recognize the promise of the project and its clear benefits to pedestrians, bicyclists, residents with disabilities and transit users.
Let’s not turn back. Keep moving forward.
Matt Farrell serves as board chair for Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail & Trail. Learn more here.