Free Rides on the Smart Train

[Valet Posting Service]

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SMART will be offering FREE Preview Rides with a special schedule on:

• July 8 (Saturday)
• July 9 (Sunday)
• July 13 (Thursday)
• July 15 (Saturday)
• July 16 (Sunday)
• July 19 (Wednesday)
• July 22 (Saturday)
• July 23 (Sunday).

Please see the special train schedule for the SMART Preview Ride dates listed above.

Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis and all trains depart promptly so please arrive at stations early.

[Barry]

Take a ride on the Smart Train!

[Goat Rock Ukulele]

We took the SMART train from the Airport Station to Marin Civic. If you plan to do anything in San Rafael it would be a good idea to take bikes or plan on a lot of heel. and toeing. There isn't much where the train ends in San Rafael. I took the time to go hiking up in the hills to the south. You can walk under the freeway and over to the large mall but you are a long way from down town. We had to goof around for four hours for the first return train. That train was packed as everyone wanted to catch that first train. I stood most of the way back. It was nice to see the wetlands between Petaluma and Novato, all kinds of wildlife.

After riding this train I come to the conclusion that it is a good thing though the economics are never going to work. The seats are set up in such a way that you sit directly across from someone with a small table between. Nice for using a laptop but annoying as hell if the person across bellyaches about Trump the entire ride. I suggest bringing an ipod and some ear buds just in case. Wish I had.

[Barry]

We took the SMART train from the Airport Station to Marin Civic. If you plan to do anything in San Rafael it would be a good idea to take bikes or plan on a lot of heel. and toeing.

If instead you get off at the next station "San Rafael" that drops on 3rd street, one block away from the beginning of downtown San Rafael along 4th street.

See the temporary and standard schedules, along with maps of each of stations at the Smart Train website.

[Goat Rock Ukulele]

That would be good if it is now an option. Civic Center was the end of the line when we took the train.

If instead you get off at the next station "San Rafael" that drops on 3rd street, one block away from the beginning of downtown San Rafael along 4th street.

[Barry]

SMART Connectors & Shuttles

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Four new “SMART Connector” routes are being introduced to provide transfers to SMART trains from:

• West County (Route 52)
• East County (Route 53)
• South County (Route 54)
• North County (Route 56)

Two “SMART Shuttle” routes are also being introduced that provide shuttles from SMART trains serving:

• the Airport Blvd. Station (Route 55)
• the North Santa Rosa (Guerneville Road) station (Route 57)

[rossmen]

I don't know why you are promoting this. The map is a lie. Looks to me like predictions are coming true. This train is a drain on public transportation dollars which will lead to cuts for buses people use. When i asked my bro in law, a middle manager in the public tran train industry, why is bart ridership down?, his answer was (and i paraphrase, he believes and is very politic), because service sucks. People just want to get around, and will choose the best way possible.

SMART Connectors & Shuttles

Expand

Four new “SMART Connector” routes are being introduced to provide transfers to SMART trains from:

• West County (Route 52)
• East County (Route 53)
• South County (Route 54)
• North County (Route 56)

Two “SMART Shuttle” routes are also being introduced that provide shuttles from SMART trains serving:

• the Airport Blvd. Station (Route 55)
• the North Santa Rosa (Guerneville Road) station (Route 57)

[Goat Rock Ukulele]

I'm confused. What in the map is incorrect?

I do agree this train will be a money suck for a very long time. May even be a bottomless pit of costs. But it will also cost a hell of a lot of money to add even more lanes to 101 than are planned. Our area population will continue to grow with or without this train. I'm not saying this population increase is a good thing. Only that it is what is going to happen. Getting a thousand cars off the road at rush hour improves quality of life for everyone who commutes down 101.

Many or most people can conduct business during their train and or ferry ride and be making money as they transport. For those people the economics are positive. The train is very smooth and tables are set up in such a way working on a laptop would be very comfortable with the onboard internet.

Seems like we should wait 5 or 10 years to decide if this is a debacle or not.

Also keep in mind that many of the dollars that have been spent (I think it's around 50%) and will be spent on this train are federal dollars coming back into our state and our area. We currently get back about 87 cents for every tax dollar we send to the federal government. This is much less than most states. West Virginia gets about $2.50 as I recall.

[rossmen]

The first thing that jumped out at me was the scale. Its like a guy with a three inch penis promoting 10 by measuring from the anus. Even ABAG didn't like this train, the analysis was that it will be both growth promoting (for the Sonoma 101 corridor), and gridlock increasing for all of northbay as well as mendo. And the cost, most of which is paid by local regressive tax dollars, is more than 101 lane addition, which is happening anyway with a majority of federal funds, also a bad idea.

People ride public transit when it is convenient and affordable compared to the auto option. Commuter trains are effective when they connect to major urban centers. I've had many conversations about smartnot where the question is asked, why does it not connect to bart? I know the answer, do you?

I'm confused. What in the map is incorrect? ...

[podfish]

People ride public transit when it is convenient and affordable compared to the auto option. Commuter trains are effective when they connect to major urban centers. I've had many conversations about smartnot where the question is asked, why does it not connect to bart? I know the answer, do you?

the auto option sucks in many ways, so the bar here is pretty low. SR is a fairly major urban center. It'd be interesting to know how far most of the traffic I see on 101 is going. A lot of it seems to originate in Novato and south; they're the ones more likely to be going to SF, I think If most Sonoma-co originating traffic stops by San Raphael or so, the connections are less important. (yeah, I fit in that group).

The big problem for me is frequency of service. Even if driving from the west county to Cotati or Rohnert Park, the trains are too far apart and don't run late enough. Adding a bus ride makes that even worse. Since (and including) high school, I've had commutes that push or exceed an hour or so. Adding time to that, if it's time reading or otherwise not paying attention, is fine as long as it's not an outrageous amount of time. But having transportation define my schedule is usually a non-starter.