Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit is planning changes that will include two more weekend train trips, a revised schedule and the suspension of a recently launched night service.
The agency’s board voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the changes, which are set to take effect Oct. 2.
Weekend trips will increase from 12 to 14 per day, adding one trip in each direction. Also, the rail line will adjust trip times to align with changes to the Golden Gate Ferry Larkspur-San Francisco schedule that are taking effect on Oct. 2.
SMART planner Emily Betts said one reason for the changes is to respond to growing weekend ridership. Average weekend ridership is up by as much as 30% compared to pre-pandemic years, according to Betts.
The agency reported that the average weekend ridership so far this fiscal year, which started July 1, is 1,214 riders. That is an increase from 1,152 in 2017-2018, 877 in 2018-2019 and 897 in 2019-2020, according to a report from Eddy Cumins, SMART’s general manager.
Compared to weekday trips, weekend trains have about 55% more boardings on Saturdays and 45% more on Sundays, according to Betts. About 20% of weekend boardings occur at the Larkspur station.
“More often, it’s used as an event train, whether it’s the Giants or some other event, but that’s a good problem to have,” Betts told the board.
The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District will increase weekend ferry trips between Larkspur and San Francisco from five trips each way to nine trips beginning Oct. 2. Two weekday ferry trips also will be added.
While ferry ridership has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, it has improved, said Denis Mulligan, the bridge district’s general manager.
“We see the trips are getting more crowded, particularly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays,” Mulligan said.
Additionally, the district will use six high-speed catamarans for the first time for some weekend trips between Larkspur and San Francisco, reducing trip times from about 45 minutes to 30 minutes, according to Mulligan. A morning trip from San Francisco to Larkspur will also be restored.
As part of the schedule changes, SMART wants to move the last weekday train trip out of Larkspur from 8:15 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. to allow passengers on the last northbound ferry to connect to the train.
SMART runs passenger trains on about 45 miles of tracks between Larkspur and the Santa Rosa Airport. In May, the agency launched a late-night service on Fridays and Saturdays called “the Starlighter.”
The service, advertised as a “date night” service, added evening trips on Fridays and Saturdays with northbound trains departing from Larkspur as late as 9:30 p.m.
Betts said ridership on these trips peaked in the summer and has declined in the past several weeks. The service had about 38 riders per train on average and was projected to have 70 riders per train by June 2024, Betts said.
Cumins said the cost subsidy per rider influenced the decision to end the service.
“The idea was this one should not have less than our average ridership per train,” Cumins said. “It should trend our cost per rider down, not up, not staying the same.”
Additionally, the ferry schedule changes will no longer align with the Starlighter service’s last train trip.
“That did account for the big part of the ridership on that service,” Betts told the board.
The agency will reconsider resuming the Starlighter in the summer and possibly offering it as a seasonal service every year.
The last northbound train out of Larkspur will be at 8:50 p.m. on weekdays and at 7:29 p.m. on weekends. The last southbound trips will arrive at Larkspur at 8:29 p.m. on weekdays and 7:19 p.m. on weekends.
Board members supported the changes and the efforts to align with the new ferry schedule.
“All the work you’ve done is extremely responsive,” board member Deborah Fudge, a Windsor councilmember, said to staff during the meeting. “I look forward to a shorter trip to the city, especially trying to meet as many of the catamarans as possible.”
No member of the public spoke in opposition to the changes during the meeting.
The new SMART train schedule is online at bit.ly/3ZrLkgo
