Leather-like seats for two with a work table, a bar with drinks and snacks, and hangar-style bicycle racks are some of the amenities that North Bay commuters say they want in their trains.
That information was gathered from 75 potential riders who attended two workshops staged by Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit in the past month.
"The rail cars are going to be SMART's identity," SMART Chairwoman Debora Fudge said last week. "If people have a great experience because they are comfortable - they have the amenities they want, the ride is smooth and quiet, there could be social networking on the train - then people will come back."
SMART must specify an interior configuration by mid April, when it is scheduled to ask train manufacturers for proposals.
SMART director Jim Eddie, however, wants the agency to come up with a design proposal before then to post on its Web site.
"We ought to get a design that people could make comments to, for people to see what we are thinking and give us ideas," Eddie said. "Interest grows as you get to see what the proposal is."
SMART has already decided it wants the trains to include a bathroom, wireless Internet access, power strips to plug in laptops, reading lights and overhead luggage racks.
There will be a bathroom in at least one of the two cars that will run together in coupled pairs, General Manager Lillian Hames said. The remaining amenities are up for grabs, but consistency is important, Hames said.
"You will always have a place to plug in your laptop and if you are used to getting coffee, then you always have a place to get coffee," Hames said.
Cars can hold 70 to 80 seats, but each time something is added, such as a bicycle rack, it takes up seating room.
Two bicycle racks take up two seats, bathrooms take up six seats and a snack bar takes up six seats.
The strongest support by those at the meetings came for a design that would hang bicycle racks in a space with flip-up seats.
Hames said four bike racks per car is the industry standard, but they are considering more, about 10 percent of the seating space.
The Friends of SMART and the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, however, want even more bike space, as much as 20 percent.
"It calls for four per car, but that is too small," said Friends chairman Allen Tacy of Petaluma. "We want 15 to 20 percent of the seating capacity of each car, and we also want to see folding seats below the bike racks so they have dual capacity."
About half of the attendees supported a snack bar, with a strong preference for a fixed location and not a cart.
There was strong support for work tables, split support for face-to-face seating and a preference for seats for two people rather than seats that accommodate three.
Leather-like upholstery was also favored over cloth for comfort, durability and ease of cleaning.
LTK Engineering Services of Ambler, Pa., is developing the specifications, which also includes such ride issues as the amount of side sway that will be tolerated and performance criteria.
The cost of the 22 train cars is estimated to be $80 million to $90 million. The train cars will run in coupled pairs and are designed so a third car can be added in the middle.
SMART was scheduled to launch commuter rail service from Larkspur to Cloverdale in 2014, but the agency is now grappling with a $155 million funding gap.
SMART then proposed last month building the line in two segments, with one part from Larkspur to Petaluma or perhaps as far as Santa Rosa opening in 2014 and the remainder opening in 2016. That proposal was based on applying for federal rail transit funds, but it fell through when the Metropolitan Transportation Commission indicated it would not support SMART in that request.
Instead, MTC told SMART in a meeting this past week it will seek other regional funds to try to help bridge the gap.
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