SMART suspends Starlighter late-night weekend service due to low ridership

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has ended its Starlighter service, just four months after it launched.

The pilot program, billed as “Your date night train,” began May 9 and extended Friday and Saturday night rail service. Despite stemming from customer requests, Starlighter’s ridership numbers didn’t track with goals.

SMART staff at a Sept. 20 board meeting recommended ending the program and instead prioritize timing of connections with the Larkspur ferry service and growing weekend ridership demands.

Its final service was Oct. 2.

Matt Stevens, community outreach and customer service manager for SMART, said the agency would receive at least four or five requests a month for later night service.

“We looked at how we might meet desire for a later train without additional trains and crews, so we extended the schedule of the original last trains so they run within 30 minutes of The Starlighter,” Stevens said in an email obtained by The Press Democrat to a Santa Rosa resident who was concerned about the service reduction.

“As a public, taxpayer-supported agency, SMART is dedicated to the wise use of resources,” he added.

The program’s southbound service ran until 9 p.m. and 9:21 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, respectively. Northbound service ran until 10:25 p.m. and 10:47 p.m.

The current southbound weekend train reaches its final stop at 7:19 p.m. and northbound service at 8:46 p.m.

While the pandemic cast uncertainty on public transit, SMART officials in July said its total ridership was at 105% of July 2019 figures. Overall ridership in August and September are also expected to outpace pre-pandemic ridership levels, by 14% and 10%, respectively.

“We are operating in the black,” Stevens said. “We have to mind our money. And so, we're mindful of being able to stay within our budget. And so, if there's a drop in ridership for a particular service, for example, a later night service, then we will redirect our resources.”

The transit agency is projecting $98.6 million in revenue, according to its 2023-24 budget. Though, revenue from fares are expected to only bring in $1.8 million, just 1.83% of projected annual income.

Almost half of SMART’s revenues — $51.1 million — comes from Measure Q, which added a quarter-cent sales tax in the North Bay. The tax will end in 2029, and a ballot measure to extend the tax for 30 years was defeated by voters in 2020.

Though Stevens said the agency doesn’t track why people use SMART’s service, he acknowledged there are many reasons for later train services in the evening, namely for people who work late.

But he said there was also a desire from riders to have a way to get to dinner in San Rafael or Santa Rosa.

“A great reason to take the train is because you can have a drink with dinner and not have to drive home,” he said.

For now, riders who use SMART to go out to dinner or commute from work later in the evenings on weekends will need to look for alternate plans.

The agency may look at bringing back the service next spring. Two things would help with that decision, he said: “the ridership of our current later evening, weekday trains, and then customer requests.”

Kathryn Styer Martínez is a reporting intern for the Press Democrat. She can be reached at kathryn.styermartinez@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5337.