SMART unveils ridership data in public forum in push for sales-tax extension

SMART’s board of directors meets Wednesday for its first-ever public discussion about the commuter rail system’s daily and weekly ridership during two-plus years of service in the lead up to a ballot measure to renew the sales tax that funds the agency.

The meeting is the board’s first since the passenger data was released two weeks ago in response to a Press Democrat request for the information filed under the California Public Records Act. Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit staff long denied access to the numbers routinely provided by other regional transit agencies, claiming it did not maintain record of its daily and weekly totals.

A report submitted by agency staff to the 12-member board ahead of the meeting calls out growth in SMART’s weekday ridership since service began in August 2017.

The data shows weekday ridership rose 4.2% from its first year to its second, and increased another 4.2% in the first quarter of SMART’s third year of operations, according to a Press Democrat analysis.

The numbers, which were collected with manual counts aboard trains by SMART’s engineer-conductors, show that the system averaged about 2,250 riders each weekday during its first year of operations.

In SMART’s second year, that total increased by more than 100 riders per day, and through the first quarter of SMART’s third year, roughly 2,520 riders hop aboard the train on the average weekday.

However, the figures are lower than what SMART General Manager Farhad Mansourian stated they were when he told the Marin Independent Journal in November that the system carries a weekday average of about 2,800 passengers. Mansourian did not respond to messages and was not made available for an interview this week to discuss the discrepancy, and an agency spokeswoman previously said the prior weekday average was only an estimate.

The report explains that while SMART remains in its infancy, agency staff are pleased with its ridership gains during the workweek - what was billed as the train’s main purpose. The report does not address the fact that overall ridership dropped by 2.2% in its second year of service on account of slide in weekend use of the system. Since service began, weekend ridership has fallen off by nearly one-third.

“The conclusions that can be drawn from the data is this: SMART’s core ridership is robust and growing,” the report reads.

San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips, who has served the past year as SMART’s board chairman, said he asked staff to present any trends that can be observed from a year-over-year comparison between 2018 and 2019. He wants to see if it represents an increase or decrease with a longer-term goal of boosting the numbers, but also said he has questions about staff’s description of ridership to date as “robust.”

“I do have a little heartburn over that. I don’t think that’s the case,” Phillips said. “Unless I’m damn sure of that, I’m not going to sign on to it. If it’s good news, great. If not, we’ll deal with it. I want nothing to do with anything that’s not factual or correct.”

Novato Councilman Eric Lucan, who is expected to take the reins as SMART’s next board chairman on Wednesday, said he was happy that the data was made available in the agency’s efforts to be transparent. In the past, Mansourian would announce to the board only the total number of passengers the train has carried since service began, which exceeded 1.6 million riders through November.

Still, Lucan said it’s probably it too early to draw many conclusions or make operational or policy changes from what he called the “limited dataset” that will be unveiled at the meeting. Based on what he’s reviewed so far, Lucan said he’d have a greater concern if the data showed weekend passenger counts were increasing, while weekday ridership was falling.

“You can slice and dice the numbers a lot of ways,” said Lucan. “It’s too premature to say that something was left out or not included. Let’s get the full presentation - the full picture - first.”

In March, SMART is seeking early renewal of the quarter-cent sales tax that acts as its primary revenue stream. The current tax is not set to expire until mid-2029, but rising annual costs have led the agency to opt for a 30-year extension nine years ahead of schedule in hopes of refinancing bond debt tied to building its initial 43-mile line from San Rafael to Santa Rosa’s northern outskirts.

In December, SMART’s line grew to 45 miles when it extended service to its new station in Larkspur. At the same time, it introduced a new stop in downtown Novato. The agency also launched an expanded schedule to start the year, and, combined with the information that can be gleaned from the newly released ridership data, officials with SMART are optimistic it will all contribute to voters in Sonoma and Marin counties seeing the benefits of supporting the system for years to come.

“That’s what I care about, the long-term success of the line, beyond any board member or staff members who are there,” said Santa Rosa Councilman Chris Rogers, who is a member of the SMART board. “We’re trying to figure out how to build a better public transit system that is more responsive to the needs of the community, and also open and transparent. I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s working and what’s not working.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336 or kevin.fixler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kfixler.