SMART poll shows high interest among potential riders

Two-thirds of Sonoma and Marin county residents surveyed recently in a poll commissioned by SMART said they would consider riding the North Bay’s future commuter train, an indication that agency officials said reflects the possibility of commuters’ high interest in the rail service.

The telephone poll of 900 residents in the two counties found that 91 percent of those who would consider riding the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit train said they would do so if the service and schedule fit their travel needs.

SMART is currently constructing tracks in preparation for service to begin in 2016 between Santa Rosa and San Rafael. Critics have predicted that trains will run nearly empty, especially since the first phase of service will not connect to the Larkspur-San Francisco ferry due to a lack of funding.

SMART officials suggested the poll results bolster their case that the service will have a thriving ridership within the North Bay.

“There is a very high demand for the commutes between Sonoma and Marin counties,” said Farhad Mansourian, SMART’s general manager.

The survey, conducted over the summer by The Wickers Group, is the latest indication that a potentially large number of North Bay commuters would consider riding SMART between the two counties. SMART officials said they will use the data to make an array of decisions over the next year about the operation, including frequency of service and fare price.

“This is another set of information that helps us in our planning,” Mansourian said.

He said the survey data does not provide an estimate of the number of riders that will use the service daily. But the survey does offer a snapshot of North Bay commuting patterns. Those who initially said that they would not consider riding SMART were screened out of the survey.

The largest group of respondents - 20 percent - said they would start their commute at Railroad Square in Santa Rosa. The destination that drew the next highest response was downtown San Rafael, with 17 percent. Santa Rosa to San Rafael was the most common trip, start to end, with San Rafael to Santa Rosa the next most common. A third of the poll respondents said they would use SMART during the morning and evening weekday commute. An additional 22 percent said they would ride on weekend mornings and evenings.

Forty-five percent of respondents said they would pay $5 for a one-way trip. The number dropped to 8 percent for a $12 one-way ticket.

Mansourian said that, closer to the start of service, the agency would determine fare pricing, factoring in fuel and other operating costs. Fares will be comparable to those of other regional transit agencies, SMART officials have said.

Survey participants were asked to rank the importance of a number of features of future SMART service. The most important was the availability of schedules, followed by security at stations and on-time performance, the poll showed. Bathrooms at stations ranked fourth and availability of weekend and holiday service was eighth. Availability of coffee and alcohol were ranked at the bottom of the list.

Mansourian said SMART will conduct other surveys targeting large employers in Sonoma and Marin counties to gauge workers’ commuting habits. Some SMART board members worried that the random phone survey missed key demographics. Respondents, for example, were 84 percent white and a majority were older than 50.

“One of my concerns is that 41 percent of the respondents are over 60. I’m certainly in that category,” said Carol Russell, a SMART board member. “I’m going to sit there and answer your questions because I don’t have a hell of a lot to do at night except maybe watch reruns of The Golden Girls.”

Jack Swearingen, chairman of Friends of SMART, a group that advocates for the commuter rail service, said the survey missed another key group of potential riders: tourists from outside of the area.

“We have a gold mine that we are waiting to tap with our ability to get tourists up here,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @PDRoadWarrior.