SMART draft budget highlights ridership, rail extensions

Increasing ridership through expanded rail, path and service offerings is a major priority for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit in the next fiscal year, officials said.

The agency’s draft spending plan, expected to be released Friday, estimates about $120.28 million in revenues and $141.07 million in expenditures for passenger rail service.

The budget highlights some big capital investments to lay miles of new track north to Windsor and beyond. It calls for paving new bicycle and pedestrian connections along the rail line, as well as increasing daily train trips, adding more staff and offering new shuttle services at key hubs.

The document will be presented to the Board of Directors at its meeting on Wednesday.

Eddy Cumins, general manager of the rail agency, said the priorities for the next year focus on getting more people on the train and out of cars that clog highways.

“We wanted to make sure that our proposed expenditures were in alignment with our vision and our mission,” Cumins said.

“We have made significant progress, especially on ridership in the past few years,” Cumins said. “But April of 2024 was a historic month for us: We carried 80,405 riders. That was 37% higher than April of 2023.”

Cumins said ridership numbers have been above pre-COVID-19 averages for the past 12 months.

By SMART’s estimation, the high ridership has contributed to the elimination of 17.6 million car-driven miles in the past year, which officials say is helping to reduce the region’s carbon footprint.

The recent spike in ridership has been attributed to the agency’s on-demand shuttle program linking train passengers to and from the Sonoma County Airport, free day-use parking and paid overnight parking at all SMART-owned stations, and the free fare for youth and senior program that launched April 1. Officials introduced that program as a one-year pilot in an effort to show voters the value of investing in the rail system.

With the ridership boost, the agency is projecting it will have carried more than 825,000 riders for the fiscal year ending on June 30, which would be 29% higher than the previous year, and 15% greater than the previous record set in 2019.

“I think we have a really good shot at serving over 900,000 riders in 2025,” an assumption that has helped map out the financial plan for the coming year, Cumins said.

The budget discussion comes as the financial security of the rail agency remains unknown.

Nearly half of the revenue comes from the quarter-cent sales tax approved by Marin and Sonoma voters in 2008. That tax expires in 2029. A 30-year tax extension failed in 2020.

While officials have agreed that a sales tax extension is vital for the survival of the district, the board still has not committed to when it will seek another renewal.

For fiscal year ending 2025, the tax revenue is expected to be about $50.4 million, which would be flat compared to the current year, but an 11.4% increase over fiscal year ending 2022. The budget also projects about another $50 million in state funding. Remaining revenues come from federal, local or other sources.

As presented, the draft budget includes spending more than $20 million on bike and pedestrian path construction along the rail line and another $6 million to design and permit new paths.

More than $25 million is slated for the Santa Rosa to Windsor rail line extension and another $3.25 million is planned for the Windsor to Healdsburg expansion. The plan calls for $7.5 million for the Petaluma North Station project and another $1.6 million for the McDowell Boulevard crossing near that station.

Cumins said staff is working to expand trips per day from 38 to 42 starting in August. This will allow earlier morning departure times to better serve students, Cumins said.

SMART is also expanding its on-demand shuttle program to include a connection at the Larkspur Landing terminal carrying train and trail users to and from the ferry. Another shuttle is planned for the Marin County Civic Center station in San Rafael. Staff budgeted $1 million for the program.

Regarding the shuttle at the Larkspur Landing hub, Cumins said staff is ready to get that project going.

The board directed staff to have the shuttle ready to launch in June.

“Why wait until June 1 to start the planning?” said Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan, chair of the board.

The budget also calls for a $700,000 marketing plan to educate voters on the benefits of investing in the rail system.

Salaries and benefits for staffed positions are expected to cost about $27.14 million for the year. The draft budget plans another $1.03 million for six new full-time employees, two limited positions and a communications intern.

New full-time positions include a grants and budget analyst to assist with securing state and federal dollars; a real estate administrative assistant; a facilities maintenance engineer; superintendent of maintenance; and two operations communications specialists tasked with public safety, train delays and bus bridge communications to improve riders’ experience.

Hiring of a limited-term code compliance officer and communications specialist is also planned.

Director Mary Sackett, a Marin County supervisor, said adding the grants and budget analyst will pay off.

“I really appreciate this forward thinking of ‘let’s have somebody there,’ so that when the opportunity arises we’re ready to not only apply for grants but also execute on them,” Sackett said.

The agency plans to spend about $2.5 million to upgrade dispatch software and systems and another $1.25 million to install new cameras on trains.

When it comes to freight, the agency plans $1.8 million in revenues and $1.8 million in expenses.

Overall, board members said they were impressed with the plan.

Lucan said there are many indirect benefits to focusing on increasing ridership, including advertising and food service on trains and at stations.

“The more riders you have on the train, all those things become more popular as well,” Lucan said. “A lot of things get impacted by increased ridership.”

The draft budget will be reviewed by the citizens oversight committee on May 22. The final budget will be presented for board approval on June 18.