SMART to focus recovery efforts on boosting ridership

Faced with low farebox returns and continued pressure to find financial stability, SMART officials said the best way to win voter support for a sales tax renewal is to keep increasing its ridership.

Last week, the board governing the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District asked staff to bring a report back with proposals to boost its efforts to get people onto the train. The projects, expected to be presented in December, will be part of the agency’s 2024 strategic plan.

The direction came after the board received a presentation at its Nov. 15 meeting that concluded its existing initiatives — such as the free fare for youth program over the summer — are paying off.

“I think that we all are remembering the point why we’re here is to get cars off the road,” said Patty Garbarino, a member of the SMART board and Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.

Although there has been no confirmation on when SMART will seek a tax renewal, Garbarino said a sales tax measure is an investment, and there will be a chance for voters to reinvest.

“And I know that they will,” she said. “It’s not about the fare. It’s just a matter of enhancing our sustaining the quality of life.”

SMART, which launched its service in 2017, covers 45 miles between Larkspur and Santa Rosa. It aims to expand service to Windsor, Healdsburg and Cloverdale and complete a path running beside or near the track route.

Marin and Sonoma voters approved SMART’s quarter-cent sales tax in 2008 with an expiration date in early 2029. The agency attempted to renew the tax for another 30 years in 2020, but the measure failed to garner the required two-thirds majority approval from voters.

In response to a critical Marin County Civil Grand Jury report, SMART officials said the only viable option to sidestep financial collapse would be a sales tax renewal.

As the agency kicks off its 2024 strategic plan, staff wanted to know whether to continue pursuing initiatives to increase ridership, or switch gears to rebound its farebox recovery.

The free fare for youth summer program accounted for a 152% increase in youth ridership from 12,551 in the summer of 2019 to 31,573 in 2023, Eddy Cumins, SMART’s general manager, told the board.

Other initiatives include restoring weekday service levels to 38 trips per day, expanding weekend service to 16 trips a day, a 40% discount on fares, passes for three-day commutes, free school field trips, aligning schedules with ferry connections and launching a transportation pilot project to the airport.

October ridership equaled 70,807 riders, which is 19% over last year’s numbers for the month, and 24% over the total for October 2019, he said.

For the past four months, SMART has posted ridership numbers above the pre-COVID average. In the past quarter, commuter rail ridership across the nation is down 41%, but SMART ridership is up 8% for the same time period, Cumins said.

Still, since SMART opened to the public in August 2017, passenger traffic hasn’t met projections of 5,100 daily riders. Recent counts show an average of about 2,700 daily riders.

There has been little focus on rebounding the agency’s farebox recovery ratio, which is 6%, well below the 15% recorded in 2019.

The “farebox recovery ratio” is the difference between expenses and fares. For fiscal year 2023, operating costs equaled about $30.6 million, while fare revenue was around $1.8 million, he said.

The percentage is rebounding.

Last year, the agency recorded a 5% farebox recovery ratio. By comparison, Golden Gate Ferry nets a 23% farebox recovery ratio and Marin Transit records 9%. Sonoma County Transit posted a 5% recovery ratio in 2022, according to SMART.

Cumins said the attention on ridership has been intentional.

“Fares are less important than ridership, and I think it’s time we had that conversation, we acknowledge it,” Cumins said.

Board member Chris Rogers, representing the Santa Rosa City Council, said the data correlates with data presented recently to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority that showed 90% of trips that start in Sonoma, end in the county. The other 10% that leave the county make up for 46% of total vehicle miles traveled, he said.

Rogers said the data highlights the importance of SMART to “make meaningful progress on our vehicle miles traveled reduction goals.”

“I don’t want to lose those riders that we helped cultivate,” he said, suggesting that staff explore free fare programs for seniors and veterans in addition to the youth program.

He said he wants to tell voters, “This is your investment, we want you to try it. And then in the future there will be a referendum on whether or not you still think it was worth the investment.”

“I’m all for increasing our ridership,” said Sonoma County Supervisor and SMART board member David Rabbitt. He said that existing initiatives have worked well.

“I’m all for adding those additional incentives, keep going in this direction,” he said. “I think it’s proven to be very successful.”

Melanie Bagby, a member of the Cloverdale City Council and vice chair of the SMART board, said she wants to quell criticism over the low farebox returns and focus on ridership.

“We really have to become more articulate in how we explain it’s really a choice and it’s a reflection of the economic and demographic conditions of our region,” Bagby said. “We’re creating an organization for generations to come. I think that no one can dismiss the advantages of having gone to more of a ridership model.”

Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor and chair of the SMART board, said eliminating incentive programs, such as discounted fares, to try to bump up the farebox recovery ratio would have a minimal effect on revenue.

“We might gain one percentage in our farebox recovery, but what impact would it have on those riders?” Lucan said.

Lucan asked staff to consider extending the free fares longer than just the summer for youth and seniors as a pilot program.

Cumins said staff will look into it and come back in December with a proposal.