North Bay coordinated transit plan to begin in April

North Bay transit agencies have approved a regional plan that provides fewer routes but runs more frequent trains and buses along the Highway 101 corridor.

The Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service plan aims to restructure transit operations as if managed by a single agency, eliminating redundancies. The plan focuses on where rider demand is highest, which is San Rafael and points south.

Some riders, bus drivers and transit officials worry that the change will leave a gap in service for late-night riders traveling to and from Sonoma County.

“We can’t just leave people stranded,” said Marin County Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, a board member of Golden Gate Transit, the regional bus provider, and Marin Transit, the local fixed-route provider.

Marin Transit approved the plan on Monday. Golden Gate Transit approved plans last month. The service change is expected to occur in April for a two-year pilot period.

The concern over late-night service stems from Golden Gate Transit’s route changes.

Route 101, which runs between Santa Rosa and downtown San Francisco, will no longer serve Sonoma County. Northbound buses will end in Novato, but with increased service. Route 172, which also serves Sonoma County, does not run late-night service.

SMART is increasing service from 42 to 48 trips per day between 4 a.m. and 11:15 p.m., with more frequent trains. The train currently runs from 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

However, the last southbound train will depart from Windsor at 8:15 p.m. and the last northbound train would depart from Larkspur at 10 p.m. The last northbound bus-to-rail connection will be around 10:15 p.m. in San Rafael.

As a solution, Sonoma County Transit has agreed to do a three-month trial of late-night service. The agency will extend a bus line from Petaluma south, arriving just after 11 p.m. in Novato.

That would allow riders to make a connection to the Golden Gate Transit Route 101 leaving Novato bound for San Francisco. The Sonoma County bus would then also take riders north, ending in Santa Rosa about 45 minutes later.

At the Golden Gate Transit board meeting on Nov. 21, Shane Weinstein, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1575, which represents bus operators in the North Bay, said there would still be a gap in service if Golden Gate buses end in Novato after 8 p.m.

“These are not empty buses,” he said. “They are moving workers, students and families across county lines. … These are exactly the riders a public transit system must protect.”

Denis Mulligan, general manager of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, said Sonoma County Transit is better positioned to provide the service, for now.

For one year, it costs Golden Gate Transit about $479,000 in bridge toll revenue to continue late-night northbound service to Santa Rosa. It would cost $758,000 to add late-night southbound service, he said.

Comparatively, it is estimated to cost $110,000 for Sonoma County Transit to pick up the swing route.

Ron Downing, director of planning at Golden Gate Transit, said the plan is based on an analysis by Nelson/Nygaard that found that 70% of travel demand was concentrated from San Rafael south. Another 18% of demand originated in Novato. About 75% of demand for travel between Marin and Sonoma is within the SMART service area.

The late-night trips are not necessarily trips crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, Downing said. “And so we can’t use bridge toll dollars to support travel that isn’t associated with the Golden Gate Bridge.”

“What the board asked us to do is outreach with the people on those late-night trips to find out exactly what their travel patterns are,” Downing said.

Surveying is set to begin in January before any service change takes effect. At the conclusion of the three-month trial, officials will determine how to manage the late-night service.

Rodoni said he did not believe it was a solution and said the issue needs to be addressed.

“I’m concerned about who we’re leaving behind, who we’re impacting, and really understanding those people’s needs,” Rodoni said at the Marin Transit board meeting on Monday.

Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, also a board member of Golden Gate Transit and Marin Transit, said she takes the concerns seriously.

“This is something new, but I want to remind everyone, it’s a partnership between all of the bus agencies in Marin and Sonoma,” Moulton-Peters said at the Golden Gate Transit meeting. “And it’s going to work.”

Under the plan, Golden Gate routes 164 and 172x will be eliminated. Route 172 will be offered with greater frequency. Route 150 from the San Rafael Transit Center to San Francisco will be eliminated.

Route 130 will be realigned to begin and end at Strawberry Village, serving Marin City and Sausalito before going to San Francisco and back.

New trips will be added to Route 132 to enhance the span of service for riders displaced by the discontinued Route 150 and revised Route 130.

Routes 580 and 580x would be consolidated into one line across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and back.

Marin Transit’s service changes were scaled back in response to rider feedback that expressed desire for retaining connections to stops in Southern Marin.

As such, changes are largely around providing better regional connections.

Marin Transit’s Route 71 will be realigned and extended to the San Marin SMART station in Novato. It will run south to connect with Golden Gate Transit’s 130 bus in Marin City.

Marin Transit’s Route 36 from the Canal and 219 from Tiburon will connect to Golden Gate Route 130 in Strawberry.

Route 22, which runs from the San Rafael Transit Center west to San Anselmo, then south through Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, will no longer serve Strawberry Village. Instead, it will stay on Highway 101 to Marin City.

Route 29 will be replaced by a supplemental school route to preserve service for Hall Middle School and Redwood High School.

More information is at online bit.ly/4paOtNI.