Taking SMART for the first time

[BCL]

I’ve been meaning to try it out once and today seemed like a good as any. We’re going from Larkspur (start of the line) to downtown Santa Rosa, which has a lot of stuff including Russian River Brewing.

We already had Clipper cards and used those rather than the day pass that’s only available on their app (I have their app, but also an older iPhone that doesn’t work with their NFC system). I made sure to add enough stored fare credit for this trip. They have a tag on, tag off system similar to Caltrain where the max fare is assumed until one tags off. And they have fare inspectors too. We sat down at a table and were asked to show proof of payment within five minutes, where the fare inspector asked to see our cards or other proof of fare. He used a portable reader to check on our Clipper cards to see if they were tagged.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I'm looking forward to riding this route from Larkspur( after getting off the Ferry from San Francisco) to Petaluma when I visit my Brother in Sonoma this Fall!

Should beat the heck out of driving on 101 to/from the City!

 

[Northwestern]

I hope you enjoy the trip. So far, I've done Santa Rosa to San Rafael, to the south. I'm hoping SMART will go to Windsor, north of Santa Rosa, by the end of the year. SR to Healdsburg is probably a good 6-8 years away.

Besides Russian River Brewing, there are interesting shops within walking distance of the Santa Rosa SMART train station. Omelette Express is just 1-2 blocks up from the station. Very good for breakfast. Flying Goat coffee across from the station, and a coffee and ice cream place on the other side of the station. Also, Whistle Stop Antiques about 2-3 blocks from the station, in the next block up from Omelette Express. It has a lot of railroad paraphernalia.

 

[BCL]

So they're all two-car Nippon Sharyo DMUs. One will have the lavatory, and it's interesting since they only lock or unlock by pressing electronic buttons. The other car seems to have a food/beverage service stand, but it was empty on the weekend. The one thing that might have been nice would have been drapes, as one side had to deal with really bright sun.

There are signs at all the stations that warn that one has to be fare paying past a certain point (with a line on the pavement), but it seems kind of unrealistic how they do it. The stations we saw had Clipper tag readers (made by Cubic) all over, including right at the line, on either side of a single machine that sells Clipper cards and adds fare value and/or 31-day passes, and other places. The fare machine was well inside, so technically one has to go into the fare paying area (violating the rules) before buying a fare.

Also - there was a fare inspector on both trains. I'm thinking they probably do it on every train so it's not as if anyone is going to get away with fare evasion, although I'm not sure if they give people a chance to get off with a warning.

 

[joelkfla]

So they're all two-car Nippon Sharyo DMUs. One will have the lavatory, and it's interesting since they only lock or unlock by pressing electronic buttons.

Same on Brightline's Venture cars. They say the bathroom is "touch-free", but you have to touch the button to get out.

 

[BCL]

Same on Brightline's Venture cars. They say the bathroom is "touch-free", but you have to touch the button to get out.

There's barely anything touch free in these lavatories. The flush button has to be pressed about half inch. The open close buttons are big, flat ones with LEDs that flash - red to close and green to open. The faucet is one of those single push on the top where it holds the water for a few seconds. I guess about all that's touch free is that they have a Dyson Airblade hand dryer. And yeah I've used touchless technology, including things as seemingly mundane as an electric eye to operate a soft drink tap.

They do have the same types of doors and door opening buttons as Amtrak trains have - one at hand level and one at foot level. But it a bit different in that the two doors open together. I've never seen that in any train before.

 

[Gary Moline]

I rode Smart from San Rafael to Sonoma Airport stop and back shortly after it began service. I was very impressed with the cars, smooth ride and low noise. I will ride it again when I'm in the SF Bay Area. It is such a relief not having to drive on Hwy 101,

 

[joelkfla]

There's barely anything touch free in these lavatories. The flush button has to be pressed about half inch. The open close buttons are big, flat ones with LEDs that flash - red to close and green to open. The faucet is one of those single push on the top where it holds the water for a few seconds. I guess about all that's touch free is that they have a Dyson Airblade hand dryer. And yeah I've used touchless technology, including things as seemingly mundane as an electric eye to operate a soft drink tap.

They do have the same types of doors and door opening buttons as Amtrak trains have - one at hand level and one at foot level. But it a bit different in that the two doors open together. I've never seen that in any train before.

The Brightline Venture cars have proximity-activated faucets and soap dispensers. I think the flush button may also be activated by waving a hand in front of it, but I can't remember fer shure.

 

[BCL]

I hope you enjoy the trip. So far, I've done Santa Rosa to San Rafael, to the south. I'm hoping SMART will go to Windsor, north of Santa Rosa, by the end of the year. SR to Healdsburg is probably a good 6-8 years away.

Besides Russian River Brewing, there are interesting shops within walking distance of the Santa Rosa SMART train station. Omelette Express is just 1-2 blocks up from the station. Very good for breakfast. Flying Goat coffee across from the station, and a coffee and ice cream place on the other side of the station. Also, Whistle Stop Antiques about 2-3 blocks from the station, in the next block up from Omelette Express. It has a lot of railroad paraphernalia.

We didn't go crazy or anything. But Chevy's was maybe the closest restaurant to the station and they had a weekend brunch. Haven't been to that location before, or had brunch at a Chevy's in years. It was really nice where we sat on the covered patio, even though it was getting really warm. The rest of the day got really, really hot too.

We researched the Railroad Square area. Seemed kind of fun but about all we got there was Nimble & Finn's ice cream. My kid is addicted to all sorts of weird ice cream. We've been looking out for all sorts over the past few months, including the original Swensen's, Salt & Straw (did it in SF), and several in Southern California. Artisan ice cream seems to be everywhere now. Other than that, we weren't sure what else we wanted in Santa Rosa. The mall is still thriving, although it's kind of on the small side for an indoor mall. We also tried to beat the heat at Barnes & Noble in downtown since they had A/C.

I'm sure we could have planned more, but we just took an earlier train to Larkspur because my kid really wanted to go to Shake Shack.

 

[BCL]

Also - a fair warning would be that there's a minimum required $4.50 (and I think half that for a child Clipper card) Clipper cash value to tag on, regardless of the length of the trip. That information is at the station, but I haven't seen it anywhere on their website.

It's also a lot like Caltrain. It deducted the maximum fare ($7.50) from my origin station but then put back $1.50 ($6.00 fare) when I tagged off at the destination. On the return, I only had $6 cash value. It zeroed out the cash value but the maximum fare was $6 from that station. I'm not sure if it can still go negative; being able to go negative was one of the big reasons why $3 is charged for the card now.

 

[poncho]

- Its worth noting there is a Sail and Rail Combo ticket $13 one way for the GG Ferry -AND- SMART train which is a great deal. Its normally $13 just for the ferry while SMART can range from $3-13 one way. This deal is bought using the SMART train app on your phone.
- SMART was one of the only commuter trains with a cafe car although was suspended by COVID (still to this day)
- The connection between the ferry and train at Larkspur is poor - confusing, indirect uphill 1/4 mile walk and not well timed but there are decent food+beverage options at Marin County Mart between the ferry and train. Minimum 15 minutes between train and ferry but often the wait is longer. Also the ferry schedule on weekends is bad from SF, first northbound ferry out of SF is mid-day. They should have built a flyover bringing the train right next to the ferry dock like the former Oakland Mole and how Sausalito was in the Northwestern Pacific days or like Hoboken Terminal now.
- Best places to explore along the route are the downtowns of San Rafael, Novato, Petaluma, Santa Rosa.
- Other sights and attractions worth exploring along the route: Charles Schulz Museum (Peanuts/Snoopy) short walk from Santa Rosa North, Marin County Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (available for tours), and in Petaluma there is a Trolley Museum also 'The Block' beer garden and food cart pod and Brewsters Beer Garden. In Santa Rosa, the Prince Memorial Greenway is a nice promenade along a creek near Downtown.
- Eventually SMART will go to Healdsburg which is a really nice small walkable town around a central square with lots of upscale restaurants, stores, hotels, wine rooms. In the meantime it can be accessed by connecting to the Santa Rosa City Bus in Santa Rosa.

 

[BCL]

I rode Smart from San Rafael to Sonoma Airport stop and back shortly after it began service. I was very impressed with the cars, smooth ride and low noise. I will ride it again when I'm in the SF Bay Area. It is such a relief not having to drive on Hwy 101,

I think it's quiet because they're diesel-hydraulic, which would seem to inherently dampen the noise and is less likely to be jerky. Not sure about its efficiency compared to diesel-electric.