Passenger Trains > SMART to begin testing on Larkspur extension on Friday

SMART will begin testing the train control and railroad crossing warning systems along the newly
constructed Larkspur extension beginning this Friday, August 23.  Tests will be done overnight
between 930pm-330am on weekdays and 930pm-800am on weekends.  Tests will run 2-3 weeks.

Night photography, anyone?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/19 17:43 by GenePoon.

Seems like a missed opportunity to not serve the ferry terminal directly, as it's a bit of a walk. Or do they envision a further extension south, across Corte Madera Creek towards Tiburon and Sausalito?

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

It's a missed opportunity. The nimbys didn't want it crossing Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

I go thru that area once or twice a month. Quite frankly, I'm wondering how SMART could be brought any closer because of all the businesses already in place there.  In addition, that part of Sir Francis Drake is often backed up from the Richmond Bridge to the freeway during evening rush. While having the two "stations" would have been nice, I don't see that as that long of a walk.  If someone wants to avoid the congestion that is 101 during commute, then they'll use this. 

Hopefully I will get to see it in person, but I know the build up of the area made it hard (not impossible) to build a direct ferry connection.  It does amaze me though that we can't seem to figure out better direct connections.  I've commented to friends a few times that BART screwed up with their Oakland Airport Connector.  You can tell cars were the priority at the Oakland Airport because you have to cross something like 3 taffic zones with a total of something like 13 lanes to get from the front door of the airport just to the escalator up to the BART connector.  I know more people come in cars, but if you want to encourage the other option, make it more convenient than a car.  An extra 350 feet (obviously with increased constuction costs) and you could have dropped people right in between Terminals 1 and 2.  But we cheap out sometimes instead of doing it "right".  On the Colesium side, it's not a bad walk, but they still could have engineered things differently so the Airport Connector was right above the BART platform instead of on the other side of San Leandro Street.  While that connection isn't "bad" in my mind, or as bad as the Airport side of things, it could have been so much better.  So to see SMART have a long walk to the ferry makes me shake my head.  It really could impact the number of people willing to take the train.  Every step, minute, transfer, connection, dollar, etc counts when people decide between transportation options.  It just seems silly to me that we can spend a Billion dollars to dig a subway through Chinatown in San Francsico but not create a convenient connection a few miles away in Larkspur.

Nathan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/19 01:06 by atsf121.

One beings to wonder why anyone on the ferry and traveling onward to San Rafael would bother with the train. Golden Gate's shuttle bus is a free transfer...and doesn't require a long walk. Presumably this service will continue after SMART begins service.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

I don't bother with SMART when I ride from Sonoma County into San Francisco.  I drive about 3/4 mile to a Golden Gate Transit Park 'N Ride lot, and board a Golden Gate Transit express bus which goes nonstop from there to the Golden Gate Bridge Toll Plaza.  I stay on that bus to the Financial District, for a one-seat ride. If I have to go elsewhere in The City, I have Muni buses, streetcars and light rail.  If my express bus gets into slow traffic, I don't care.  I'm not driving; usually I'm napping.  The bus schedule takes traffic into account, and as often as not, the bus is a few minutes early. 

From the SMART station (also 3/4 mile from home) to the Ferry Building in San Francisco by SMART would be a three-seat ride now, and a two-seat-with-a-walk ride once the train goes to Larkspur.  Connections via Muni to elsewhere also apply here.

Parking at the Golden Gate Park 'N Ride lot is free.  At the SMART station it's $2.

NOT every train is worth riding.  My SMART rides have been purely recreational (or, as Amtrak's CEO would say, "experiential," specifically to ride the train).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/19 18:25 by GenePoon.

Where is the station going to be? I'm looking at the map and wondering it is going to be near Larkspur Landing Cir. meets Victoria Rd. If it is... that isn't too bad, something like .4 of a mile. What would really help is a good walking pathway and something to avoid all the road congestion. Connections are annoying, even more annoying is a connection where you have to cross a busy road that gives no priority to pedestrians and could make you wait 5 minutes just to cross.

You're pretty close on that location. It is on the already-existing NWP right-of-way from the 1890s. 

Unfortunately the existing pedestrian overcrossing over Sir Francis Drake Blvd. is too far out of the
way for many to use it to/from SMART.  Re-timing the traffic signals would back up traffic too
much (a no-no for BMW-centric, impatient Marinites). 

On the other hand, the distance is only about double that from the farthest-away spaces in the parking lot.

No farther extension is envisioned, and taking SMART to the Ferry Terminal would require acquiring additional,
expensive Marin real estate.  What it has built thus far is on property it already owned, as a descendant of
the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/19 19:59 by GenePoon.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> On the other hand, the distance is only about
> double that from the farthest-away spaces in the
> parking lot.

Wasn't there a bunch of people using the NWP ROW as overflow parking before the SMART construction started?  For those people it would be about the same walk.

Even the walk from the ferry to the bus is two blocks.  Then add trying to cross #101.  Why they don't build a pedestrian bridge would seem a major mistake.  

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Even the walk from the ferry to the bus is two
> blocks.  Then add trying to cross #101.  Why
> they don't build a pedestrian bridge would seem a
> major mistake.  

Nobody has to cross 101...you probably mean Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

The existing pedestrian bridge was financed by the owner/developer of Larkspur Landing, to promote
business coming off the ferries.  SMART would have to finance a pedestrian bridge for its passengers
on its own, and they are already crying "poor" but that could be a setup for an upcoming vote on
extending the sales tax, way before it expires.