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Zach Ware, Flickr (Creative Commons License)
Did You Sit in Traffic on 101 Today - Think SMART Will Really Help?
Did you sit in traffic on the Novato Narrows today in the rain? Do you think that the SMART train is going to help?
Think again! In February 2011 SMART sent a memo to its board of directors discouraging regional transportation policymakers from funding the widening of the Novato Narrows as it might reduce SMART weekly ridership down from 5,300 to 5,050 - a drop of 250 per week equating to just 25 riders per day .
View the memo here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8lP1t8xDEAUWDAxY...
Never mind that funding the widening of the Novato Narrows would add capacity of 3,500+ cars per day equivalent to 5,000+ car occupants; with the reducing congestion delays benefiting 101 drivers in all lanes - likely over 50,000 people.
Which cost benefit is greater?
- funding the Novato Narrows and helping 50,000 people using 101
- funding SMART and helping just 25 extra train riders