photo credit: Courtesy of Golden Gate Transit
Transit officials are studying better coordination, service overhaul.

New efforts are launching in January to speed up and better coordinate transfers between the region's half dozen public transit operators.

Meanwhile, the Federal Railroad Administration announced up to $500,000 could be made available to further study linking SMART's Larkspur to Santa Rosa line, with new passenger service on existing tracks between Novato and Suisun City.

That's where the line would connect to the Roseville to San Jose Amtrak Capitol Corridor.

That would provide an alternative to perpetually jammed State route 37 and the often congested Carneros highway.

The comprehensive evaluation of local bus service will focus on riders and potential riders.

"The big picture goal is to make it more customer focused, and less organization focused, if you will," said John Goodwin, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional planning agency which oversees transportation funding.

The aim, he added is, "...to make transit faster, to make transit more convenient, to make transit better connected," Goodwin said.

The estimated 18-month planning effort will assess big changes in commuting and travel generally since the outbreak of COVID, with fewer people commuting and more people working from home, at least part of the week. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transit District reports a thirty percent drop in bridge crossings which is reducing revenue by $1 million, despite service reductions.

Golden Gate transit spokesperson Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz tells KRCB News in an email the agency intends to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of routes and frequencies, noting that some areas have overlapping service from multiple providers.

A comprehensive revamp could reduce trip times, making transit a viable alternative to vehicular travel and not just the choice of those with no alternative.