SMART is looking to add a third car on some runs as ridership projections have just about met expectations despite a lull in service caused by the North Bay fires, rail officials reported Wednesday.

Since its launch Aug. 25, the rail agency has counted 137,702 passengers. That amounts to about 15,300 passengers a week, and includes several days of no or limited service because of the fires. The agency’s projections were for 15,600 a week.

“Now we are trying to figure out which trains have the most passengers and most bikes and then see where we can add a third car for two or three weeks and see what happens,” said Farhad Mansourian, SMART’s general manager. “We are proud of the (ridership) number. It’s a good number.”

The system has also carried 11,644 bicycles and 619 wheelchairs since service began.

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Presently, ridership is counted by on-board conductors. Eventually, counts will be done via the Clipper payment system. The Clipper card system is similar to FasTrak, which allows drivers to pass through Bay Area toll booths without having to stop and hand over cash.

Clipper works much in the same manner, with patrons signing up and allowing their credit cards to have rail fares deducted. Clipper users scan or “tag” their cards on a reader. A computer chip inside the card reads the transaction, information is displayed on the screen and a beep sounds to alert the passenger the card has been read.

“We should get the Clipper info by early next year,” Mansourian said. “We would love to have that and use it for our planning.”

When SMART users tap into the agency’s on-board Wi-Fi, they are asked to answer a questionnaire. The agency now has 1,200 respondents to the survey, with the data showing downtown San Rafael as the top destination, selected by 49 percent of riders.

The next top destinations were the Marin Civic Center at 10 percent, followed by Petaluma and downtown Santa Rosa at 8 percent. The Sonoma County Airport was 7 percent and San Marin in Novato, 6 percent.

Downtown Petaluma is where most people got on at 19 percent. That was followed by downtown Santa Rosa at 18 percent, the Sonoma Airport at 14 percent and downtown San Rafael, 13 percent.

In terms of when people travel, the most popular morning time was between 7 and 8 a.m. when 32 percent if people got onboard. That was followed by 26 percent between 6 and 7 a.m., 24 percent between 8 and 9 a.m. and 14 percent between 9 and 10 a.m.

In the afternoon, 43 percent ride the train from 5 to 6 p.m., 36 percent between 4 and 5 p.m., 26 percent from 6 to 7 p.m. and 21 percent between 3 and 4 p.m.

On the financial end, SMART has collected $690,691 in fares since its launch, resulting in $74,362 in weekly revenue. The system has to make $68,023 to meet its weekly budget.

Each car has 79 seats and room for an equal number to stand if necessary. Some trains during commute time have people standing, SMART workers have reported. The system runs trains in pairs, but will now look at adding a third car to popular trains.

SMART booster Jack Swearingen sees more riders in the rail agency’s future.

“If we are going to Larkspur, we will get many more riders,” said Swearingen, with Friends of SMART. Service to Larkspur is set to begin in 2019.