After more than two years of construction and testing, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit will begin running trains to Larkspur starting Dec. 14.

“This has been a long journey,” Barbara Pahre, vice president of the SMART board, said after the announcement on Wednesday.

The Larkspur station’s proximity to the Golden Gate Ferry terminal will allow train riders from as far north as the Sonoma County Airport to reach San Francisco with one transfer. Riders currently have to either transfer to a bus or use other modes of transportation to get to the terminal.

An opening ceremony at the Larkspur station is planned at 1 p.m. Dec. 13. The following day, SMART plans to hold a ceremony to marking the opening of the downtown Novato station.

“It should be a great weekend,” Farhad Mansourian, SMART’s general manager, told the board during its meeting in Petaluma.

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit began construction on the 2.2-mile-long, $55.4 million extension from downtown San Rafael to Larkspur in July 2017. The station is about an eight-minute walk from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. Neither the ferry service nor SMART plan to run a shuttle between the two stations.

Effective Jan. 2, SMART trains will be running on a new schedule that was created in coordination with Golden Gate Ferry. The new schedule will increase total weekday trips from 34 to 38 trips as well as add earlier weekend trains.

In the intervening two weeks, SMART trains will be operating on an interim schedule.

Quiet zones at all San Rafael crossings will be in effect by Dec. 14, said San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips, president of the SMART board.

In an effort to attract more riders to use the new ferry and train connection, the SMART board voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve two new types of passes.

The first is a “rail-to-sail” pass, where riders who plan to transfer from the train to the ferry or vice versa would pay a $12 flat fare rather than two separate fares. The fare will be shared by the two agencies, with SMART receiving $7 and $5 going to Golden Gate Ferry.

The pass is part of a six-month pilot program and will only be available through the SMART eTickets phone app. The pass also will only be available outside of peak commute hours during the weekdays. These off-hours are defined as any southbound ferry departure to San Francisco after 8:20 a.m. and any ferry departure from San Francisco before 3:30 p.m., according to the staff report.

“Fortunately, both the ferry and SMART train are at capacity during the commute hours,” Mansourian told the board. “If we add more to it, we create a different set of problems.”

The pass is available all day on weekends and holidays.

The second is a promotional “weekender pass,” which is essentially a two-for-one deal. For 18 weekend and holiday days between Jan. 4 through February, passengers who buy a train ticket can transfer to the ferry for free and vice versa.

Board member Chris Rogers asked how SMART and other agencies are working to promote this new pass with business groups to bring more shoppers to the North Bay. In response, Mansourian said there have been a number of meetings so far with various groups, but that more can be done.

“By giving them this free ride they’re really getting on the train free and we’re hoping we get a lot of those tourist dollars to start flowing up north,” Mansourian said.

The SMART staff says both passes are not expected to lead to any lost revenue because the programs will attract new riders on top of their regular riders.

Neither pass applies to special event ferries such as to Giants games or the Chase Center, according to Golden Gate Bridge district spokesman Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz. The two new passes still need to be approved by the bridge district board of directors, which is set to vote on the programs at its Dec. 20 meeting.

Cosulich-Schwartz said the district is hoping this new transit connection will lead to commuters making new habits, especially as the district continues to deal with filled parking lots at the ferry terminal.

“We’re excited to see how easy and convenient it is to connect from the North Bay to San Francisco using rail and ferry,” he said. “We’re excited to be a part of this program and encourage folks to try out the new connection.”