Santa Rosa to San Rafael round-trip on SMART train? $19

Capitol Corridor’s adult fare for the 66 miles from Oakland to Davis is $27. The 45-mile trip between Suisun City and Sacramento is $16. The 15-mile trip between Davis and Sacramento is $9.

Caltrain’s adult cash fare for the 41-mile trip from San Francisco to Sunnyvale is $7.75.

Altamont Commuter Express $13.75 for 75-mile trip between Stockton and San Jose. From Livermore to San Jose, approximately 40 miles, the fare is $9.

Santa Rosa City Bus, Petaluma Transit and Marin Transit have one-way adult fares of $1.50 and $2 within their service areas.

Sonoma County Transit one-way $3.90 for the 40-mile plus trip between Cloverdale and Rohnert Park/Petaluma.

Santa Rosa to San Rafael $9.50 adult for one way on the SMART train; $8 one way on Golden Gate Transit Bus.

Struggling to find a “sweet spot” for ticket prices that will attract riders but also produce sufficient revenue to keep trains rolling, directors of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit on Wednesday approved a fare structure that was still too steep for some Sonoma County officials.

The fares will include a $9.50 one-way, or $19 round-trip ticket from downtown Santa Rosa to San Rafael when the commuter trains debut at the end of the year. SMART directors approved them on a 9-2 vote.

SMART board member and Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane said the fares are too high. “A lot of people cannot afford a train for $20 to their work site,” she said. “The initial goal is to generate ridership, not maximize income.”

She and Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbit both voted against the new fares, saying they should be lower.

Zane argued for a lower introductory fare affordable to everyone, which can be adjusted after six months.

But other directors said that could turn off train riders even more if they face a steep fare increase too soon.

“If we start too low, we’re as good as a cable company. The rate doubles in six months. It makes people angry,” said SMART Director and Windsor Town Councilwoman Deb Fudge.

She said SMART has a brand new system and rail cars.

“We need to pay for this. We are not an old green bus. We have to operate this responsibly and fiscally,” Fudge said.

By comparison, Golden Gate Transit buses charge $8 one-way or $16 round-trip to go from Santa Rosa to San Rafael.

SMART Director and Rohnert Park City Councilman Jake Mackenzie said the passenger trains will have enticing creature comforts. Not only will commuters avoid driving Highway 101, but they can walk back and forth on the train car, access Wi-Fi, or have a snack or beverage, including beer and wine.

And they will likely reach their destination sooner.

The rail agency estimates it will take 49 minutes to travel from Railroad Square in Santa Rosa to the Marin Civic Center during commute hours, versus 60 to 90 minutes by car.

In the course of the three-hour meeting Wednesday, SMART directors wrestled with trying to pinpoint the appropriate fares, eventually coming down midway among about 20 fare options presented by rail agency staff.

“This is very difficult, because frankly I don’t know what it costs to run this railroad and run it efficiently,” said SMART board member Carol Russell, a Cloverdale city councilwoman. “We have a lot of people who want to ride this railroad. I’m not sure how many will ride to work.”

“I think we’re going to have full trains,” said SMART Director Eric Lucan.

But Zane said the district has no idea what ridership will be or what the commuter patterns will be, calling the estimate of average weekday ridership of 3,070 riders and about 300 on each weekend day “a shot in the dark.”

General Manager Farhad Mansourian said that estimating ridership has been a moving target, with variables ranging from the economy to freeway congestion, land use assumptions and changes to the rail plans, including adding more stops such as Larkspur in Marin and north Santa Rosa near the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport.