Seamless, Sustainable, Smart Reimagining Novato’s Public Transportation Network Anthony Nachor Urban and Regional Planning San Jose State University December 2019 Seamless, Sustainable, Smart: Reimagining Novato’s Public Transportation Network A Planning Report Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning San José State University In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree Masters of Urban Planning Anthony Nachor 13 December 2019 Table of Contents List of Tables .............................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................vii Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... x 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Novato: A Primer ................................................................................................................................. 4 2.1. A Sprawling Community ............................................................................................................... 6 2.2. When Parking Sacrifices Street Life and Transit........................................................................... 8 2.3. Employment and Mobility ........................................................................................................... 11 2.4. Driving: The (Unfortunate) Suburban Reality ............................................................................. 14 3. Current Public Transportation Services in Novato ........................................................................ 21 3.1. Northwestern Pacific Railroad ..................................................................................................... 21 3.2. Historical and Current Bus Services ............................................................................................ 23 3.3. Vehicular Fleet ............................................................................................................................. 29 3.4. Ridership Trends: Golden Gate Transit ....................................................................................... 34 3.5. Ridership Trends: Marin Transit ................................................................................................. 41 4. SMART Comes to Town ................................................................................................................... 48 4.1. BART: A Missed Opportunity..................................................................................................... 49 4.2. Station Profiles............................................................................................................................. 54 4.3. Service Characteristics and Statistics .......................................................................................... 55 5. Opportunities for Improvement: The Bus Bridge Experiment and Route 49 Extension ........... 59 5.1. Rationale and Schedule ................................................................................................................ 59 5.2. Riding the Bus Bridge Between Novato and Petaluma ............................................................... 61 5.3. Conversations and Analyses ........................................................................................................ 62 5.4. First Impressions of Expanding Marin Transit Route 49 ............................................................ 69 5.5. Lessons Learned and Suggestions ............................................................................................... 70 6. Further Boosting Transit Usage in Novato ..................................................................................... 73 6.1. Transit Projects and Results ......................................................................................................... 78 6.2. Ridership and Accessibility Challenges ...................................................................................... 81 6.3. Challenges Using Public Transportation in Novato .................................................................... 84 7. Bringing More Riders to SMART (and Public Transportation) ................................................... 93 7.1. SMART Woos Riders with More Frequent Service, Attractive Offers ....................................... 93 7.2. Use SMART as a Leverage to Bring More Visitors to Novato ................................................... 97 i 7.3. Recognize the Practicality of Buses by Resolving its Hidden Issues .......................................... 99 7.4. To Introduce or To Ignore: The Case for Bike and Scooter Share ............................................ 102 7.5. Curbing Inefficient Land Uses ................................................................................................... 104 7.6. Fighting Congestion by Fixing Priorities .................................................................................. 113 7.7. Transit Education Programs and Other Solutions ..................................................................... 116 8. Where Can We Go from Here? ...................................................................................................... 120 Appendices................................................................................................................................................ 123 Appendix A: Novato Bus Stop Inventory and Performance (Lowe) ..................................................... 123 Appendix B: Novato’s Parking Requirements by Land Use (Municode) ............................................. 128 Appendix C: A listing of projects under development or construction near Hamilton SMART Station (City of Novato Planning) ..................................................................................................................... 131 Appendix D: A listing of projects under development or construction near San Marin SMART Station (ibid) ...................................................................................................................................................... 132 Appendix E: A listing of projects under development or construction near Novato Downtown SMART station (ibid) ........................................................................................................................................... 133 Appendix F: SMART Bus Bridge Observations ................................................................................... 134 Sources ...................................................................................................................................................... 139 ii List of Tables Table 2-1: Demographics of Novato versus Marin County by Age ............................................................. 4 Table 2-2: Population Growth Rate, Unemployment, and Median Household Income Rates for Novato versus Marin County...................................................................................................................................... 5 Table 2-3: A Composition of Languages Spoken by Population between Novato and Marin County, 2017 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Table 2-4: Poverty Levels and Languages Spoken between Novato and Marin County ............................. 6 Table 2-5: A Summary of: Minimum Dimensions of Parking in Novato .................................................. 10 Table 2-6: A list of Novato's largest employers ......................................................................................... 11 Table 2-7: Origins and Destinations of Workers Commuting to and from Novato ................................... 12 Table 2-8: Statistical Figures of Where Novato Commuters Work ............................................................ 13 Table 2-9: Commuting Mode Split Between Novato and Marin County, 2014 versus 2017..................... 15 Table 2-10: Commuting Mode Split in Novato: Biking and Walking Populations .................................... 17 Table 2-11: Average Commute Times for Workers in Novato versus Marin County, 2014 versus 2017 . 18 Table 2-12: Average Commute Times Between Various Modes, Bay Area versus Marin County versus San Rafael .................................................................................................................................................... 18 Table 2-13: Percentage of Worker Departure Times, Marin County versus Novato ................................. 19 Table 3-1: A List of Discontinued Regional and Local Bus Services Provided by Golden Gate Transit and Marin Transit Through Novato ............................................................................................................. 26 Table 3-2: Current Golden Gate Transit and Marin Transit Regional Bus Services Serving Novato ........ 27 Table 3-3: Ridership Performance of Bus Services Through Novato