This June, residents of Marin and Sonoma Counties face a choice: keep the SMART train running, or watch one of the region’s most important climate investments unravel.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) train carries over 4,000 riders each weekday, offering a proven alternative to car travel that eases Highway 101 congestion and cuts greenhouse gas emissions. But without renewed funding, SMART cannot sustain current operations, let alone grow.
That’s why Measure B — a continuation of the existing quarter-cent sales tax for SMART train service and the adjacent multi-use pathway — will appear on the June ballot in Marin and Sonoma counties. Measure B doesn’t create a new tax. It keeps your existing investments alive — securing the next 30 years of service.
Greenbelt Alliance proudly endorses Measure B and encourages voters across Marin and Sonoma counties to vote YES on the June ballot.
Why It Matters
SMART is more than a train. Every trip taken on SMART means fewer cars on the road, less pollution in the air, and a cleaner commute for thousands of North Bay residents. For an environmentally motivated community, Marin and Sonoma’s housing and transportation systems still depend heavily on single-occupancy vehicles. This measure represents a needed investment in public transportation.
Without Measure B, SMART will not be able to maintain today’s service levels. That means fewer trains, fewer riders, and more cars on 101. It means an incomplete pathway system. And it means abandoning an investment that voters in Marin and Sonoma counties have already made in their shared future.
Protecting and Growing a Regional Investment
Over the past decade, SMART has extended its reach across the North Bay, and the 24 mile pathway running alongside the tracks has become a beloved active transportation corridor for cyclists and pedestrians alike. Measure B protects that progress and opens the door to more: expanded service hours, greater geographic reach, and a pathway system that’s finally complete.
A YES vote on Measure B directly funds:
- Continued daily SMART train service connecting Sonoma and Marin counties
- A reliable, low-emissions alternative to Highway 101
- Expansion of service hours and geographic reach across the North Bay
- Completion and maintenance of the SMART pathway for cyclists and pedestrians
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the region’s transportation sector. People who ride SMART reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 33% compared to completing the same trip in a car.
A Smart Investment in Our Shared Future
At Greenbelt Alliance, we believe that resilient communities require both healthy lands and healthy transportation systems — the kind that give people real alternatives to driving, reduce emissions, and keep our region connected even as climate pressures intensify.
The quarter-cent sales tax that funds SMART is already in place. Measure B simply continues it. The cost of not renewing this funding — degraded service, stranded riders, and backsliding on our climate commitments — is far greater than the cost of saying yes.
Thirty years from now, the North Bay can be a place where hopping on a train is as natural as getting in a car – where our transportation choices match our values. That future starts this June. Vote YES on Measure B.
