Another instance where I agree with Mike.

SMART and the NCRA are forever linked, precisely because of the enabling
legislation creating SMART, drafted by Doug Bosco, and sponsored
by then Assemblyman Joe Nation.

AB2224 states:

"The transfer of any right-of-way from the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Authority,
the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, the
County of Marin, or the Marin County Transit District to the
district shall be made subject to any existing easements for freight
and passenger excursion service issued to the North Coast Railroad
Authority prior to the time of the transfer."

Mike, however, is wrong about the choices SMART has. SMART was legally
required to do a Supplemental EIR to address the ever-expanding freight
operational plans once the NCRA announced more trains and longer trains.
I suppose they could have waited to see whether they would have been
legally challenged. But they would have lost. The law is pretty clear
that the freight plans qualified as "new" information requiring supplemental
evaluation. (In part, this is because SMART staff reduced the number of
freight evaluated in the final EIR vs. what they had originally evaluated
in the draft EIR.)

Here's the part I don't get. Why is SMART trying to claim that "if you
want to control freight, you should vote for SMART"? This one baffles
me as it has no credibility, even among rail supporters. As Mike points
out, freight can operate whenever it wants or needs to operate, as long
as it doesn't interfere with the passenger trains. It seems pretty obvious
that this pushes more freight trains into night operations, where the
noise and vibrations of freight trains will impact far more residents.

Another quote from the enabling legislation:

"The district shall work with the North Coast Rail
Authority (NCRA), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
Railroad Authority, the Federal Railroad Administration, and any
of its successor agencies, to achieve safe, efficient, and compatible
operations of both passenger rail and freight service along the rail
line in Sonoma and Marin Counties."

That's legal linkage.