The traffic congestion will never go away. 101 is the only road through Marin to Petaluma, and the main road beyond Petaluma (yes, I know some back roads; unfortunately, so does everybody else, and none of them are designed for heavy traffic). That's obvious to anybody with a few working brain cells; no engineering degree needed.

SMART only runs in Sonoma and Marin Counties. To get to SF you need to jump on a GGT boat or bus. So given the running time (good, but not great - GGT limited-stop ('commuter' runs) are competitive even with traffic), what it really does is provide the express service that the local (Sonoma Co. Transit and Marin Transit; some runs operated by GGT under contract) bus lines don't. Unless you drive or get driven privately, you have to ride some kind of local transit to get to the train; yes, most people drive. TODGod is right about the lack of high-density housing near the stations. So ...

SMART needs (if it doesn't already) get a cut of the county transit and GGT funds to cover the express service they provide. They also need closer integration with the city, county, and GGT service. That (if it doesn't already happen) could reduce the apparent subsidy by a little bit.

SMART did a good job of fixing up the railroad and getting more or less off-the-shelf equipment; from an investment standpoint, it's not horrible. Still: rail transit is a luxury where there's no obvious commuter traffic and major jobs center for it to serve. If its inherent capacity and travel time stability (not running in traffic...) advantages aren't being used, it's not relevant. If they *are*, then why aren't they being sold better?

Looking beyond 2029, if SMART dies, could GGT resurrect it and eliminate some local express runs?