They went through Novato around 9 am, this being a Wednesday and most were at work or didn't notice the single engine that passed through town at 10 mph. They spent a couple hours in Petaluma next to a main road, Shamrock minerals, a Petaluma public works yard, a park and several businesses and apartments with all of these locations busy with people/vehicles.
I expect that once rail service resumes, people in Novato won't notice much and the issue will die down. I would be willing to go door to door in that town once service resumes and see how many people even know that trains are running. I bet less than one in five.