The entire NCRA-NWP-SMART issue just hasn't been very well thought out. Based on the historical record the prognsis for freight is not encouraging.

Keeping rails on at least part of this route is going to require public subsidy. I cannot see any way to get around the need for a governmental financial role. The only way the public is going fork over that kind of money year to year is if the NWP is converted to a transit line.

I see SF to Willits as an eventual interurban operation. My fear is that both the NCRA-NWP and SMART just don't compute and will bomb. The ROW could then be toast. What has happened to the NWP ROW south of Larkspur serves as a reminder of the hostility these municipalities have toward what they consider as derelict properties. Once the ROW is gone it takes BART level projects and expenditures to forge a new one. That is what it would take to get to Marin City once again.

Ditto for the plan for dedicated bike lanes - it will prove politically very difficult to repo the ROW when you want to double track.