SMART’s decision to add a future Geyserville station to its program is welcome news for a community that has waited nearly 70 years for the return of passenger rail, and it is another important step toward the regional transportation system North Sonoma County deserves.
For me, this issue is personal. During my years on the Cloverdale City Council, I represented North County on regional transportation boards, including serving as Vice Chair of both the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Board and the Sonoma County Transportation Authority/Regional Climate Protection Authority.
That experience reinforced something I have believed throughout my public service: transportation does not stop at city limits. Where people live, where they work, where they go to school, and where they receive health care are often in different communities. We need to plan accordingly.
That is why I have consistently supported completing SMART north to Cloverdale, expanding bicycle and pedestrian connections, improving bus service, and solving the “last-mile” problem that too often keeps people from using public transportation even when a rail or bus line is nearby.
The proposed Geyserville station fits directly into that vision.
Building the North County Connection
On August 19, the SMART Board approved the Geyserville Station Project and formally added it to the agency’s program. That does not mean construction begins tomorrow. The project still needs to move through planning, development and, critically, the search for funding.
But it is real progress.
SMART is considering a station near Highway 128 and Remmel Road, close to Geyserville’s existing homes and businesses. Plans envision not simply a rail platform, but connections for buses, bicycles, pedestrians, bikeshare and vehicle parking.
Just as important, adding Geyserville does not mean abandoning the promise to bring SMART to Cloverdale.
SMART’s approach is to divide the approximately 18-mile Healdsburg-to-Cloverdale extension into two more manageable projects of roughly nine miles each. That could make the extensions more competitive for state and federal funding while continuing toward the voter-approved goal of passenger rail all the way to Cloverdale.
Completing that connection has long been one of my transportation priorities.
Transportation Has to Work as a System
My work on SMART and SCTA taught me that building a rail line alone is not enough.
I supported fare-free programs for youth and seniors because the value of public transportation depends on whether people can actually afford to use it. And I have advocated for a transportation network that connects SMART with buses, shuttles, bicycle and pedestrian routes, schools, colleges, employment centers and neighborhoods east and west of the Highway 101 corridor.
That means better bus headways. It means safe bicycle and pedestrian routes to stations. It means shuttles and other last-mile services. And it means thinking regionally about connections to places like SRJC and Sonoma State instead of treating each transit agency or jurisdiction as an island.
The goal is not simply to operate trains or buses. The goal is to give people a realistic alternative to getting into a car for every trip.
That matters especially in North County, where communities are farther apart and transportation options have historically been more limited.
Geyserville Shows Why Regional Planning Matters
Community support for the Geyserville station has been extraordinary. At SMART’s August community meeting, nearly everyone participating in an informal show of hands supported a station. SMART reported that 90 percent of respondents to its community survey supported the proposal.
That enthusiasm makes sense. Geyserville has more than 1,000 jobs, many filled by people who commute into the community. A station could give workers another option besides Highway 101 while making it easier for residents to reach jobs, education, health care and services elsewhere along the SMART corridor.
It can also support local businesses by making Geyserville easier to visit without a car.
But good transportation planning must go hand in hand with good land-use planning.
I began my public-service work advocating for urban growth boundaries, walkable communities and city-centered development. Those principles remain important here. Better transit should strengthen Geyserville, not become an excuse for sprawling development into agricultural and open-space lands.
We should pair the station with safe walking and bicycling connections, protect the rural lands surrounding the community, and focus new investment within the existing town.
That is how transportation can support both our climate goals and the character of the communities we are trying to connect.
Finishing the Regional Network
Sonoma County has already demonstrated what is possible when voters and local leaders think regionally. SMART rail and its bicycle and pedestrian pathway are transformative investments. But the work is unfinished.
We still need to complete SMART to Cloverdale. We need the bike and pedestrian network to grow alongside it. We need stronger connections between SMART and local transit. And we need east-west transportation options so people who do not live directly along the rail corridor can benefit from the system.
The Geyserville station is one piece of that larger project.
My years working on SMART and SCTA convinced me that regional transportation requires persistence. Major infrastructure projects take years, multiple agencies, competitive grants and sustained political support. Progress often happens one segment, one connection and one funding victory at a time.
Geyserville is the next opportunity.
If we plan it thoughtfully, protect the agricultural lands that surround the community, and keep our focus on completing the line north to Cloverdale, this station can help move Sonoma County toward a transportation system that is cleaner, more connected and more useful to the people who depend on it.
That is the regional transportation future I have worked for, and it is the work I intend to continue on the Board of Supervisors.