Riders from Windsor who take SMART to the Golden Gate Ferry at Larkspur Landing are saving eight minutes on their trip to San Francisco under a regional transit overhaul that has driven ridership gains on the train and sharply increased transfers between agencies.

The Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service plan, known as MASCOTS, launched April 12 and reorganized four agencies, SMART, Marin Transit, Golden Gate Ferry, and Golden Gate Transit, to run as a single coordinated system. A preliminary evaluation presented at a Wednesday, July 15 meeting shows the changes are paying off: SMART ridership climbed 20% between April 12 and May 31 compared to the same period in 2025, and transfers between the four agencies jumped 45%.

Weekend gains were especially sharp. Saturday ridership rose 58% and Sunday trips increased 51%, while weekday ridership grew 14%.

"It's really gratifying seeing some of the early results here," Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey, who chairs the SMART board, said at the July 15 meeting.

The time savings extend beyond Larkspur. Weekday riders from Windsor taking SMART to Golden Gate Transit Route 101 to reach the Salesforce Tower Transit Center in San Francisco are saving eight minutes southbound and 13 minutes northbound. Marin Transit Route 71 riders from downtown Novato connecting to Route 120 to Sausalito are saving 18 minutes each way.

Under MASCOTS, SMART added six weekday trips (from 42 to 48) and eight weekend trips (from 16 to 24), running earlier mornings and later nights to align with bus connections. Golden Gate Transit cut 12% of its service hours but increased the number of trips by 22% by eliminating duplicative routes and concentrating service from San Rafael south. Route 101 between San Rafael and San Francisco now runs every 15 minutes, up from every 30. Route 120 between Sausalito and San Francisco nearly doubled its service level.

The restructuring followed a Nelson/Nygaard consulting study that found Golden Gate Transit buses and SMART trains were duplicating service, with the train emerging as the more popular choice between Sonoma and Marin counties.

Locally, Marin Transit cancelled Route 29, which served Larkspur and Corte Madera, replacing it with Route 629 for students traveling between the two communities. Route 71's northern terminus moved to the San Marin SMART station to strengthen bus-train connections in Novato.

Zoe Unruh, SMART's planning manager, told the board the agency has heard some complaints but not a significant number. She said the point of MASCOTS is focusing resources where they deliver the most efficiency and maximum benefit.

Golden Gate Transit plans to restore Route 172x, a Sonoma County commuter bus, in September 2026. Staff from all four agencies will present a snapshot of rider trends by the end of 2026, with a one-year pilot evaluation to follow and a formal review including rider surveys running through 2029.