Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District

General Manager’s Report – March 2015

5401 Old Redwood Highway, Suite 200 Petaluma, CA 94954

Tel: (707) 794-3330 Fax: (707) 794-3037

CONSTRUCTION:

 Began construction of Petaluma Siding (Hwy 101 Overpass to D St)  Finished subgrade from Hamilton Station to Smith Ranch Rd

 Started placing ballast and track from Hamilton Station to Smith Ranch Rd

Drainage improvements at Petaluma Siding (Between Caulfield Ln and D St)

Grading south of Miller Creek (North San Rafael)

Marin Civic Center to Downtown San Rafael:  Drainage work is ongoing.

 Puerto Suello Tunnel structural strengthening is ongoing.

 Contractor is placing ballast and installing ties and rails from N. San Pedro to Las Gallinas pedestrian crossing.

 Contractor is installing right-of-way fence between Mission and Paloma Avenues.  Work is taking place at Las Gallinas pedestrian crossing this week.

Tie and Rail Installation - Looking North Toward Las Gallinas Pedestrian Crossing

Las Gallinas Pedestrian Crossing

Haystack Moveable Bridge at the Petaluma River:

 Onsite repairs of Haystack Bridge continues at Mare Island.  The bridge erection plan is nearing completion.

 Good progress is being made on Piers 4 and 5 on the North Side of Haystack Bridge.

Haystack Bridge – Track Girders

Haystack Bridge – Pinion Gears

Haystack Bridge - Gear Reducer Load Test

Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF):

 The maintenance building’s columns, beams and purlins are under construction.  Train wash foundations have been poured and underground piping installed.

 Curbs along the sides of the tracks at OMF have been poured and track underdrains are being installed.

 Ballast is being spread at the OMF tracks.

 Modular buildings and the Communication Data Center (CDC) will be delivered in late March.

Operations and Maintenance Facility - Maintenance Building Frame

Track Construction – Looking South From the OMF

Platform Amenities and Pathway:

 SMART’s Board of Directors (2/18/2015) revised the number of shelters installed along SMART’s initial operating segment from 12 to 16. They also adopted Platform Amenities Options 1 and 2 (Option 2 being standing-seam-hip-roof design) as an opportunity for local municipalities to select Platform Amenities. The Board also adopted a gloss black color theme for shelters and platform amenities.

 The total cost associated with these recommendations to modify the August 2014 platform amenities designs is estimated to be approximately $560,000.

PLATFORM AMENITIES

 Coordination with California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Pathway crossings is ongoing.

 Coordination of proposed Pathway work with Stations’ design plans is ongoing. This includes pedestrian and bicycle circulation, access into the stations, and plans for bicycle parking.

 Identifying and coordinating utility conflicts is ongoing. Permitting:

 Pathway—SMART is working with Caltrans to complete the environmental evaluation through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process while preparing permit applications for construction in early 2016.

SYSTEMS AND VEHICLES

 The finishing touches are being placed in the pilot Diesel Multiple Units for their March shipment to SMART, while work continues on the remainder of the fleet.

 Systems installations along the line continue, with functional testing of the control houses beginning in March at East Cotati Avenue.

Signal work at East Cotati crossing

OPERATIONS:

Regular weekly operations and construction coordination meetings were held every Thursday morning in February, except for Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12.

Freight service was operated this month at an average level. Six through round-trip freight trains were dispatched and operated during January between our interchange with the California Northern Railroad at Brazos Junction, and points on the SMART mainline as far north as Ely Road in Petaluma. Two round trips were operated as far north as Windsor.

One hi-rail trip was operated for Santa Rosa law enforcement on February 17.

Operations continued participation in Rail Activation Plan preparation, including meeting with the new Oversight Team on February 24.

Operations continued its support of preparation of the Fulton Crossing site for Signals and Way occupancy and use, and potential temporary storage of DMU trainsets.

SMART Operations is increasingly involved in Human Resources activities. Interviews in February included the positions of: Controller-Supervisor, Vehicle Maintenance Supervisor, Superintendent of Signals and Way, and Deputy Operations Manager.

Operations continued to participate in the renewed activity of the Haystack Bridge operations planning committee, and the DMU test committee.

Operational review of numerous aspects of SMART’s DMUs included training, spare parts, maintenance facility details, Maintenance Information System design and procurement, and identification of support contracts.

HUMAN RESOURCES:

 Deputy Operations Manager

 Controller Supervisor

 Superintendent Signals and Way Interviews:

 Superintendent of Signals and Way

 Deputy Operations Manager

 Signal Technician

 Railroad Information Systems Specialist

SAFETY AND SECURITY:

Coordinated effort with Santa Rosa Police Department Railroad Square team to hi-rail Santa Rosa area to access homeless. A total of seventeen homeless encampments were located ranging in size. A cleanup effort is being planned to include several stakeholders within the community.

The security team has been meeting regularly with the Rail Activation Committee to create and update documents for revenue service. With the anticipation of Federal Transit Administration funds, several new documents will be required to produce and other existing documents will be updated.

Met with Real Estate team to discuss fencing option at Brazos and segments through Napa. Site visit to identify fencing needs in the area.

Met with Rail Activation Team consultants to review safety policies and received feedback on content and structure. Analyzed required documents for the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Railroad Administration.

SMART hosted all county fire and emergency medical partners for the second meeting to review the First Responder Plan. The draft is in its final stages of revisions.

SMART staff hosted San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Safety Manager for a tour and meeting to discuss best practices in the industry and technology trends.

Held first meeting with consultants to discuss timeline for emergency operations training, table top exercises and full scale regional trainings.

Attended two meetings regarding “Yellow Command”- Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) drill to test the responses of all regional operating areas.

Presented at Petaluma Elk’s Firefighter Appreciation Dinner with 150 area firefighters in attendance.

Safety Department staff has held two meetings with Public Safety Fire and EMS staff to discuss the draft Emergency First Responder Plan. This plan details how public safety agencies will respond to a wide range of emergencies that may occur on the SMART right-of-way and on the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) rail vehicles. This plan also details the needed training and exercises that will be conducted to prepare public safety responders to respond to railroad emergencies. Much progress has been made on this draft document and it is anticipated that the plan will be completed by the End of May, 2015.

A wide range of first responders have participated in these meetings and asked to provide feedback and direction for the plan. They include:

Chief Bob Sinnott, Larkspur FD Chief Chris Gray, San Rafael FD Chief Jason Weber, Marin County FD

Deputy Chief Mark Brown, Marin County FD Chief Mark Heine, Novato FPD

Battalion Chief Adam Brolan, Novato FPD Battalion Chief Jeff Holden, Petaluma FD Battalion Chief Jeff Schack, Petaluma FD

Battalion Chief Herb Wandel, Rancho Adobe FPD Division Chief Mike Bates, Rohnert Park DPS Chief Doug Williams, Central Fire Authority Deputy Chief Bill Shubin, Santa Rosa FD Chief Todd Derum, CAL FIRE

Chief Al Terrell, Sonoma County Department of Emergency Services Chief Wes Kitchell, Sonoma County Department of Emergency Services Battalion Chief Darrin Decarli, San Antonio Volunteer Fire Company Sgt. Pete Quartarolo, Sonoma County Sheriff, Helicopter Henry 1 Jeff Cress, Reach Air Ambulance

Officer Jim Andrews, CHP Helicopter H30

Galand Chapman, Sonoma Life Support Ambulance James Salvante, Sonoma County EMS Agency Randy Saxe, Marin County EMS Agency Dean Anderson, REDCOM Dispatch Agency Lee Ann Magoski, Marin Communications Center

Christopher Reilly, Marin County Emergency Management Agency Christopher Helgren, Sonoma County Emergency Management Agency

Staff attended a training class, Managing Transit Emergencies, conducted in San Diego by the Transit Safety Institute. This training provided a comprehensive look at the elements of an effective emergency management plan. The class detailed planning with local responders,

utilizing the Incident Command System, using the risk-management approach to emergency planning and specifics regarding emergencies that occur on rail property.

PATHWAY:

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Process

As of March 13 only one more signature at US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is needed on the Biological Opinion needed to for the IOS Pathway Construction.

We are focusing on the Federal Cultural Resource clearances needed to secure federal funding for the E. Cotati Ave to Golf Course Dr. pathway segment.

Area of Potential Effect (APE) maps were approved by Caltrans January 30, 2015 and). Environment Permits

SMART staff and the permit team completed the Joint Aquatic Resource Permit Application for pathway work in the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB).

The permit team is working on the DRAFT Proposed Condition Drawings for pathway work in the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (SFBRWQCB).

Contract Package 4 (Design-Build)

Pathway design work has been on hold since Spring 2014 pending resolution of the NEPA process.

East Cotati Avenue to Golf Course Drive

Preparation of the Plans, Specifications and Cost Estimate (PS&E) for this section of pathway in the Cities of Cotati and Rohnert Park is underway.

GRANTS AND FEDERAL/STATE AND REGIONAL ACTIVITIES:

The second cycle of State and Regional Active Transportation Program (ATP) funds is being released in early 2015 with applications due June 1, 2015, to the State of California and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The ATP grant criteria are similar to the first cycle of programming and, as such, two segments of the SMART Pathway will be the most competitive candidates for these funds, Payran Street to South Point Boulevard in Petaluma and McInnis Parkway to Smith Ranch Road in San Rafael.

Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) – State Cap and Trade

The State has released a Call for Projects for the programming of the first years of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) Cap and Trade funds. The first year of the TIRCP is allocated $25 million for FY14-15. Applications are due April 10, 2015. The SMART project most likely to be effective in this statewide competition for funds is the expansion of the core SMART rail car fleet through the execution of the final options on the existing rail car contract and acquisition of three “C-cars”.

Regional Clipper® Update

SMART staff has been meeting with Clipper® staff on various aspects of the implementation details for the Clipper® fare collection system to be installed on SMART. Meeting topics in late December and early January have covered revisions to proposed Clipper® procurement of Ticket Vending Machines for SMART, Clipper® system capacity for various fare types, Clipper® mobile ticketing options and Clipper® Retail Network and institutional programs. Quarterly inter-agency meetings between Clipper®/Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and SMART took place on December 23, 2014, and January 23, 2015. SMART staff also continues to participate in MTC’s “C2” Long Range Steering Committee meetings for the development of the system that will replace Clipper in 2019.

Federal Transit Administration “Direct Grantee” Project

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) staff has notified SMART to file the required documentation to be accepted as one of their “direct grantees” or a direct recipient of future FTA funds. Staff continues to prepare the required documentation for the FTA to review. Several policy documents will be updated and presented to the SMART Board for acceptance in early 2015. Included in those documents will be all the required FTA Civil Rights and procedural policies, notably a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) contracting goal and a Title VI Plan. SMART will file documents administratively with FTA as well, to show the required “financial, legal and technical capacity” to manage FTA funds.

PLANNING:

Stations’ Bicycle Parking Investment Plan

SMART has received Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds to prepare a Bicycle Parking Investment Plan. The Bicycle Parking Investment Plan will develop criteria with partners and local jurisdictions for investing in bicycle parking and other facilities along SMART’s corridor at or near any given SMART Station. The Plan will provide a detailed investment strategy for implementing the agreed upon bicycle parking program coordinating participation of the Safe Routes to Schools programs in Marin and Sonoma counties and coordinate a conversation between partners on the range of bicycle parking types and bicycle supportive infrastructure available to invest along the SMART corridor. The available funding is $100,000 for development of the Plan. The Request for Proposal is in process, and the timetable for completion of the Plan is February 2016.

CEQA/NEPA

Larkspur Extension National Environmental Policy Act (Environmental Assessment (EA)) – SMART is currently addressing the comments received regarding the document and will then submit the Environmental Assessment to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). After reviewing the revised EA, as appropriate, FTA will make a decision.

Regional Transit Coordination Activities

SMART staff continues to participate in additional monthly transit coordination meetings above and beyond coordination directly related to the start of SMART services. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) hosts a monthly Transit Finance Working Group (March 4) and at the Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA) at its monthly SCTA Transit Technical Advisory Committee (March 11).

o SCTA Transit TAC Agenda: http://www.sctainfo.org/agenda.htm

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is in the process of updating the regional long range transportation plan (the current plan is called Plan Bay Area, http://planbayarea.org/ ), and in coordination, SCTA and Transportation Authority of Marin are also updating their long range transportation plans. SMART contributes to these plans by providing proposed capital projects. Once listed in the regional plan, these projects are eligible for more State and Federal funds sources. As a precursor, MTC has launched the site “Vital Signs” to demonstrate the current performance of the Bay Area’s Transportation and Land Use systems (http://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/ ).

SMART submitted comments to MTC for the draft “Regional Goods Movement Plan.” This plan outlines the needs around the bay area for improved goods movement. For SMART, this includes both the Mainline track and the Brazos Branch. More information can be found at

http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/rgm/

Staff is currently reviewing and will provide comments on the public draft of the “California Transportation Plan: 2040.” More information can be found at

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/californiatransportationplan2040/index.shtml

Staff will participate on the Technical Advisory Committee for CityBus’s upcoming project, “Reimagining CityBus,” which is a comprehensive re-evaluation of the Santa Rosa CityBus route network and service plan. More information can be found at http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/departments/transit/citybus/Pages/Reimagining.aspx

Employer Coordination

Novato Chamber of Commerce to Discuss SMART Infrastructure – Staff participated in the 2/23/15 meeting regarding the Novato SMART stations. Representatives from North Bay Business Council, TAM, large employers and various chamber members, in addition to public works staff from the City of Novato are invited to the meeting.

Local Coordination

Fairfax-San Rafael transit Corridor Study - The purpose of the feasibility study is to identify the potential for additional transit service, together with opportunities to improve or expand existing service, along the Fairfax – San Anselmo – San Rafael corridor to meet new demands resulting with the start of SMART commuter rail service in downtown San Rafael. The most recent meeting was 3/11/15. More information can be found on TAM’s website. http://www.tam.ca.gov/index.aspx?page=350

Station Area Plans

Rohnert Park – This Station Area Plan is active and the most recent community workshop was held on 10/21/14. More information can be found at http://www.ci.rohnert-park.ca.us/index.aspx?page=864.

o Staff met with city staff and the designer for the adjacent former State Farm Property to discuss the interactions between the station site and the proposals for the 33-acre development.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH:

CONSTRUCTION OUTREACH

All Project Areas - Ongoing

 Post up-to-date construction work schedules and location information to the Construction Updates web page for all construction activities.

 Addressing questions from the public submitted by phone or email.

 Notification

o Track Construction: East D St to Hwy 101 overpass, Petaluma (2/20/15) – Canvassing & Webpage

o East Cotati Ave, Petaluma (Signal Testing) – March 6, 2015 SAFETY EDUCATION

Operation Lifesaver

 Rail Safety Presentation to Mary Isaak Center – Committee on the Shelterless (3/9/15)  Coordinating with Homeless Service Providers in Sonoma County in advance of train

testing to present rail safety information.

Ongoing Safety Outreach

 Outreach Manager participates in the bi-weekly Rail Activation Committee Meeting to prepare for start of test train program.

 Five SMART employees are Operation Lifesaver Authorized Volunteers.

 Outreach at all events has a significant focus on safety education; people are encouraged to play the rail safety game, earn prizes and can take home free safety education materials.

EVENTS/PRESENTATIONS

Presentations/Community Meetings

 Presentations by staff on project overview, current status and what’s next: o Rotary Club, Novato Sunrise – (2/24/15)

o Marin County Bar Association – (2/25/15)

Events

 Impact Marin Conference (3/9/15)

SMART Information Table at Impact Marin

 SMART Community Outreach is currently scheduling 2015 events for Public Education and Outreach

 SMART Community Outreach is incorporating Human Resources/SMART Jobs information to more broadly advertise that SMART is hiring as well as supporting human resources with event gear for job fairs.

PUBLIC EDUCATION OUTREACH/PRESS

Construction News Advisories

Per Construction Outreach Protocols, developed and emailed construction news advisories to local press, and forwarded news advisory to local officials and to Public Safety Agencies (law enforcement, fire/emergency services), US Post Office, School Districts, Garbage Haulers, Transit/Bus Operators, COZEEP, REDCOMM etc.

 East Cotati Ave, Petaluma (Signal Testing) – March 6, 2015

Outreach Materials

 Community Outreach Brochure – updated March, 2015

Social Media

 Regular updates to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter & Construction Updates web page.

 Meeting weekly to strategize for upcoming Social Media blasts.

 As of 2/9/15

Social Media Emails/likes/follows Growth since last month

Constant Contact 6,308 94+ 2%

Facebook 3,184 63+ 2%

Twitter 1,149 33+ 3%

Instagram 72 4+ 6%

Progress Update Advertising

 Online banner ads continue year round; links to Progress Update page which is updated with current status information (this page is also accessible from the SMART website home page).

Information Inquiries/Outreach

 Daily monitoring and response to questions received via phone, email and construction information line.