SMART
Managed Operations, O&M plan, integration with freight, state and federal coordination
SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District) is a recently established 43-mile FRA-compliant DMU railroad passenger service in the US 101 corridor, linking the largest communities of Sonoma and Marin Counties, and with San Francisco through connecting ferry and bus services. Assignments with this project began during its earliest stages as a member of the team providing rail systems planning and on-call engineering, refining proposals for rail passenger service between San Rafael, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, and Cloverdale, on an existing publicly-owned railroad line. The focus was on mode and vehicle selection, service concepts, integration with local and regional bus systems, and maintenance facility siting and planning.
With approval of sales tax referendum to fund the project, was seconded to SMART as Interim Operations Manager, responsible for representing the operational requirements in the design/build phase. Highlights included:
- Preparation of the District’s Operations and Maintenance Plan
- Incorporation of freight railroad operations into system operations, negotiating technical and cost aspects of an operating freight railroad and negotiating an Operations and Coordination Agreement with a neighboring Authority and short-line freight operator
- Coordination with Federal Railroad Administration and California Public Utilities Commission for project oversight and implementation
- Developed a staffing plan for operations, vehicle maintenance and maintenance-of-way, based on consolidation of functions in the fewest possible personnel classifications in recognition of the District’s constrained operations funding
- Participated on applicant interview panels for initial hires
- Operations and capital budgeting
Photo credit: user Pi.1415926535, Wikipedia