The San Rafael Transportation Center (also called C. Paul Bettini Transportation Center) is an

intermodal transportation center Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transportati ...

located in downtown

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...

. It is a primary transfer point for several local and regional bus operators, and a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

station on the

Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a commuter rail service and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project in Sonoma and Marin counties of the U.S. state of California. When completed, the entire system will serve a corridor between Clover ...

(SMART) system.

History

The original San Rafael

railway depot A motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilit ...

that served the

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a mainline railroad from the former ferry connections in Sausalito, California north to Eureka, with a connection to the national railroad system at Schellville. The railroad has gone through a complex h ...

was located at what is now a cafe north of the station. As rail use fell into decline, passenger service ended after November 10, 1958. Buses came to prominence with the expansion of the road and highway system. The current transportation center was constructed around the

station building A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger railway station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers. A station building is a component of a station, which can include tracks, ...

in 1991. SMART testing began in March 2016. Service began with preview rides on July 8, 2017, and full service commenced on August 25, 2017. The station acted as the southern

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devices for a computer * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together ** Battery terminal, electrical contact used to ...

of the line until December 14, 2019, when the extension to Larkspur station opened. The bus terminal was reconfigured to allow the SMART tracks to pass through. Marin Airporter service to the San Rafael Transit Center ended on October 6, 2019, due to traffic congestion around the transit center.

Services

San Rafael Transit Center has two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

s serving the two tracks of the SMART mainline. The bus area, located south of the SMART platforms, has two side platforms and two

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

s. San Rafael is the primary transfer point for

Marin Transit Marin Transit is a public bus agency serving Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Marin Transit provides local and rural fixed-route bus services, paratransit services, and school bus services in Mari ...

, which operates local service plus two interurban routes. It is also served by several regional and intercity bus operators: *Marin Transit: 17, 22, 23, 23X, 29, 35, 36, 49, 68, 71X, 122, 125, 145, 228, 233, 245, 257 *

Golden Gate Transit Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited ser ...

: 101, 130, 132, 150, 580 *

Sonoma County Transit Sonoma County Transit is a public transportation system based in Sonoma County, California. Routes * Routes indicated with a serve the Santa Rosa Transit Mall. * Routes indicated with a gold background and the word "free" will be fare free ind ...

: 38 *Sonoma County Airport Express *

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

References

External links

SMART - StationsGreyhound - San Rafael
{{San Francisco Bay Area Public Transit Bus stations in Marin County, California Buildings and structures in San Rafael, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 2017 2017 establishments in California Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit stations in Marin County San Francisco Bay Trail 1991 establishments in California Former Northwestern Pacific Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States closed in 1958