Support SMART- TAM Meeting, July 24th at 7PM

Please Attend the TAM Board Meeting to Ask for an Endorsement of the SMART Train and Pathway Thursday, July 24th, 7:00 PM Thursday, July 24th at 7:00 p.m. Marin County Civic Center, Room 330 3501 Civic Center Drive  San Rafael On Thursday, July 24th, at 7:00 p.m. the Transportation Authority of Marin will hold a vote on whether or not to endorse the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) ballot initiative, which will be on the November 4th ballot.  SMART will provide passenger train service and a parallel bicycle/pedestrian pathway from Larkspur Landing to Cloverdale, for 70 miles. This is a very important meeting for SMART and your support is critical. Please contact the TAM representative from your city or town and your county supervisor to express your support for SMART and encourage them to vote to endorse SMART at this important meeting (below is a list of TAM Board members with email contact information). Also, please come to this meeting and please speak during the public comment period and urge a vote to endorse SMART. At the bottom of this email, please find some brief talking points regarding SMART. For more detailed  information about SMART please see the SMART District website at: http://www.sonomamarintrain.org For the SMART White Papers, please see: : http://www.sonomamarintrain.org/index.php/docs/whitepapers/ For the SMART campaign website, please visit: http://www.smarttrain2008.org If you would like to read the TAM report on SMART, click this TAM Working Group Report link. If you can attend this meeting, please RSVP to andy@marinbike.org or call 415-457-0802.   Even if you cannot attend, please send an email to both your councilmember and your County Supervisor (see email list below). City and Town TAM Representatives Belvedere Thomas Cromwell tcromwell@cityofbelvedere.org Please encourage Councilmember Cromwell to vote to endorse SMART on July 24th. Corte Madera Alexandra Cock alexandrahc@comcast.net Please encourage Councilmember Cock to vote to endorse SMART on July 24th. Fairfax Mayor Mary Ann Maggiore Maggiore@townoffairfax.org Mayor Maggiore has endorsed SMART and is a strong supporter.  Please thank her and encourage an endorsement vote for SMART on July 24th San Rafael Mayor Albert Boro Dana.Melnichek@ci.san-rafael.ca.us Mayor Boro is a strong supporter of SMART. Please thank him and encourage an endorsement vote for SMART on July 24th. Larkspur Joan Lundstrom jlundstrom@larkspurcityhall.org Councilmember Joan Lundstrom is opposed to SMART.  Please urge her to support the TAM endorsement vote. Mill Valley Stephanie Moulton-Peters smoultonpeters@aol.com Councilmember Stephanie Moulton-Peters has endorsed SMART. Please thank her and encourage an endorsement vote for SMART on July 24th Novato Carole Dillon-Knutson Carole4Novato@aol.com Councilmember Carole Dillon-Knutson has been instructed by her council to abstain on this vote.   Please email her anyway to indicate the merits of the SMART project and request that she support SMART. San Anselmo Peter Breen Pbreen5@comcast.net Councilmember Peter Breen is a strong supporter of SMART. Please thank him and encourage an endorsement vote for SMART on July 24th. Sausalito Paul Albritton pa@ci.sausalito.ca.us Please encourage Councilmember Paul Albritton to vote to endorse SMART on July 24th. Tiburon Alice Fredericks Tiburon askalicenow@usa.net Please encourage Councilmember Alice Fredericks to vote to endorse SMART on July 24th. Ross Michael Skall http://www.townofross.org/contact-us/email/email-michael/ Please encourage Councilmember Michael Skall to vote to endorse SMART on July 24th. Board of Supervisors District 1- Supervisor Susan Adams SAdams@co.marin.ca.us Most of San Rafael Supervisor Adams was opposed to SMART in 2006.  She has been concerned about costs.  The TAM Working Group Report indicates that project is doable under the current funding plan.  Please ask Supervisor Adams to support SMART. District 2- Hal Brown HBrown@co.marin.ca.us Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, Larkspur, San Rafael, Gerstle Park Supervisor Brown opposed SMART in 2006 despite strong support from his district.  He is concerned about costs of the project and traffic.  Urge him to support SMART. District 3-Charles McGlashan CMcglashan@co.marin.ca.us Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon and Belvedere Supervisor Charles McGlashan strongly supports SMART; please thank him for his great support of SMART. District 4- Steve Kinsey SKinsey@co.marin.ca.us Corte Madera, San Rafael Canal Area, West Marin Supervisor Kinsey strongly supports SMART; thank him for his strong support. District 5- Judy Arnold JArnold@co.marin.ca.us Novato Supervisor Arnold has expressed some interest in SMART but has not come out fully in support.  Please urge her to support SMART.   SMART TALKING POINTS HELP PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT SMART will remove 5,300 car trips per day, reducing gasoline use by over one million gallons per year.  SMART will reduce car trips, cutting carbon emission by 31 million pounds per year SMART trains will run on environmentally friendly, efficient on-board engines and odorless clean fuel. SMART train riders will be three to five times more energy efficient than drivers of single-occupant vehicles. SMART cuts carbon dioxide emissions an estimated 120,000 pounds per day. PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES The Marin-Sonoma Highway 101 corridor is the 4th most congested corridor in the Bay Area. SMART will remove more than 1.4 million car trips from Highway 101 each year.  SMART will provide two transportation alternatives – the TRAIN, providing a quiet, convenient transportation option that cuts peak commute times; and the bicycle / pedestrian PATHWAY, with up to 7,000-10,000 users per day. SMART's two-to-three-car trains fit within a city block so traffic still moves when trains make station stops. Crossing gates and city traffic signals will also be synchronized to help keep traffic moving. AN ECONOMICAL SOLUTION   With gas prices at an all time high and continuing to rise, SMART provides a more economical transportation alternative. SMART already owns the rail right-of-way; using it this way is fiscally responsible and cost-effective. SMART is an investment in our future transportation infrastructure. The economy and environment will suffer if we continue to depend only on roads and driving.