Will Schmitt, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Plagued by low ridership, a free Santa Rosa bus service will shuttle passengers to and from the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit station in Railroad Square for the last time Friday as the city moves to replace it with a discounted parking permit.
The City Council in late November decided to end the ParkSMART shuttle on March 1, a little more than a year after it began in December 2017.
Low ridership and relatively high trip cost were consistent problems for the shuttle. City staff previously determined that at its peak in September about 20 people rode the shuttle on a given day.
To partially offset the loss of the shuttle, the City Council in January approved a new permit allowing commuters who regularly use public transportation to park in the First Street garage for $31 a month. That’s half the cost of the regular monthly permit for the garage.
Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9327651-181/santa-rosa-to-replace-free