The Routing Company (TRC) announced California’s Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit’s (SMART) expansion of SMART Connect  service to now include the SMART Connect Larkspur Shuttle.

The expansion follows the launch of SMART Connect Airport service — powered by TRC’s Ride Pingo — in June 2023, following the announcement of its five-year contract with TRC in March 2023.

SMART’s On-Demand Service

The SMART Connect Larkspur shuttle serves the SMART Larkspur station, the Golden Gate Ferry Larkspur Terminal, and the surrounding Larkspur Landing area. On weekends, SMART Connect Larkspur serves The Village and Town Center malls in Corte Madera.

TRC first partnered with SMART to offer accessible on-demand service and transit connections through SMART Connect, delivering first-and-last-mile solutions for North Bay residents to and from SMART stations across Marin and Sonoma Counties.

“Expanding our partnership with The Routing Company allows us to enhance first and last-mile connections in Larkspur by offering train passengers a new option for connecting to the Larkspur ferry,” said Eddy Cumins, SMART GM. “In response to community calls for greater connectivity, we are thrilled to launch this on-demand service. SMART’s mission is to connect communities, and that’s exactly what we are doing. We are focused on providing accessible and equitable transit that welcomes everyone on board.”

SMART’s Partnership with TRC

SMART’s deployment uses TRC’s Pingo platform including the Ride Pingo app for riders, Drive Pingo app for drivers, cloud-based Pingo Dashboard for operators, and the Transit Connect feature.

Transit Connect guarantees connections for riders to fixed-route networks using real-time data. The feature was developed by TRC as a solution to improve the rider experience and guarantee a connection to onward transit modes.

TRC’s award-winning Pingo platform includes the Drive Pingo and Ride Pingo apps and the Pingo Dashboard operations management tool, which together provide on-demand, paratransit, fixed, shuttle, and flexible transit that enhances ridership of existing transit networks.