SMART - Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit

In seven days, the North Bay’s passenger rail system received a sudden avalanche of $74 million for a long-stalled effort to bring the train tracks north to Healdsburg.

The first boon came last week, when the California Supreme Court dismissed a long-running lawsuit from a tax advocacy group, freeing up Bay Area bridge toll dollars that includes $40 million for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit.

Then, on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $2.5 billion in funding grants for transportation, including more than $34 million to SMART.