SERVICE CHANGES FOR 2026

What are the service changes?

Please read below to view service changes to Santa Barbara MTD’s service plan.

Proposed Service Reductions

► Lines 1 (West Santa Barbara) and 2 (East Santa Barbara)

Line 1 serves Downtown and West Santa Barbara, and Line 2 serves Downtown and East Santa
Barbara. These routes are interlined and run on 15-minute headways for most of the day on
weekdays. That makes these routes the most frequent in MTD’s system. Revenue hours on Lines
1 and 2 combined make up 14 percent of MTD’s total revenue hours.

After analyzing ridership impacts and recognizing that 20-minute headways are seen as a good
standard in bus systems of MTD’s size, and is among the most frequent in the system, MTD is proposing reducing weekday headways on Lines 1 and 2 to 20-minute frequency. The span
of service would remain the same.

While Lines 1 and 2 are still very popular routes with an average of 22 passengers per hour yearto-
date, they have seen drops in ridership of 17.3% and 18%, respectively, in the period of July
2025 to January 2026 as compared to the prior year. While it is hoped that this downward trend
on these routes will turn around, we believe that with 20-minute service, the capacity will be
sufficient to satisfy current demand.

► Lines 3 (Oak Park), 4 (Mesa/SBCC), 5 (Mesa/La Cumbre), and 17 (Lower West SB/SBCC)

Line 3 serves Downtown Santa Barbara, Cottage Hospital/Oak Park, Samarkand, Hitchcock, La
Cumbre, and Sansum Clinic on Foothill. Line 4 serves Downtown Santa Barbara, Carrillo Hill, the
Mesa, and SBCC, and is interlined with Line 17 which serves Downtown Santa Barbara, the Lower
Westside, and SBCC. Line 5 serves Downtown Santa Barbara, SBCC, the Mesa, Hidden Valley
and La Cumbre.

On these four routes (3, 4, 5, and 17) currently, there is slightly more service on Saturdays than
Sundays. Staff’s recommendation is to match Saturday’s schedules on these routes to Sunday’s
current schedule. This means all weekend days on Lines 3, 4, 5, and 17 would have the same
schedules. Headways would not change on these routes; the span of service would shrink.

Line 3 would go from 13 round trips to 11 round trips (losing 2 AM and 1 PM trips).

On the weekends, Lines 4, 17, and 5 are interlined for much of the day. Line 4 would go from 11
outbound trips to 8, and from 12 inbound trips to 9. Line 17 would go from 12 outbound trips to 9,
and from 11 inbound trips to 8. Both Line 4 and 17 would lose 2 AM trips and 1 PM trip.

Line 5 would go from 14 outbound trips to 11 trips and 13 inbound trips to 10 trips (losing 1 AM
and 2 PM trips).

► Line 7 (Goleta Old Town)

Line 7 serves Downtown Santa Barbara, La Cumbre, the Calle Real County Campus, Calle
Real/Fairview, and Old Town Goleta. On weekdays, Line 7 runs on 30-minute headways for most
of the day and becomes less frequent in the evenings. The last two outbound trips from the Transit
Center depart at 7:10 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Upon reviewing ridership on the 9:45 p.m. trip, we
believe that eliminating the trip would have minimal impact on riders. This would mean the latest
trip outbound on the Line 7 would become the 7:10 p.m. departure.

► Lines 11 (UCSB), 23 (El Encanto Heights), and 25 (Ellwood/Winchester Canyon)

Line 11 serves Downtown Santa Barbara, the State/Hollister corridor from Sola to Fairview, Santa
Barbara Airport, UCSB, and Camino Real Marketplace. Line 23 serves Camino Real Marketplace,
Dos Pueblos High School and El Encanto Heights. Line 25 serves Camino Real Marketplace,
Ellwood, and Winchester Canyon. These routes are interlined with each other and Line 6 (Goleta).
Upon analysis of the ridership on the last weekday outbound Line 23 trip, which becomes the last
inbound Line 25 trip, and then turns into the last inbound Line 11 trip, MTD is proposing
elimination of these three one way trips.

The last outbound Line 23 trip currently departs Storke and Hollister (Rusty’s) at 11:00 p.m. and
arrives at Calle Real and Winchester Place at 11:18 p.m. If this trip is eliminated, the latest
weekday outbound Line 23 trip would leave Storke and Hollister at 9:40 p.m.

The last inbound Line 25 trip currently departs Calle Real and Winchester Place at 11:18 p.m.
and arrives at Storke and Hollister stop (McDonald’s) at 11:30 p.m. If this trip is eliminated, the
latest weekday inbound Line 25 trip would leave Calle Real and Winchester Place at 9:58 p.m.

The last inbound Line 11 trip currently departs Storke and Hollister (McDonald’s) at 11:30 p.m.
and arrives at the Transit Center at 12:23 a.m. If this trip is eliminated, the latest weekday inbound
Line 11 trip would leave Storke and Hollister at 10:30 p.m.

► Alpha Resource Center Booster Line 2010

For many years, MTD has operated a morning booster trip that begins at the Transit Center and
ends at Alpha Resource Center on Cathedral Oaks Road, which hosts a day program that serves
adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Line 2010 operates at approximately 105
revenue hours annually.

After tracking ridership on this route, and multiple conversations with staff at Alpha, MTD has
concluded that the route is no longer necessary. Alpha staff agrees that they can make other
transportation arrangements for those who are still using the service. This change does not need
to wait until August and is planned to end as for June 15, 2026.

Other Service Changes

► Microtransit

The Wave on-demand microtransit service launched in April 2025 in a portion of Goleta and Isla
Vista after years of planned service and implementation delays. Service currently operates
Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. MTD has one-time grant funding for the pilot
of this service from the State of California’s Low-Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP).

The intention of this pilot was to test it in three specific service zones. In addition to Goleta/Isla
Vista, service areas have been planned for Carpinteria and Santa Barbara. The next zone to
begin service is Carpinteria and includes everything within the City limits of Carpinteria and some
adjacent County unincorporated area, such as Santa Claus Lane. MTD believes there is strong
demand for this service in Carpinteria as MTD has received robust community interest in bringing
back service that connects different parts of the community, after suspension of the Seaside
Shuttle (Line 36) service in 2020. In contrast to the Seaside Shuttle, this service would be on demand
and cover the entire community, instead of just a set circulator route. It would also
connect Downtown Carpinteria and other neighborhoods with the popular Santa Claus Lane area
that experiences significant parking pressures during peak times.

Staff is recommending that service in Carpinteria start this calendar year, likely in mid-September,
with an exact time being dependent on workforce and fleet availability.

The Goleta/Isla Vista pilot is growing in popularity, and since it has thus far operated with shorter
service windows and one fewer van and operator, there is additional budget to continue that
service past April. Analysis is underway to understand the feasibility of extending or maintaining
service in the Goleta/Isla Vista zone past the Carpinteria area launch.

► First Mile/Last Mile Service for New Amtrak Service

MTD is finalizing a draft agreement with SBCAG regarding providing first mile/last mile bus service
connections for the Santa Barbara and Goleta train stations for the retimed Pacific Surfliner train
that is expected to begin on May 4, 2026. Staff will return to MTD’s Board of Directors in April with
further details on the service and with an agreement for approval. This service will be paid for by
SBCAG with Measure A rail funds.

► Small Routing Change on Line 7

With the recent opening of the two “Project Connect” roundabouts at Hollister Avenue and
Highway 217, MTD is proposing changing the way that Line 7 turns
around in Old Town Goleta. Currently, at the end of the line in Old Town, the bus turns left on
Kinman Avenue, right on Armitos Avenue, right on Kellogg Avenue, and right on Hollister to pull
into the Hollister and Kellogg westbound stop to begin the return trip. With the addition of the
roundabouts, the bus is able to simply go straight eastbound, make a u-turn at the roundabout
and pull straight into the Hollister and Kellogg stop. This change will be an operational
improvement but will not affect any stops as there are none located back in the neighborhood.
This change will likely take place before August. Planning staff will observe if any time is saved.

► Minor On-Time Performance Adjustments

MTD is using data and bus operator feedback to look at possible OTP issues that could be resolved with small tweaks to schedules.

¿Cuáles son los cambios de servicio?

Lea a continuación para ver los cambios propuestos en el plan de servicio de Santa Barbara MTD.

► Viaje entrante adicional en la Línea 24x (UCSB Express) entre semana

La línea 24x (UCSB Express) opera un servicio exprés diario que sirve al centro de Santa Bárbara, UCSB, Isla Vista y Camino Real Marketplace.

Antes de la pandemia de COVID-19, la Línea 24x operaba con mayor frecuencia, pero la escasez de operadores de autobuses obligó a reducir el servicio en todo el sistema.

Si bien no se puede restaurar todo el servicio en este momento, MTD propone agregar un viaje entrante adicional (hacia el centro de Santa Bárbara) de lunes a viernes a primera hora de la tarde, hora pico, para acomodar a más pasajeros en horas pico que se dirigen al centro, especialmente desde UCSB.

Este nuevo viaje comenzaría en Storke y Hollister aproximadamente a las 16:56, saldría de la parada North Hall de UCSB a las 17:10 y llegaría al Centro de Tránsito a las 17:34.

► Nuevo servicio de microtránsito en Goleta e Isla Vista

Microtransit es un servicio de transporte público flexible, a pedido y de acera a acera que se brinda dentro de una zona específica por una tarifa plana y se operará con camionetas más pequeñas en lugar de autobuses de tránsito. El servicio estará disponible para el público en general y todas las camionetas son accesibles según la ADA. MTD planea operar un servicio de Microtránsito llamado “The Wave”, y comenzará en un área de Goleta e Isla Vista.

La zona (que se muestra en el mapa a continuación) incluye un área delimitada por Patterson al este, Cathedral Oaks al norte, Los Carneros al oeste y 101 al sur. También se incluyen las áreas de viviendas y parques empresariales a ambos lados de Los Carneros al sur de la autopista. Además, hay puntos específicos disponibles para dejar o recoger en los siguientes lugares: estación Goleta Amtrak, aeropuerto de Santa Bárbara, UCSB Bus Loop, parada UCSB Elings Hall, Isla Vista Community Center y parada de salida de El Colegio y Embarcadero del Mar.

Un pasajero reservará un viaje a través de la aplicación de smartphone se llama TransLoc o por llamando al Centro de Tránsito. Al igual que una aplicación de viaje compartido, el pasajero ingresará su punto de partida y su punto final (ambos dentro de la zona de servicio), y se le dirá cuántos minutos pasarán antes de que llegue la camioneta. Los viajes se pagarán de una de dos maneras a bordo: mediante pago sin contacto o en efectivo. La tarifa estándar de ida será de $3, y las personas mayores de 65 años y las personas con discapacidades pagarán $1.50. Los pasajeros de microtránsito pueden transferirse a cualquier autobús de ruta fija de MTD dentro de una hora de forma gratuita.

A MTD se le han asignado fondos operativos para este piloto de microtránsito a través de una subvención del State of California Low Carbon Transit Operations Program, y planea poner a prueba el servicio durante un año en Goleta. El servicio comenzará con un lanzamiento suave de días y horas de servicio reducidos esta primavera, y se agregará servicio adicional a medida que los recursos lo permitan. Los detalles sobre este servicio se pueden encontrar en sbmtd.gov/thewave

¿Cuáles son los cambios de servicio?

► Tap2Ride

MTD introdujo recientemente nuestro sistema de pago sin contacto de circuito abierto Tap2Ride en toda la flota de autobuses. Esto significa que los pasajeros pueden utilizar su tarjeta bancaria sin contacto o su dispositivo inteligente (como Apple Pay, GPay, etc.) para pagar la tarifa de autobús. Los pasajeros también pueden aprovechar el límite dinámico de tarifas, que limita automáticamente el gasto mensual al costo de un pase de 30 días. Además, los pasajeros que actualmente califican para las tarifas con descuento de MTD para personas mayores, titulares de tarjetas de Medicare y personas con discapacidad pueden inscribirse para recibir dichos descuentos con el sistema Tap2Ride. Se pueden encontrar más detalles en https://sbmtd.gov/taptoride