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Santa Barbara MTD 2026 Proposed Service Changes

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Please read below to view the proposed changes to Santa Barbara MTD's service plan, which would take effect as of August 17, 2026. We encourage you to give feedback on the proposed changes by sharing your thoughts in the spaces below.

Service reductions are proposed on the following Lines: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 17, 23, and 25.

With a growing budget deficit and a fiscal cliff drawing nearer, MTD is proposing a service reduction of around 3 percent. This deficit is largely due to changes from the 2020 Census which caused a loss of 30% of the agency's federal operating funds. While there are currently still funds from federal pandemic assistance to cover that gap, those funds are shrinking as the deficit grows in future years, creating the need for these proposed service reductions.

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

Lines 1 and 2 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.

The proposal is to reduce 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 popular routes, they have seen double-digit drops in ridership thus far this year as compared to last year. It is believed that with 20-minute service, there will be enough capacity to satisfy current demand.

Please share any feedback, questions, or concerns about the proposal for reduced service on Lines 1 and 2:
2.
Lines 3 (Oak Park), 4 (Mesa/SBCC), 5 (Mesa/La Cumbre), and 17 (Lower West SB/SBCC)

Currently on Lines 3, 4, 5, and 17, there is slightly more service on Saturdays than Sundays. The proposal 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, 5, and 17 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).

Please share any feedback, questions, or concerns about the proposal for reduced service on Lines 3, 4, 5, and 17:
3.
Line 7 (Goleta Old Town)

On weekdays, Line 7 runs on 30-minute headways for most of the day and becomes less frequent in the evenings. The proposal is to eliminate the last outbound Line 7 trip on weekdays. 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.

With the recent opening of the two “Project Connect” roundabouts at Hollister Avenue and Highway 217, MTD is changing the way that Line 7 turns around in Old Town Goleta. The route has traditionally had to go through the neighborhood at the end of the line in Old Town, with a 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 is an operational improvement but will not affect any stops as there are none located back in the neighborhood.

Please share any feedback, questions, or concerns about the proposal for reduced service on Line 7:
4.
Line 14 (Montecito)

On weekdays and Saturdays Line 14 runs on hour headways except for one additional round trip in the morning on these days, which gives the service 30-minute headways for one hour. The proposal is to eliminate one morning roundtrip on weekdays and Saturdays. If this round trip is removed, Line 14 would have one-hour headways all day on weekdays, and one less round trip on Saturdays.

Please share any feedback, questions, or concerns about the proposal for reduced service on Line 14:
5.
Lines 11 (UCSB), 23 (El Encanto Heights), and 25 (Ellwood/Winchester Canyon)

Lines 11, 23, and 25 are interlined with each other and Line 6 (Goleta). The proposal is to eliminate the following three weekday trips: the last outbound Line 23 trip, which becomes the last inbound Line 25 trip, and then turns into the last inbound Line 11 trip.

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.

Please share any feedback, questions, or concerns about the proposal for reduced service on Lines 11, 23, and 25:
6.
New microtransit service in Carpinteria

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.

This service is planned to begin in mid-September, with an exact time being dependent on workforce and fleet availability.

Map of Carpinteria Microtransit zone

A rider will book a trip via the TransLoc smartphone app or by calling the Transit Center. Much like a rideshare app, the rider will put in their starting point and ending point (both within the service zone), and they’ll be told how many minutes it will be before the van arrives. Trips will be paid for in one of two ways onboard: via contactless payment or cash. The standard one-way fare will be $3, with seniors 65+ and people with disabilities paying $1.50. Microtransit riders may transfer to any MTD fixed route bus within one hour for free.

The Goleta/Isla Vista service is budgeted to continue through June 2027.

Please share any feedback, questions, or concerns about the forthcoming microtransit service in Carpinteria:
7.Are you currently riding the MTD bus? If so, how often do you ride?(Required.)
8.Please share your contact information so that we can follow up if you asked questions above.
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