Santa Barbara MTD is hosting a set of public outreach meetings this April, and is inviting the public to take a brief survey giving feedback on proposed service changes to local bus service. These meetings are held annually in the spring to receive input on the proposed changes that would go into effect on August 20, 2018.
The current proposal includes a route change to the Line 15x, which serves as an express route between Isla Vista/UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College. The proposed change would reroute the Line 15x off of the Mesa and would circle around the SBCC main campus. The route would travel in a consistent one-way direction all day from UCSB toward Isla Vista and Camino Real Marketplace, rather than reversing in the afternoon as it currently does. There is also a proposal to make schedule adjustments related to the SBCC/UCSB school calendar.
Lines 20 and 21x currently serve Carpinteria, but due to increased congestion and construction on Highway 101 in recent years, the Line 21x (meant to be an express) can sometimes take longer than the Line 20. For this reason, MTD proposes to improve frequency on the Line 20 by suspending the Line 21x service and reallocating its resources to the Line 20. This reallocation is expected to remain until the Highway 101 HOV lanes are operational. This means that while midday frequency on the Line 20 would remain at 40 minutes, frequencies in the morning and late afternoon peak times will improve to 15 and 30 minutes.
The proposal also includes minor changes to the schedules of Lines 7, 10, and 27 to improve on-time performance.
