The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) is a public transit agency providing bus service in the southern portion of
Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. It serves the cities of
Santa Barbara,
Carpinteria, and
Goleta as well as the unincorporated areas of
Montecito,
Summerland, and
Isla Vista. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
History
Mule-powered street railways were implemented in 1875 and were gradually replaced by electric streetcars in 1896. The streetcars made their last run on July 1, 1929; about a month later, the Santa Barbara Transit Corporation company started providing local bus service (H.A. Spreitz, its owner, already operated another bus company that served the suburban areas of Goleta and Carpinteria.
In the late 1950s and 60s, Santa Barbara Transit was losing revenue, and repeatedly threatened to go out of business.
Strikes were also a problem, as the company could not afford to pay its employees.
At first, the City of Santa Barbara considered subsidizing the transit company, but since service was needed to Carpinteria and Goleta as well, a transit district was thought to be a better choice, because it would also be able to levy taxes on separately.
Voters approved the formation of the MTD in 1966.
Over the years, service has expanded, particularly on routes serving the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...
and
Santa Barbara City College. Bus schedules were being distributed from 1983 onwards.
In August 2012 MTD implemented peak-hour commuter service (Coastal Express Limited) between Ventura and the Santa Barbara/Goleta area.
Routes
Local routes
All routes serving Downtown Santa Barbara begin and end at the Transit Center
Express routes
School supplementary routes
''Services operate weekdays only.''
Fare structure
Contactless fare payment
Some vehicles are equipped with a contactless fare reading device that allows customers to pay using a credit/debit/prepaid card or a mobile wallet on smart devices.
References
External links
Santa Barbara MTD homepage
{{Southern California Transit
Bus transportation in California
Public transportation in Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara, California
Goleta, California
Montecito, California
Transit agencies in California
Summerland, California
1966 establishments in California