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Santa Barbara MTD lays out modest service reductions as federal aid wanes
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Summary
Santa Barbara MTD told the Ivy Community Services District board it plans modest service reductions — a roughly 3.6% cut concentrated in late‑night and low‑ridership trips — to help close an operating shortfall projected at $4.6 million this year and more than $5 million next year; the changes are proposed to take effect Aug. 17.
Santa Barbara MTD planning and marketing manager Hillary Blackery told the Ivy Community Services District board on May 1 that the agency is proposing relatively small service cuts to address a looming operating shortfall. Blackery said the package, which would take effect Aug. 17, represents about a 3.6% reduction in system service and focuses on low‑ridership trips and minor frequency changes.
Blackery said the agency expects a fiscal‑year shortfall of about $4.6 million for the current year and projects more than $5 million for the next fiscal year if service levels remain unchanged. "These proposed service changes would go into effect on August 17," she said, explaining that MTD lost eligibility for a federal small‑urban transit incentive after the area moved from a 'small' to 'medium' urbanized area and that the agency has been relying on dwindling pandemic relief reserves.
Why it matters: the changes target late‑night and seldom‑used trips (examples cited include the last outbound trip on Line 7 and a morning round trip on Line 14) and modestly lengthen headways on the system’s busiest frequent lines. Board members emphasized routes serving UCSB and Isla Vista, pressing MTD to confirm whether Amtrak first/last‑mile buses will route through North Hall and to the campus. Blackery said one of the Goleta‑depot routes will serve UCSB and that riders with a valid train ticket will ride MTD for free on the day of travel under the proposed arrangement.
Details and tradeoffs: MTD’s proposal would, for example, shift weekday headways on Lines 1 and 2 from every 15 minutes to every 20 minutes, eliminate a limited late‑night outbound trip on Line 7 that averages about four riders, and remove a few very low‑use late trips on the 23/25/11 interlined services (some trips average one or fewer riders). Blackery also said the Wave microtransit pilot is meeting demand growth and that the agency recommends maintaining its current on‑demand schedule for another fiscal year; she added that farebox recovery will not fully cover operating costs when the pilot moves off its temporary free status.
Responses and next steps: board members asked whether student pass programs or local subsidy could sustain microtransit or the Wave. MTD said student passes currently do not include microtransit and that fare revenues alone will not plug the budget gap. Blackery encouraged local advocacy around national and state operating assistance programs, and said MTD is pursuing federal and state options but expects decisions will take time. The board received the presentation and offered comments; no formal action on the service‑change proposal was taken at this meeting.
