Edhat Staff
MTD Santa Barbara’s downtown and waterfront electric shuttle will return this summer.
The popular shuttle that used to cruise Cabrillo Blvd and State Street, before its closure, shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a State Street Advisory meeting last month, MTD Marketing Manager Hillary Blackerby announced they will be bringing back the shuttle in a “temporary fashion” at a “very reduced level of service” due to one-time grant funding.
With a large section of lower State Street still closed to vehicles, MTD creating a route that still reaches the main corridor of downtown while connecting it to the waterfront and the Santa Barbara Zoo.
The shuttle will travel up Chapala Street to Sola Street, down Anacapa Street, and then to State and Gutierrez Street to serve the Amtrak Station, before heading down Cabrillo Blvd. to the harbor and zoo.
The entire route will take about an hour and cost $0.50 cents.
The shuttle will begin operating on May 31 through Labor Day, September 2. It will also operate on holidays. The service will be available Friday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m., running about every 20 minutes.
Santa Barbara MTD is currently hosting a set of public outreach meetings and is inviting the public to take a brief survey giving feedback on proposed service changes to local bus service. Read more about this here.
Yay! Now let’s expand it to be year-round. And bring back the crosstown shuttle. I realize that MTD does the best it can with the money they have. But if The Powers that Be want us to use public transit, they are going to have to improve it substantially.
I believe this is only temporary due to grant funding, but the hope is enough people use it and enjoy it so they keep it around.
Please stop saying this shuttle serves Amtrak passengers. Shuttle stops running at 6pm and BOTH of the scheduled evening trains come in AFTER 6pm. 🙁