Free Bus Shuttle Service for New Amtrak Schedule

(Photo: SB MTD)

Source: Santa Barbara MTD

To ensure that train commuters from points south can get to their places of employment in short order, Santa Barbara MTD will be providing new “first mile/last mile” connecting shuttle service from the Santa Barbara and Goleta Amtrak Stations to area transit connections and employment centers when the Pacific Surfliner train’s new early morning service began on Monday, April 2nd, 2018. Riders with a valid train ticket will board the connecting shuttle for free.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) has contracted with Santa Barbara MTD to provide this connecting service for the duration of the two-year pilot of the Surfliner retiming project. There will be three corridors served with a new shuttle route, with one serving Downtown Santa Barbara locations and Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. The other two shuttles will serve the Goleta Station: one will run between the Goleta Amtrak Station and Hollister at Palo Alto (LogMeIn Campus), serving major Goleta business parks and Camino Real Marketplace along the way. The second Goleta shuttle will run between the Goleta Amtrak Station and Hollister at Patterson (Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital), serving Old Town Goleta along the way.

This express shuttle service will run on weekdays only, serving each of the three routes once in the morning and once in the afternoon. All shuttles will await the arrival of the early morning train, expected to arrive at the Santa Barbara station at 6:47am and the Goleta station at 7:02am. The shuttles will then serve the return trip, dropping off commuters at their respective train stations in time for the afternoon train departures from Goleta at 4:25pm and Santa Barbara at 4:40pm. The buses’ headsigns will say “Santa Barbara Amtrak Shuttle”, “West Goleta Amtrak Shuttle”, and “East Goleta Amtrak Shuttle”. All three routes have limited stops to ensure an express trip.

The Santa Barbara shuttle will pick up inside the Santa Barbara Amtrak depot lot at the bus loading zone. The two Goleta shuttles will pick up in the bus circle adjacent to the Goleta Amtrak station platform.

More information is available at (805) 963-3366 or by emailing info@sbmtd.gov.