Riding the Clean Air Express is about to get more expensive.

Beginning in March, fare rates for the weekday commuter bus will be rising, and then increasing each year until July 2026.

The Clean Air Express brings residents from northern Santa Barbara County — with stops in Santa Maria, Lompoc and Buellton — to their jobs in Goleta and Santa Barbara, and back again in the afternoon or evening.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments Board of Directors heard some of the options for rate changes from SBCAG Rail and Transit director Aaron Bonfilio on Thursday, as well as results of a passenger survey about the increase.

Current rates for the Clean Air Express are $7 one way, $50 for 10-ride passes, and $150 for monthly passes.

With the proposed rates that the SBCAG board approved, the rates will increase to $54 for 10-ride passes and $160 for monthly passes in March, with no increase for the single-trip rate.

In July 2025, rates will increase again to $57 for 10-ride passes, $170 for monthly passes, and $8 for a single, one-way trip.

Finally, the rates will increase once more in July 2026 to $60 for 10-ride passes and $180 for monthly passes. The single-trip rate will remain at $8.

It is estimated that these increases will bring an additional $24,000 to $100,000 per year.

The original option that was being proposed involved the rate increases happening all at once in March, with the monthly pass rate increasing to $180, the 10-ride pass increasing to $60, and the single-trip rate increasing to $10.

“For the monthly pass, $150 to $180 may not seem like a lot to some of us but it does mean a lot to low-income folks who are barely getting around, and I’m concerned about doing that,” said Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte, explaining her reason for supporting the incremental approach as an SBCAG board member.

Bonfilio said that about 135 people responded to the passenger survey — out of an average 253 one-way daily riders — with more than 50% of respondents being daily riders.

The results showed that approximately 80% of the respondents pay with monthly or 10-ride passes, and less than 10% pay with cash.

The survey also showed that nearly 50% of passengers who responded to the survey said they would ride less or stop altogether if rates increased.

Bonfilio said the typical trend in transit is that for every 3% in rate increase, a 1% decrease in ridership can be expected.

With this trend, the original option of increasing the rates all at once could potentially result in a 6.67% drop in ridership.

This means that, with the original increase option, the estimated impact would be a range of $200,000 less per year — if the drop in ridership reflected the 50% of survey respondents who said they would ride less or stop — to an increase of $70,000 per year.

The approved incremental increase option reduces this risk of ridership decline, with an estimated -2.223% to 0% change in ridership.

Bonfilio added that SBCAG is also looking at options to develop some kind of fare price policy standards — such as changes based on inflation, like BART in the Bay Area does — as well as investing in fare equipment to streamline boarding, and exploring options to maximize potential revenue streams, such as advertising on the Clean Air Express or grant funding.

The SBCAG board also directed staff to look into other improvements, such as improving internet access on board the buses.