The train is almost here.

The effort to bring commuter train service agency Metrolink to Santa Barbara and Goleta picked up speed this week.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments voted 12-0 on Thursday to move forward on a regional collaboration that would launch the service in October.

SBCAG is working with the Ventura County Transportation Commission, the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor (LOSSAN) and the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which operates Metrolink, to offer a morning Metrolink train southbound and an afternoon return trip on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner.

The service would provide a much-needed quick and direct early transportation commuter service for people who live in Ventura County but work on the South Coast. The train would leave Moorpark at 6:38 a.m. and make stops in Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta. The Goleta train would arrive at 8:03 a.m.

The startup costs are about $450,000 with SBCAG and VCTC splitting the amount.

“We need to try this and see if it works,” said Marjie Kirn, executive director of SBCAG. “These things are risky. I am not saying they are not. But at some point in time you have to take a risk to try it.”

The plan is for a one-year pilot program that would cost about $3.9 million a year. Ridership fares would contribute about $500,000 of that annually. SBCAG also has grants available to help pay for parts of the service.

Aaron Bonfilio, director of multimodal programs for SBCAG, said he estimates about 200 people each day would ride the train when the service starts. The cost of the fare would cost about $5 each way.

The effort to bring Metrolink to the South Coast dates back more than 15 years when transportation leaders talked of adding a lane to Highway 101 and bringing a train to the South Coast. The Highway 101 commuter lane between Ventura and Santa Barbara counties is nearly complete, and the train is also almost here.

Santa Barbara and Goleta are economic hubs for technology and government sectors, but there is a substantial lack of affordable and middle-income housing, which has led to people to live in less expensive areas and commute into the South Coast.

Highway 101 in the morning and afternoon through Montecito, Carpinteria and Summerland, Santa Barbara and Goleta is often heavily congested, so a train service could reduce traffic during those times.

After decades of talks, government agencies were able to retime a Pacific Surfliner train for a morning and evening commuter train service in 2018.

Ridership on the train, however, was low, and the times did not sync well with employer start times. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and LOSSAN canceled the service.

However, in recent years talks were revived, and SBCAG, VCTC, LOSSAN, SCRRA and Union Pacific, which owns the portion of tracks in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, meet regularly to develop a proposed operational framework for the pilot service.

“This is very promising,” board member Laura Capps said. “I want to thank all involved for the work over the years for our climate, for traffic congestion, for people’s quality of life.”

The next steps include VCTC voting on startup costs in February, negotiations between LOSSAN and Union Pacific, approval of operating agreements, promotion and then a launch in October.

“The train service will provide an efficient and easy way for Ventura County residents to travel to Goleta and Santa Barbara,” VCTC Executive Director Martin Erickson told Noozhawk after Thursday’s meeting. “Combined with the existing Coastal Express bus service, travelers will have multiple options to use public transportation to get to their jobs, to appointments and for leisure trips.”

Although the SBCAG board unanimously approved the startup costs, new Lompoc Mayor Jim Mosby expressed some skepticism about the cost of the service. He noted that the fare costs would pay about 20% of the cost of the service.

“How do I sell this to the taxpayers who are paying for this?” Mosby asked Kirn, the SBCAG executive director.

Kirn said she would like to see the number of riders double after a few years.

“I would like to exceed that goal and have a seating problem on this train that we need to add more cars,” Kirn said. “It is a big decision for this board to make. It is a big investment in transportation coming to and from Ventura.”