Santa Barbara MTD’s first fare change in 16 years will go into effect on Monday, Aug. 18. The MTD Board of Directors voted in March to adopt a new fare structure.
The regular one-way fare will be $2.50, with a reduced fare for seniors and people with disabilities at $1.25.
The age of eligibility for seniors has been raised to 65 to bring MTD in line with many neighboring transit agencies and standard government age thresholds, MTD said.
Old bus passes will still be accepted on board until the end of August. If riders have unused or partially used passes, they can be brought to the Transit Center on Chapala Street and the remaining value can be applied toward the cost of a new pass until the end of September.
Further details on the fare change can be found at https://sbmtd.gov/farechange.
Reason for Fare Change
Operating costs have increased by more than 10 percent since Fiscal Year 2019, and fares only account for roughly 20 percent of MTD’s annual operating budget, MTD said.
The district’s major revenue sources are fares, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) operating assistance, and sales tax.
With the FTA classifying Santa Barbara as a large urbanized area (UZA) due to the population growth confirmed by the 2020 Census, MTD is no longer eligible for FTA Small Transit Intensive Cities (STIC) funding of some $3 million per year, thus eliminating that funding source, the district said.
In the absence of sufficient funding, MTD would be forced to make cuts to bus service, the district said.
MTD is the third public transit agency in California to enable contactless payment on board the bus fleet.
Tap2Ride contactless payment system allows riders to use bank cards and mobile wallets on smart devices (like Apple Pay and GPay) to pay their bus fare. With a feature known as dynamic fare capping, a rider using Tap2Ride can ensure they are capped at the cost of a 30-day pass in a 30-day period.
While those paying the standard fare who Tap2Ride will be capped at the regular 30-day pass price, seniors over 65, people with disabilities, and Medicare card holders are now able to enroll to receive discounted fares when using the Tap2Ride system.
For more details, visit https://sbmtd.gov/taptoride. For questions on fare and service changes, contact Santa Barbara MTD, 805-963-3366, or email info1@sbmtd.gov.