Santa Barbara MTD is hosting a set of public outreach meetings in April, and is inviting the public to take a brief survey giving feedback on proposed service changes to local bus service.

The meetings are held annually in the spring to receive suggestions on the proposed changes that would go into effect Aug. 20.

The current proposal includes a route change to the Line 15x, which serves as an express route between Isla Vista/UCSB and Santa Barbara City College.

The change would reroute Line 15x off of the Mesa and would circle around the SBCC main campus.

The route would travel in a consistent one-way direction all day from UCSB toward Isla Vista and Camino Real Marketplace, rather than reversing in the afternoon as it currently does.

There is also a proposal to make schedule adjustments related to the SBCC/UCSB school calendar.

Lines 20 and 21x currently serve Carpinteria, but due to increased congestion and construction on Highway 101 in recent years, Line 21x (meant to be an express) can sometimes take longer than Line 20.

For this reason, MTD proposes to improve frequency on Line 20 by suspending the Line 21x service and reallocating its resources to Line 20. This reallocation is expected to remain until the Highway 101 HOV lanes are operational.

This means that while midday frequency on the Line 20 would remain at 40 minutes, frequencies in the morning and late afternoon peak times will improve to 15 and 30 minutes.

The proposal also includes minor changes to the schedules of Lines 7, 10 and 27 to improve on-time performance.

The public can learn more and give feedback via an online survey that explains all the proposed changes at www.sbmtd.gov/servicechanges.

Community meetings will be held at the following sites and times. Spanish/English interpretation will be provided.

6 p.m. Tuesday, April 10
Goleta Valley Community Center, Room 1
5679 Hollister Ave.
 
6 p.m. Wednesday, April 11
Carpinteria Library multipurpose room
5141 Carpinteria Ave.
 
6 p.m. Monday, April 16
MTD Administrative Offices, John G. Britton Auditorium
550 Olive St., Santa Barbara
 
Noon Tuesday, April 17
SBCC Administration Building room A162
721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara
 
In addition to the four meetings listed, a presentation on the proposed changes will be given at the 6 p.m. April 24 meeting of the Isla Vista Community Services District Board of Directors.

For more on proposed service changes, contact Santa Barbara MTD, 963-3364 or email info@sbmtd.gov.

— Hillary Blackerby for MTD.