Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District riders could see reductions to roughly a dozen bus routes beginning in August.
The district is considering cutting some services because of a multimillion-dollar budget deficit.
Under the current proposal, Lines 1 and 2 in West Santa Barbara and East Santa Barbara, respectively, will increase the amount of time between weekday buses from 15 to 20 minutes.
Four lines — 3, 4, 17 and 5 — would reduce their Saturday service schedule to match the Sunday schedule. Those lines run in Oak Park, Mesa/Santa Barbara City College, Lower West Santa Barbara, SBCC and Mesa/La Cumbre.
Line 7 in Old Town Goleta would eliminate the last weekday outbound trip. With the 9:45 p.m. trip cut, the last trip out of Old Town would be 7:10 p.m.
Line 14 in Montecito would eliminate one weekday morning and Saturday morning round-trip.
Lines 11 in UC Santa Barbara, 23 in El Encanto Heights and 25 in Ellwood/Winchester Canyon would see cuts to the last weekday outbound Line 23 trip, inbound 25 trip and inbound 11 trip.
Those reductions were chosen based on ridership, route overlaps, frequency and span of service, which looks at when services start and end, according to Hillary Blackerby, the Santa Barbara district planning and marketing manager.
The changes come as the transit agency faces a $3 million loss of funds and a $4.6 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year and a $5.8 million deficit for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Population decreases reported in the 2020 Census led to fewer funds, according to Blackerby.
She also said the area could see even more service reductions the following fiscal year with an even greater deficit on the horizon.
“We are filling for now those gaps with some remaining federal pandemic assistance, but it will run out in a couple of years,” she said.
The transit agency hosted public meetings throughout April to inform community members about the potential changes.
Residents in Goleta gathered at the city’s community center on April 14 at 5679 Hollister Ave., near Line 7, to learn about the changes.
The Line 7 trip currently averages only four riders, according to Blackerby.
Goleta resident John Kolbe told Noozhawk he is concerned about future cuts the transit agency could see next year with a growing budget deficit.
“They say in the long-range they are planning on cutting (services) and I think that is bad,” he said.
In addition to community meetings, the district has been collecting community input about the proposed reductions through online surveys.
The responses will be analyzed and presented to the transit agency’s board in May.
