Santa Barbara residents and tourists have a new way to explore downtown and the shoreline this summer.
The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District celebrated the temporary return of the Downtown-Waterfront Shuttle on Friday.
The route makes its return with an all-electric shuttle after a four-year hiatus. The shuttle, which ran for 30 years, was shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the State Street closure to vehicles.
“We’ve been waiting for it for four years,” said Liisa McGah, who was waiting for the shuttle with her husband, Tom, on its first day back.
The couple moved to Santa Barbara from Boston five years ago after visiting the city during a trip to California to see their kids.
“The bus route is one of the things that attracted us to Santa Barbara,” Tom McGah said.
Without the bus route, the two found it harder to get to the waterfront since Tom McGah uses a cane to get around.
“It limits us,” Liisa McGah said. “We used to take [this shuttle] quite often.”
While some riders waited patiently for the route to reopen, the shuttle service attracted new riders as well.
Dolores Woodson was traveling to the Andree Clark Bird Refuge and saw the returning bus route as a chance to visit without having to drive and pay for parking. Woodson had not gone out to see the birds in awhile, but the new route provided the perfect opportunity.
“I thought it was great, and I like the route,” Woodson said. “So, I thought I would check it out.”
To celebrate the return of the shuttle, Santa Barbara MTD held a ribbon-cutting at the Transit Center with music, giveaways, and officials from the city.
MTD also collaborated with officials at different stops to welcome back the passengers.
At the Santa Barbara Zoo stop, zookeepers introduced visitors to their woma python, Eugene, a breed of snake native to Australia.
The new route will be taking a different path than it did in the past when it would travel along State Street. This summer, the bus will do a loop starting from the Transit Center on Chapala Street.
Shuttle stops include the harbor and waterfront, the Santa Barbara Zoo, the Santa Barbara train depot, the courthouse, and other places downtown.
According to Hillary Blackerby of MTD, the returning route is one that people have been asking for.
“We got temporary, one-time grant funding to run it just for the summer, kind of on this limited schedule, and so we decided to go for it,” Blackerby said. “People have been asking for it for four years now.
“It connects the waterfront and downtown and a lot of great points of interest. So, we’re excited to have it back.”
The shuttle will run every 20 minutes and will take about an hour to complete the trip.
The fares for the shuttle will be 50 cents for a one-way ticket and 25 cents for seniors and people with disabilities.
There is also a $1 day pass that provides unlimited rides for a calendar day. Additionally, any rider with a valid Amtrak ticket can ride for free on the shuttle or any MTD bus service by showing their train ticket for that day.
The shuttle will operate on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Sept. 2. The bus will provide service on the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
