The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District plans to go emissions-free by 2030 —10 years earlier than anticipated state requirements.
MTD has been an early adopter of electric bus fleet technology, introducing its first wave of all-electric 22-foot buses in the 1990s.
“Meeting this goal will be a challenge, but our partners in the region and in the transit industry have made a commitment to helping us get there,” said Dave Davis, MTD board chairman. “The MTD Board of Directors knows that it is the right thing to do for our agency, our community, and our planet.”
MTD currently runs 14 all-battery electric buses, said Hillary Blackerby, MTD’s interim planning and market manager.
The California Air Resources Board is expected to adopt new Innovative Clean Transit Standards in 2019, requiring zero-emission transit buses to be all-electric by 2040.
The MTD board voted last Tuesday to meet the requirement by 2030.
The move comes as MTD is looking to rebuild ridership, which has been in sharp decline. MTD, a special district that is funded by the state and federal governments and bus fares, provided 6,425,641 passenger trips in 2017, about a million fewer than 2015.
Most transit agencies in California and around the country have experienced ridership declines with the rise of Lyft, Uber and other on-demand car service companies.
“We are committed to making this happen,” MTD general manager Jerry Estrada said. “The whole team at Santa Barbara MTD is proud of our pioneering work in battery-electric transit, and we look forward to continuing to lead the industry toward a zero-emissions future.”
Michael Chiacos, director of energy and climate programs for the Community Environmental Council, said MTD is moving in the right direction.
“Zero-emission electric buses powered by renewable energy will be cleaner for our air, quieter for our neighborhoods, and show the world we can lead on climate change solutions,” he said.
MTD serves the South Coast population from Carpinteria to Winchester Canyon in western Goleta.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
