Starting April 25, the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District will temporarily reduce operations and adjust bus routes.
The changes, while only for the spring and summer, are intended to give MTD time to hire drivers and improve the quality of bus service overall.
Various bus trips during the past five months have been canceled because of staffing issues, prompting changes to make the MTD system more reliable. MTD attributes the lack of staff to a combination of retirements, the Omicron surge, and normal attrition rates throughout the year.
“Across the board, [the American Public Transportation Association] is saying it’s harder to hire and retain folks,” said Hillary Blackerby, planning and marketing manager for SBMTD. A survey conducted by the association found that 71% of bus programs are dealing with the same staffing issues.
Service reductions and changes are typical for the summer, as fewer students are around during that time, thus reducing MTD’s hopes to resume regular bus hours by August.
Blackerby said MTD has worked with Teamsters Local 186, the city bus union, to develop strategies to retain and recruit bus drivers. With the plans still in development, Teamsters 186 declined to comment.
“In collaboration with Teamsters Local 180, [we’re working on] an amendment to [the bus driver’s contract] that increases the wage to $23.33 an hour,” Blackerby said. “This includes trainings and everything.”
Blackerby said SBMTD bus drivers receive full medical benefits for both themselves and their families, as well as pensions when they retire. MTD has been actively putting out advertisements to gather more applicants. In the end, SBMTD hopes to bring in 20 to 25 new bus drivers.
In the meantime, Blackerby advises nearby bus-attendees to call MTD to check that their trips are still happening and review new route changes. For UCSB students, the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) can connect students with nearby vanpools and rideshare services.
The changes to come include:
» Line 1 — weekday p.m. peak headways reduced to 15 minutes
» Line 2 — weekday p.m. peak headways reduced to 15 minutes
» Line 5 — reduced span of service and reduced frequency on weekdays
» Line 6 — weekday a.m. and p.m. peak headways reduced to 15 minutes
» Line 11 — weekday a.m. and p.m. peak headways reduced to 15 minutes
» Line 12x — operating on Saturday service schedule on weekdays
» Line 14 — reduced frequency on weekdays
» Line 15x — running on the Limited Service Schedule
» Line 16 — temporarily suspended
» Line 20 — reduced weekday a.m. and p.m. peak and midday frequency
» Line 23 — small schedule changes; mostly remains the same
» Line 24x — reduced frequency on weekdays
» Line 25 — small schedule changes; mostly remains the same
» Line 27 — will remain on UCSB OUT schedule
» Line 28 — reduced span of service and reduced frequency to 36 minutes on weekdays
For details on the route changes, click here.
— Lauren Luna is a Noozhawk contributing writer. Contact her at news@noozhawk.com.
