UC Santa Barbara is planning for an influx in students by paying to expand the hours and frequency of two current Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District routes, and to create a brand-new line allowing university students and employees to ride to Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta for free.
The changes won’t take place until fall 2015 at the earliest, but the pair penned a deal earlier this year, with UCSB fully funding the services — more than $1.3 million annually, according to the contract.
MTD Lines 24x (UCSB Express) and 12x (Goleta Express) will run later and more often beginning in August 2015, MTD planning manager George Amoon said.
A new Line 38 will launch in August 2016, Amoon said, traveling between Camino Real Marketplace and North Hall along Storke and El Colegio roads.
UCSB students, faculty and staff ride for free with a valid university photo ID, although the larger community could also tag along — just not free of charge.
Both changes were meant to offset an increase in students the university has anticipated for years, which was the premise for its Long Range Development Plan, which the California Coastal Commission recently approved.
More specifically, the new service is tied to the new San Joaquin Village housing project, which will soon begin construction near Santa Catalina Hall, at the corner of Storke and El Colegio.
“The project, which will house 1,003 upper-division undergraduates, is designed in a manner that should dissuade students from bringing cars to campus,” said Marc Fisher, vice chancellor for administrative services. “The project will have very limited on-site parking and will make significant bicycle and pedestrian circulation improvements, and will support better transit connections, reducing the need for a car.
“The San Joaquin project was the impetus for beginning the conversations that led to this important agreement. We believe it is the first agreement of this type in our community.”
MTD surveys show strong student interest in expanding bus service, Fisher said.
A specific schedule for the two expanded lines and Line 38 has not been created, Amoon said, but officials expect service would extend later into the night — possibly closer to midnight on weekdays, running every 30 minutes.
Lines 24x and 12x also have stops near Camino Real Marketplace.
“This is a service enhancement that will benefit everyone in our community,” Fisher said. “These lines provide important express service between the UCSB campus and downtown Santa Barbara. We know that our students use transit to move around our community. We strongly support use of this transit.
“It helps to reduce carbon emissions, reduces the need for additional roads and associated ongoing maintenance, and reduces the need to build county parking facilities.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.