Transit Needs Assessment 2016 - SBCAG · Transit Needs Assessment 2016 2 Thus SBCAG finds that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet. With this finding, the

Transit Needs Assessment 2016

June 2016


Project Staff

Jim Kemp Executive Director

Peter Imhof Deputy Executive Director, Planning

Michael Becker Senior Transportation Planner

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments

260 North San Antonio Road, Suite B

Santa Barbara, CA, 93110

(805) 961-8900

www.sbcag.org

Financial support for the preparation of this report was provided by the State of California.

2016 Membership Roster

SUPERVISORS Member Supervisorial District

SALUD CARBAJAL FIRST DISTRICT

JANET WOLF (Chair) SECOND DISTRICT

DOREEN FARR THIRD DISTRICT

PETER ADAM FOURTH DISTRICT

STEVE LAVAGNINO FIFTH DISTRICT

CITIES Member Alternate

BUELLTON HOLLY SIERRA ED ANDRISEK

Councilmember Mayor

CARPINTERIA AL CLARK WADE NOMURA

Councilmember Councilmember

GOLETA MICHAEL BENNETT (Vice Chair) ROGER ACEVES

Councilmember Councilmember

GUADALUPE JOHN LIZALDE JERRY BEATTY

Mayor Councilmember

LOMPOC JAMES MOSBY BOB LINGL

Councilmember Mayor

SANTA BARBARA HELENE SCHNEIDER BENDY WHITE

Mayor Councilmember

SANTA MARIA ALICE PATINO ETTA WATERFIELD

Mayor Councilmember

SOLVANG JIM RICHARDSON ED SKYTT

Mayor Councilmember

EX-OFFICIO (NON-VOTING) MEMBERS

CALTRANS DISTRICT 5 TIM GUBBINS

19th SENATE DISTRICT HANNAH BETH JACKSON

35th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT KATCHO ACHADJIAN

37th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT DAS WILLIAMS

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With Special Recognition

Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee

(SBCTAC)

Representative of: Voting Member

LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Bleavins, Polly Children and Families Commission (NC)

LOCAL CTSA - Easy Lift Campos, Nicole (SC)

LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR PERSONS OF LIMITED MEANS

Diaz, Lee (NC)

POTENTIAL TRANSIT USERS WHO IS 60 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER

Fisher, Sherrie (SC)

AGRICULTURAL WORKERS Keller, Fred (NC)

TRANSIT USERS FROM SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

Kraus, Howard (SC)

LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR SENIORS Löwen, Petra Independent Living Resource Center (SC)

CITY OF LOMPOC TRANSIT (COLT) Luther, Michael (NC)

SANTA BARBARA METROPOLITAN TRANSIT DISTRICT (MTD)

Maas, Steve (SC)

LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR SENIORS

Community Partners in Caring Payne, Ashley (NC)

LOCAL CTSA - SMOOTH Simas, Fil (NC)

COUNTY TRANSIT Dobberteen, Matt (NC)

POTENTIAL TRANSIT USERS WHO HAS A DISABILITY Stotts, Barry (NC)

LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Suhr, Victor (SC)

GUADALUPE TRANSIT Talbott, Jim (NC), Vice Chair

SANTA YNEZ VALLEY TRANSIT (SYVT) van der Linden, Matt (NC), Chair

SANTA MARIA AREA TRANSIT (SMAT) Valdez, Eustaquio (NC)

TRANSIT USERS FROM NORTHERN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

Zoost, Ed (NC)

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 1

Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 3

Chapter 2. Consultation .................................................................................................. 5

Chapter 3. Assessment of Population Characteristics ............................................................... 7

General Population ........................................................................................................ 7

Vehicle Access .............................................................................................................. 7

Transit Dependency Indicator: Age ...................................................................................... 9

Transit Dependency Indicator: Disability ............................................................................. 10

Transit Dependency Indicator: Income ............................................................................... 10

Transit Demand/Needs .................................................................................................. 11

Chapter 4. Transportation Services ................................................................................... 13

Fixed Route, Demand Response, and Commuter Transportation Services ...................................... 13

Intercity Transportation Services ...................................................................................... 21

Specialized Transportation Services .................................................................................. 22

Analysis of Transportation Services ................................................................................... 24

Chapter 5. Service Expansions & Improvements .................................................................... 27

Chapter 6. Transportation Needs Assessment & Findings ......................................................... 29

Public Input ............................................................................................................... 29

Analysis .................................................................................................................... 30

Unmet Transit Needs Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 35

Reasonable to Meet Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 43

Findings .................................................................................................................... 47

Appendix A: Acronyms & Definitions ....................................................................................... i

Appendix B: Demographic Tables .......................................................................................... iii

Appendix C: SBCAG Public Outreach Materials ........................................................................ xiii

Appendix D: Transit Agency Workshops ................................................................................ xxv

City of Lompoc Transit (COLT) Workshop ........................................................................... xxv

Santa Maria Area Transit (SMAT) Workshop ....................................................................... xxvii

Appendix E: SBCAG Public Hearing Comments ....................................................................... xlvii

Appendix F: Other Public Comments .................................................................................... xlix

Letters .................................................................................................................... xlix

E-Mail ....................................................................................................................... lv

Appendix G: SBCAG Resolution .......................................................................................... lxvi

Tables

Table 1: Transit Dependency Indicators ................................................................................... 8

Table 2: Transit Systems in Santa Barbara County (does not include CTSAs) ..................................... 19

Table 3: Transit Ridership, FY 2010/11 to FY 2014/15................................................................ 20

Table 4: Areas Served by Transit ......................................................................................... 26

Table 5: Requests Not Applicable to the Transit Needs Assessment ................................................ 31

Table 6: FY 2014/15 Farebox Recovery Ratios ......................................................................... 34

Table 7: Requests for New or Expanded Service ....................................................................... 35

Table 8: Comments that are Not Unmet Transit Needs ............................................................... 35

Table 9: Comments that are Not Applicable to the Transit Needs Assessment ................................... 37

Table 10: Preliminary Calculations Additional Mid-Day Afternoon Service on Breeze 100 ..................... 44

Table 11: Preliminary Calculations for Dial-a-Ride Service between the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria .................................................................................................................... 45

Table 12: Preliminary Calculations for Four Additional Round-Trips between the Bridge House Shelter and Lompoc ............................................................................................................ 46

Table 13: Population ........................................................................................................ iii

Table 14: Race ................................................................................................................ iv

Table 15: Hispanic or Latino Population................................................................................... v

Table 16: Vehicle Availability by Occupied Housing Unit .............................................................. vi

Table 17: Enrollment in Santa Barbara County Public School Districts, 2014-15 ................................. vii

Table 18: Higher Education Enrollment in Santa Barbara County ................................................... vii

Table 19: Population with a Disability .................................................................................. viii

Table 20: Poverty Status .................................................................................................... ix

Table 21: Labor Market Indicators, 2015 Monthly........................................................................ x

Figures

Figure 1: Transit Needs Assessment Flowchart ........................................................................... 4

Figure 2: Santa Barbara County Age Distribution ........................................................................ 9

Figure 3: Unemployment Rate, Incorporated Cities ................................................................... 11

Figure 4: Total Transit Ridership, FY 2010/11 to FY 2014/15 ....................................................... 20

Figure 5: Definition—Unmet Transit Need ............................................................................... 31

Figure 6: Criteria—Reasonable to Meet .................................................................................. 32

Figure 7: Breeze 100 & 200 Route Map ................................................................................. 43

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The California Transportation Development Act (TDA) provides two major sources of annual funding for public transportation—the Local Transportation Fund (LTF) and the State Transit Assistance fund (STA). SBCAG, as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA) for Santa Barbara County, administers TDA funding within the region. Transit is the priority use for these funds. If a claimant requests TDA funds for non-transit (i.e., streets and roads) purposes, SBCAG must first determine whether or not there are “unmet transit needs” that are “reasonable to meet” within the claimant’s jurisdiction.

The County of Santa Barbara, as the representative for the unincorporated North County, plans to request FY 2016-17 TDA funds for non-transit purposes. Therefore, SBCAG conducted the 2016 transit needs assessment to determine whether or not there are unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet within the unincorporated North Santa Barbara County.

According to regulation, SBCAG must consult with the Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC). The Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee (SBCTAC) is SBCAG’s SSTAC. SBCAG consulted with SBCTAC regarding outreach efforts, public outreach materials, and public input received. This year the committee received a summary of the feedback from the SMAT and COLT unmet needs workshops, which were convened in Santa Maria and Lompoc in late 2015. SBCAG staff also provided SBCTAC with a summary of the comments received at the SBCAG unmet transit needs hearings in January and April.

SBCAG must also perform an assessment of the size and location of identifiable groups likely to be transit-dependent or transit-disadvantaged in Santa Barbara County. The young, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and persons of limited means are more likely than the general population to be transit-dependent.

The unincorporated areas of the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez Valleys have high percentages of seniors. The unincorporated area of the Santa Maria Valley has a high percentage of residents with disabilities. The unincorporated Cuyama area has high percentages of population below the poverty level.

SBCAG must also analyze existing transportation services. There are a variety of fixed route, demand response, commuter, intercity, and specialized services providing transportation in every region in the County. 61% of the County’s population lives within ¼ mile of a bus stop and 81% of the population lives within ½ mile of a bus stop. 82% of the County’s jobs are within ¼ mile of a bus stop.

Transit operators in Santa Barbara County continually evaluate, expand, and improve service to meet the demands of the population. Examples of successful new services include the Breeze Bus, the Wine Country Express, and Guadalupe Flyer Sunday service.

SBCAG conducted two public hearings to identify remaining demand for new and expanded transit service. SBCAG also accepted public input through transit agency workshops, e-mail, mail, and telephone. The applicable requests for new or expanded service this year were for both regional and interregional transit service. The regional and interregional transit requests can be challenging to operate and to fund because the affected jurisdictions must negotiate operating and cost-sharing agreements.

Using the definition adopted by the SBCAG Board, SBCAG identified some public comments and requests for service expansion that qualify as potential “unmet transit needs.” Applying the criteria adopted by the SBCAG Board, SBCAG determined, however, that the identified unmet transit needs are not “reasonable to meet.”


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Thus SBCAG finds that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet. With this finding, the County of Santa Barbara, as the representative of the unincorporated North County, may use FY 2016-17 TDA funds for non-transit purposes as requested. This finding does not, however, preclude agencies from voluntarily coordinating to fulfill any of the requests for new or expanded service. If implemented voluntarily, the requests can provide direction for improving transit service in Santa Barbara County.


CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

The California Transportation Development Act (TDA) provides two major sources of annual funding for public transportation—the Local Transportation Fund (LTF) and the State Transit Assistance fund (STA). The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA) for Santa Barbara County established by California Government Code Section 99401, administers the TDA within the region, allocating TDA funds to eligible claimants (the cities, the County, and transit operators) within its jurisdiction.

Transit is the priority use for TDA funds. TDA STA funds may only be used for transit. TDA LTF funds may be used, under TDA Article 8, for transit services, streets and roads, or pedestrian and bicycle projects; however, LTF funds may be used for streets and roads purposes only if there are no unmet transit needs that are “reasonable to meet.”

If a claimant requests to use LTF funds for streets and roads purposes, SBCAG must first determine whether or not there are unmet needs that are reasonable to meet within the claimant’s jurisdiction. To make this determination, SBCAG must perform an assessment of regional transit needs. The assessment, as designated by the California Public Utilities Code (PUC) Section 99401.5, requires SBCAG to:

Consult with the Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) established pursuant to PUC Section 99238. Santa Barbara County’s SSTAC is the Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee (SBCTAC).

Identify the transit needs of the jurisdiction(s) that have been considered as part of the transportation planning process, including the following:

o An assessment of the size and location of identifiable groups likely to be transit-dependent or transit-disadvantaged, including but not limited to the elderly and persons with disabilities, individuals eligible for paratransit and other special transportation services, and persons of limited means.

o An analysis of the adequacy of existing public transportation and specialized transportation services, including privately and publicly provided services, to implement the plan to meet identified transit demand.

o An analysis of potential alternative public transportation and specialized transportation services and service improvements that would meet all or part of the transit demand.

Identify the unmet transit needs of the jurisdiction and those needs that are reasonable to meet.

o Conduct at least one public hearing for the purpose of soliciting comments on unmet transit needs that may exist within the jurisdiction and that might be reasonable to meet by establishing or contracting for new public transportation or specialized transportation services or by expanding existing services.

Adopt by resolution a finding for the jurisdiction after consideration of all available information that:

o There are no unmet transit needs,

o There are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet, or

o There are unmet transit needs, including needs that are reasonable to meet.


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If SBCAG adopts a finding that there are unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet within a jurisdiction requesting LTF funds for non-transit purposes, the unmet transit needs shall be funded before allocating any funds for streets and roads purposes within that jurisdiction. Only upon adoption of a finding that there are “no unmet transit needs” or that there are “no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet” may SBCAG allocate funds for streets and roads purposes.

The figure below illustrates the transit needs assessment process.

Figure 1: Transit Needs Assessment Flowchart


CHAPTER 2. CONSULTATION

The first step in the Transit Needs Assessment process is to consult with the SSTAC, which, for SBCAG, is the Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee (SBCTAC). This chapter describes SBCAG’s consultation with SBCTAC. It also explains SBCAG’s other consultation efforts. (The public hearings and other public outreach efforts are discussed in Chapter 6.)

SBCTAC was established as Santa Barbara County’s SSTAC in 2002 in accordance with PUC Section 99238.1 SBCTAC is composed of transit users, representatives from fixed route transit and paratransit agencies, and representatives from social service agencies that serve seniors, persons with disabilities, and persons of limited means. SBCTAC meets monthly, as needed, to identify and discuss issues regarding transit needs, and to review and recommend actions to SBCAG as the RTPA. SBCTAC advises SBCAG on the annual transit needs assessment and other major transit issues, including the coordination and consolidation of specialized transportation services.

SBCTAC met to discuss the 2016 Transit Needs Assessment process on September 9, 2015. SBCTAC discussed options for and provided direction on the public outreach strategy. The committee received a report on plans for local agency transit workshops and other public input gathering. The committee also approved the type, design, and distribution of public outreach materials (see Appendix C: Public Outreach Materials).

SBCTAC received a presentation on input from the SMAT and COLT public workshops on February 10, 2016. SBCTAC also received a summary of input from the SBCAG January 21 public hearing and input received by letter and e-mail; and discussed next steps at the same meeting.

1 PUC §99238 states, “Each transportation planning agency shall provide for the establishment of a social services transportation advisory council for each county, or counties operating under a joint powers agreement, which is not subject to the apportionment restriction established in Section 99232.” Committee members must include representation from potential transit users who are 60 years of age or older; potential transit users who have disabilities; social service providers for seniors, persons with disabilities, and people of low income; and, if applicable, social service transportation providers for seniors and persons with disabilities, and the local consolidated transportation service agency (CTSA).

Consult with the Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) established pursuant to PUC §99238. Santa Barbara County’s SSTAC is the Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee (SBCTAC).


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CHAPTER 3. ASSESSMENT OF POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS

The next step in the Transit Needs Assessment process, described in this Chapter, is to assess the population of Santa Barbara County to identify and locate groups likely to be transit-dependent or transit-disadvantaged. Being transit-dependent means having to rely on transit services instead of the private automobile to meet one's travel needs. Transit-dependent persons generally either do not have access to a vehicle or are unable to operate a vehicle. The elderly, the young, persons with disabilities, and low-income individuals are more likely than the general population to be transit-dependent.

GENERAL POPULATION

According to the 2010 Census, the population of Santa Barbara County is 423,895 (see Table 13 in Appendix B: Demographic Tables). Santa Maria is the largest city in the County. The County’s population is growing, with the North County growing more quickly than the South Coast. Guadalupe, Buellton, and Santa Maria are expected to see the most growth between 2010 and 2040, and Santa Maria is expected to remain the largest city.

Seventy percent of Santa Barbara County’s population is solely white (see Table 14). Two percent is solely black or African American, one percent is solely American Indian and Alaska Native, five percent is solely Asian, less than one percent is solely Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, and seventeen percent is other. Five percent of Santa Barbara County’s population identifies as being of two or more races.

Regarding ethnicity, 43% of people of any race identify as Hispanic or Latino (see Table 15). Guadalupe has the highest percentage of its residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino—86% (see Table 15). Santa Maria ranks second at 70%, but has the largest number of Hispanics/Latinos at 70,114. The majority Hispanic/Latino population in Guadalupe and Santa Maria may be attributed in part to established communities, employment opportunities, and lower housing costs. In Lompoc, 51% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino. Unincorporated North County is the only jurisdiction in Santa Barbara County not dedicating all TDA funds to transit in the FY 2016/17 cycle; 26% of the residents of unincorporated North County identify as Hispanic or Latino.

VEHICLE ACCESS

Nearly 7% of the occupied housing units in the County have no vehicle, according to the American Community Survey (see Appendix B). Of the incorporated cities, Santa Barbara and Lompoc have the highest percentage of occupied housing units, both at 9.8%, with no vehicle. 2.5% of occupied housing units in the unincorporated North County have no vehicle.

Identify the transit needs of the jurisdiction(s) that have been considered as part of the transportation planning process, including:

An assessment of the size and location of identifiable groups likely to be transit-dependent or transit-disadvantaged, including but not limited to the elderly and persons with disabilities, including individuals eligible for paratransit and other special transportation services, and persons of limited means


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Limited vehicle access may be by choice, or may be due to one or more of the factors mentioned earlier—age, disability, and poverty. Table 1: Transit Dependency Indicators displays transit dependency indicators by city.

Table 1: Transit Dependency Indicators

The table indicates the presence of significant populations of young, elderly, disabled, and impoverished in various areas throughout the region. Each of the transit dependency indicators is discussed in more detail below.

# %* # %* # %** # %***

City of Buellton 4,924 921 19% 618 13% 297 6% 493 10%

City of Guadalupe 7,160 2,124 30% 587 8% 669 11% 1,468 21%

City of Lompoc 43,045 9,931 23% 4,107 10% 4,526 13% 8,778 22%

City of Santa Maria 101,468 26,707 26% 9,443 9% 10,483 11% 21,298 21%

City of Solvang 5,345 772 14% 1,440 27% 678 14% 743 14%

Total North County Cities 161,942 40,455 25% 16,195 10% 16,653 12% 32,780 21%

Uninc. Cuyama Area 1,071 260 24% 154 14% 98 10% 281 26%

Uninc. Guadalupe Area 222 39 18% 18 8% 14 6% 61 27%

Uninc. Lompoc Valley 15,789 3,542 22% 2,365 15% 1,722 13% 1,041 7%

Uninc. Santa Maria Valley 34,145 6,789 20% 6,152 18% 4,357 14% 2,359 7%

Uninc. Santa Ynez Valley 11,596 1,477 13% 2,053 18% 2,549 23% 1,055 9%

Total Uninc. North County 62,823 12,108 19% 10,742 17% 8,740 15% 4,797 8%

City of Carpinteria 13,323 1,898 14% 2,250 17% 1,516 12% 1,129 8%

City of Goleta 30,333 4,792 16% 4,307 14% 2,657 n/a 2,324 8%

City of Santa Barbara 89,669 14,279 16% 13,701 15% 8,726 10% 13,434 15%

Total South County Cities 133,325 20,969 16% 20,258 15% 12,899 10% 16,887 13%

Total Uninc. South County 73,465 7,964 11% 10,446 14% 5,440 8% 14,489 23%

Total Santa Barbara County 431,555 81,496 19% 57,641 13% 43,732 11% 68,953 17%

*of the total population (431,555 Total)

**of the civilian noninstitutionalized population, age 5+ (396,697 Total)

The institutionalized population is persons residing in institutional group quarters such as adult correctional facilities,

juvenile facilities, skilled-nursing facilities, and other institutional facilities

Poverty Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010-2014 American Community Survey

Total PopulationAge 65 & Over

***of the population for whom poverty status is determined (414,198 total)

Age Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010-2014 ACS

Disability Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010-2014 ACS

Age 14 & Under Disability Poverty


TRANSIT DEPENDENCY INDICATOR: AGE

As previously mentioned, the elderly and the young are more likely than the general population to be transit-dependent. Seniors (65 and over) and young people (14 and under) account for approximately 32% of the County’s population (see Table 1: Transit Dependency Indicators

above).

The areas with the youngest people as a percentage of the population are the Cities of Guadalupe, Santa Maria, and the unincorporated Cuyama area. The areas with the most seniors as a percentage of the population are the Cities of Solvang and Carpinteria, and the unincorporated area of the Santa Maria Valley. Of these areas, the unincorporated North County does not use all TDA funds for transit.

The number of seniors is growing at a faster rate than other age groups. The figure below shows the forecast change in countywide age distribution from 2010 to 2040.

Figure 2: Santa Barbara County Age Distribution2

Many young people are students (see Table 17 and). California Vehicle Code Section 12814.6 prohibits most young drivers (under age 18) from carrying other young passengers, limiting carpooling to school trips and thereby increasing the need for transit.

2 State of California, Department of Finance Demographic Research Unit, Report P-2 State and County Population Projections by Race/Ethnicity and Age 2010-2060, Sacramento, California, January 31, 2013.


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TRANSIT DEPENDENCY INDICATOR: DISABILITY

As mentioned above, persons with disabilities are more likely than the general population to be transit-dependent. For the purposes of the American Community Survey, a person is considered to have a disability if he or she has difficulty performing certain functions—seeing, hearing, walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, carrying, learning, remembering, concentrating, dressing, bathing, getting around the home, leaving the home alone to shop or visit the doctor, or working.3

According to the 2010-2014 American Community Survey, 11% of residents in Santa Barbara County are living with a disability (see Table 1). The City of Solvang and the unincorporated area around Santa Maria have the highest percentage of the population having a disability, at 14%. With the exceptions of the City of Buellton, the unincorporated Guadalupe area, and the unincorporated South Coast, the remainder of the county has disabled rates of 10% or higher. The North County, as a whole, has a disability rate of approximately 11%. Of these areas, the unincorporated North County does not use all TDA funds for transit.

TRANSIT DEPENDENCY INDICATOR: INCOME

As mentioned above, low-income individuals are more likely than the general population to be transit-dependent. Limited means may prevent people from having access to a personal vehicle.

According to the 2010-2014 American Community Survey, the unincorporated Cuyama and Guadalupe areas, as well as the South County unincorporated area and the City of Lompoc have the highest percentages of population below the poverty level (see Table 1).

In November 2015, Santa Barbara County’s unemployment rate was 5.1% (see Table 21). Of the incorporated cities, Lompoc and Solvang had the highest unemployment rates at 6.7% and 6.3%, respectively. The City of Goleta had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.0%. Figure 3 shows monthly unemployment rates for January, June, and November 2015.

3 US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, https://www.census.gov/people/disability/methodology/acs.html.


Figure 3: Unemployment Rate, Incorporated Cities4

TRANSIT DEMAND/NEEDS

Transit-dependent persons need transportation for many different reasons. They may need transportation to get to medical appointments and places of employment, access social service programs and educational opportunities, or simply run errands.

Transportation for the elderly is important to help them maintain independence and quality of life after losing the ability to drive. Senior citizens may be unable to access quality of life venues and opportunities for meaningful social interaction if transportation is insufficient.

Many young people need transportation to before- and after-school activities. Families may be unable to provide this transportation either because they do not have a vehicle or because they have work or other obligations.

A survey of social service agencies conducted during the preparation of Transportation Connections: Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan for Santa Barbara County found that the top three transportation needs of social service agency clients, who are likely to be transit-dependent, are for medical appointments, social service appointments, and education.

4 State of California Employment Development Department. http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

Jan 2015 Jun 2015 Nov 2015

Unemployment Rate

City of Buellton

City of Carpinteria

City of Goleta

City of Guadalupe

City of Lompoc

City of Santa Barbara

City of Santa Maria


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CHAPTER 4. TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

The next step in the Transit Needs Assessment process, described in this chapter, is to identify Santa Barbara County’s existing public transportation and specialized transportation services, including privately and publicly provided services. The transportation services in Santa Barbara County that serve transit-dependent individuals and others include fixed route and demand response service, commuter service, intercity service via Amtrak and Greyhound, and specialized transportation service. This chapter also analyzes the adequacy of these services to meet the transit demand identified in the previous chapter.

FIXED ROUTE, DEMAND RESPONSE, AND COMMUTER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

Breeze

See SMAT.

Clean Air Express—www.cleanairexpress.com

Service Types: Fixed Route, Commuter Service

Ridership / Farebox Recovery Ratio5

FY 2013/14: 212,211 / 89%

FY 2014/15: 227,770 / 79%

The Clean Air Express operates thirteen weekday round trips from North Santa Barbara County to the South Coast. Seven trips serve Lompoc, five trips serve Santa Maria, and one trip serves Solvang and Buellton, all leaving between 5:15 and 6:45 AM and returning from the South Coast in the late afternoon. The routes serve work schedules starting between 6:30 and 8:00 AM and ending between 3:30 and 5:15 PM. Primary areas of service include UCSB, the Hollister corridor in Goleta, both Cottage Hospital locations, and downtown Santa Barbara. The Clean Air Express is funded solely by Measure A and passenger fares. The service is currently administered by the City of Lompoc and SBCAG is the Clean Air Express policy board.

5 The farebox recovery ratio for Clean Air Express does not include local funds.


An analysis of the adequacy of existing public transportation and specialized transportation services, including privately and publicly provided services, to implement the plan to meet identified transit demand


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Coastal Express Limited—http://www.sbmtd.gov/maps-and-schedules/coastal-express-limited.html

Service Types: Fixed Route, Regional (Inter-County) Service


FY 2013/14: 45,707 / 63%

FY 2014/15: 40,244 / 63%

The Coastal Express Limited, which operated between August 2011 and June 2015, was a weekday-only commuter bus service funded by two freeway construction projects. It offered reduced trip times between the Ventura County Government Center and Santa Barbara/Goleta. The Limited did not operate on holidays. The Limited featured charter-style, over-the-road coaches and a single park-and-ride location in Ventura, and offered free wireless web access to customers. There were two round trips to Goleta and two to Santa Barbara. Under a Memorandum of Understanding between SBCAG and MTD, MTD operated the service using MTD-owned coaches, and SBCAG was the policy board for the service. The service was discontinued in June 2015. Additional capacity has been added to the Vista Coastal Express to accommodate riders who had used the service.

COLT (City of Lompoc Transit)—www.cityoflompoc.com/Transit/colt.htm &

Wine Country Express—http://www1.cityoflompoc.com/transit/WineCountryExpress_revised.pdf

Service Types: Fixed Route & Demand Response, Local & Regional Service


FY 2013/14:

o Local Fixed Route: 130,767 / 20%

o Wine Country Express: 11,124 / 40%

o Demand Response: 8 15,935 / 11%

o System-wide: 157,826 / 17%

FY 2014/15:


o Wine Country Express: 12,086 / 50%

o Demand Response: 8 18,834 / 3%

o System-wide: 162,151 / 20%

COLT provides service within Lompoc, Mission Hills, and Vandenberg Village from 6:30 AM to 7:00 PM Monday through Friday, and 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturdays. COLT also operates a shuttle to Santa

6 Coastal Express Limited fare ratio in FY 2013/14 does not include revenues derived from advertisers.

7 COLT’s ratios include local funds.


Barbara, via Buellton, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The shuttle makes one round trip per day, leaving Lompoc at 8:30 AM and departing from Santa Barbara at 3:30 PM.

Lompoc also operates the Wine County Express, which started providing service in August 2008 to Lompoc, Buellton, and Solvang. Three round trips leave Lompoc each weekday at 7:25 AM, 1:00 PM, and 4:45 PM. The last return trip leaves Solvang at 5:25 PM.

County of Santa Barbara Transit – Cuyama Transit

Service Types: Deviated Fixed Route, Regional Service


FY 2013/14: 1,005 / 15%

FY 2014/15: 651 / 8%

Cuyama Transit provides service to Cuyama Valley residents on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM. Cuyama Transit provides service within the Cuyama Valley in northeast Santa Barbara County, and to the Orcutt/Santa Maria region. In December 2010, Cuyama Transit received an ADA accessible, 12-passenger cutaway bus with room for two wheelchairs, which replaced its non-ADA accessible 12-passenger van.

Easy Lift—www.easylift.org

Service Types: Demand Response, Local & Regional Service


FY 2013/14: 54,444 / 69%

FY 2014/15: 58,971 / 66%

Easy Lift Transportation is the designated Coordinated Transportation Service Agency (CTSA) on the Santa Barbara South Coast. Easy Lift Transportation provides wheelchair-accessible transportation for senior citizens and people with disabilities. Easy Lift’s service area includes all of south Santa Barbara County. Easy Lift is the only public dial-a-ride service in south Santa Barbara County for South County residents who have a physical or cognitive impairment that excludes them from using fixed route transit (on MTD). Easy Lift provides service Monday through Friday from 5:25 AM to midnight, Saturday from 6:00 AM to 11:20 PM, and Sunday from 6:20 AM to 10:45 PM.

8 County transit services do not receive local funds.

9 Easy Lift’s ratios include local funds.


16

Guadalupe Transit

Ridership (System-wide) / Farebox Recovery Ratio (System-wide)10

FY 2013/14: 108,144 / 23%

FY 2014/15: 105,572 / 22%

Guadalupe Transit operates three services: the Guadalupe Flyer, the Guadalupe Shuttle, and ADA curb-to-curb service for disabled residents.

Guadalupe Flyer—http://smoothinc.org/Flyer.html

Service Types: Fixed Route, Regional Service

Ridership

FY 2013/14: 83,017

FY 2014/15: 76,466

The Flyer operates Monday through Friday from 6:15 AM to 7:15 PM and Saturday from 8:15 AM to 5:15 PM, providing one-hour loops between 13 stops in Guadalupe and three stops in Santa Maria. The service is ADA accessible.

Guadalupe Shuttle—http://smoothinc.org/Shuttle.html

Service Types: Fixed (Deviated) Route, Local Service

Ridership

FY 2013/14: 25,127

FY 2014/15: 27,943

The Shuttle operates as a “deviated route” service within the City of Guadalupe, Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The service is ADA accessible.

Guadalupe ADA

Service Type: Demand Response, Regional Service

Ridership

FY 2013/14: 881

FY 2014/15: 1,163

The ADA service for eligible residents with disabilities mirrors the Flyer schedule hours and is available within Guadalupe city limits and into Santa Maria. The service is ADA accessible.

10 Guadalupe does not use local funds for transit.


MTD (Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District)—www.sbmtd.gov

Service Types: Fixed Route, Local & Regional Service


FY 2013/14: 7,623,845 / 36%

FY 2014/15: 7,446,869 / 35%

MTD, the largest transit service provider in Santa Barbara County, provides fixed route service seven days a week. It serves approximately 52 square miles in the southern area of Santa Barbara County, between the Ventura County border to the east and Winchester Canyon at the western edge of Goleta. It encompasses the communities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria, Montecito, Summerland, and Isla Vista, and serves nearly 800 bus stops. Service on MTD’s 51 transit routes (28 regular routes and 23 school boosters) begins as early as 5:30 AM and runs as late as midnight. Americans with Disabilities Act paratransit service is provided by Easy Lift Transportation under a Memorandum of Understanding.

SLORTA (San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority) Route 10 http://www.slorta.org/images/stories/Schedules/route10.pdf

Service Type: Fixed Route, Regional (Inter-County) Service

SLORTA Route 10 connects Santa Maria with stops throughout San Luis Obispo County. It operates Monday through Friday from 5:45 AM to 9:45 PM, Saturday from 7:15 AM to 8:45 PM, and Sunday from 8:15 AM to 6:45 PM. In Santa Maria, it serves the SMAT Transit Center, the Amtrak station, the Greyhound station, Allan Hancock College, and Marian Medical Center. It also serves Cal Poly (California Polytechnic State University) in San Luis Obispo.

SMAT (Santa Maria Area Transit)—www.ci.santa-maria.ca.us/3075.html &

Breeze—www.breezebus.com

Service Types: Fixed Route & Demand Response, Local & Regional Service


FY 2013/14:


o Breeze (100 & 200): 61,637 / 21%

o Demand Response: 32,408 / 9%

o Systemwide: 924,929 / 18%

11 MTD’s figures do not include local funds.

12 SMAT’s ratios include local funds.


18

FY 2014/15:


o Breeze (100 & 200): 75,270 / 27%

o Demand Response: 32,513 / 13%

o Systemwide: 920,806 / 24%

SMAT, the largest transit service provider in North Santa Barbara County, provides fixed route and demand response service Monday through Friday from 5:30 AM to 10:30 PM, Saturday from 7:30 AM to 7:10 PM, and Sunday from 7:30 AM to 7:10 PM. It operates 8 routes, serving Santa Maria, Orcutt, and Tanglewood.

Santa Maria also operates the Breeze bus, which serves Santa Maria, Orcutt, Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Vandenberg Village, Lompoc, Los Alamos, and Santa Ynez from 5:45 AM to 6:30 PM Monday through Friday. A pilot service to Los Alamos, Buellton, and Solvang was put into service in January 2013, the Breeze 200. The Breeze 200 runs three times a day in the morning, mid-day, and evening.

SMOOTH—http://smoothinc.org/index.HTML

See Specialized Transportation Services.

SYVT (Santa Ynez Valley Transit)—www.syvt.com

Service Types: Fixed Route & Demand Response, Local Service

Ridership / Farebox Recovery Ratio (System-wide)13

FY 2013/14:

o Fixed Route: 40,469

o Demand Response: 6,825

o System-wide: 47,294 / 11%

FY 2014/15:

o Fixed Route: 38,130

o Demand Response: 6,195

o System-wide: 44,325 / 11%

Santa Ynez Valley Transit (SYVT) serves Buellton, Solvang, Ballard, Los Olivos, and Santa Ynez with two fixed routes and a complementary paratransit service. The service operates Monday through Saturday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. SYVT also provides a general public demand-response (Dial-A-Ride) service on Sundays from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM, and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

13 SYVT’s ratios include local funds.


VISTA—www.vistabus.org

Service Types: Fixed Route, Regional (Inter-County) Service

Ridership / Farebox Recovery Ratio

FY 2013/14: 266,507 / 70%

FY 2014/15: 256,990 / 48%

The VISTA service to Santa Barbara is managed and funded jointly by the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) and SBCAG, with VCTC acting as the lead agency. VISTA connects the Cities of Carpinteria, Goleta, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Oxnard with daily bi-directional service, operating 53 weekday trips between 4:30 AM and 9:45 PM, and 20 daily trips on weekends between 7:00 AM and 7:30 PM. Primary areas of service include UCSB, the Hollister corridor in Goleta, both Cottage Hospital locations, downtown Santa Barbara, the hotel area along East Beach, and the corporate park and downtown areas in Carpinteria. Demand on some peak-hour trips exceeds the seating capacity.

Wine Country Express

See COLT.

The table below summarizes the transit systems in the County.

Table 2: Transit Systems in Santa Barbara County (does not include CTSAs)

Transit System Urb

an o

r R

ura

l

Fix

ed R

oute

or

Dem

and

Res

pon

se

Loca

l,

Reg

ional

, In

terr

egio

nal

, or

In

terc

ounty

Com

mute

r

Breeze Bus U FR R X

Clean Air Express U FR R X

Coastal Express Limited U FR IC X

COLT U FR, DR L, R

Cuyama Transit R FR (Deviated) L, R

Easy Lift (as MTD paratransit operator) U DR L, R

Guadalupe Flyer R FR R

Guadalupe Shuttle R FR (Deviated) L

Guadalupe Transit ADA R DR R

MTD U FR L, R X

SLORTA Route 10 U FR IC

SMAT U FR, DR L

SYVT R FR, DR L

VISTA Coastal Express U FR IC X

Wine Country Express U FR R X


20

The table below provides ridership data for all transit systems. Approximately 81% of transit riders use MTD.

Table 3: Transit Ridership, FY 2010/11 to FY 2014/15

Total countywide transit ridership declined by approximately 2% to 9.3 million in FY 2014/15, compared to the prior fiscal year. The figure below displays the overall ridership trend.

Figure 4: Total Transit Ridership, FY 2010/11 to FY 2014/15

Transit System FY 10/11 FY 11/12 FY 12/13 FY 13/14 FY 14/15% Change

FY14 to FY15

Breeze 48,946 51,462 56,885 61,637 75,270 22%

Clean Air Express 164,137 222,432 216,932 212,211 227,770 7%

Coastal Express Limited n/a 13,545 39,948 45,707 40,244 -12%

COLT (FR & DR)* 251,413 139,476 134,171 146,702 150,065 2%

Cuyama Transit 906 997 978 1,005 651 -35%

Easy Lift 49,393 51,599 51,484 54,444 58,971 8%

Guadalupe Flyer 89,520 87,160 78,791 83,017 76,466 -8%

Guadalupe Shuttle 23,732 24,847 16,083 25,127 27,943 11%

Guadalupe ADA 390 852 1,004 881 1,163 32%

Los Alamos Shuttle 1,752 1,776 n/a

MTD 7,686,388 7,948,409 7,774,329 7,623,845 7,446,869 -2%

SMAT (FR & DR)** 1,064,365 866,712 868,437 863,292 845,536 -2%

SMOOTH CTSA 59,408 62,043 65,774 72,662 74,511 3%

SYVT (FR & DR) 52,859 50,936 47436 47,294 44,325 -6%

VISTA Coastal Express 285,314 311,827 272,913 266,507 256,990 -4%

Wine Country Express 10,151 11,639 11,443 11,124 12,086 9%

Total 9,788,674 9,845,712 9,636,608 9,515,455 9,338,860 -2%

**This figure does not include the Breeze.

Source: Transit providers

FR = Fixed Route, DR = Demand Response

*This figure includes the Santa Barbara Shuttle, but does not include the Wine Country Express.

9,000,000

9,200,000

9,400,000

9,600,000

9,800,000

10,000,000

FY 10/11 FY 11/12 FY 12/13 FY 13/14 FY 14/15

Annual Transit Ridership in Santa Barbara County


INTERCITY TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

Amtrak—www.amtrak.com

Ridership (boardings and alightings):

FY 2013/1414

o Carpinteria: 28,628

o Goleta: 74,359

o Guadalupe: 12,162

o Lompoc-Surf: 8,097

o Santa Barbara: 319,245

FY 2014/1515

o Carpinteria: 29,461

o Goleta: 75,677

o Guadalupe: 12,718

o Lompoc-Surf: 8,158

o Santa Barbara: 333,994

Amtrak provides passenger service in Santa Barbara County through a coordinated system of rail and bus service. Amtrak has train stations in Carpinteria, Goleta, Guadalupe, Lompoc-Surf, and Santa Barbara, and bus stops in Buellton, Lompoc, Santa Maria, and Solvang. State law requires that trips on Amtrak include at least one train segment.

Greyhound—www.greyhound.com

Greyhound provides passenger bus service in Santa Barbara County with stations in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. There are as many as 10 departures per day, dependent upon the location and destination. The Santa Barbara station is at 224 Chapala Street, next to the Amtrak train station. The Santa Maria station at 755 W. Cypress Street is served by SMAT, with a Route 2 stop on Main Street approximately one-quarter mile to the north.

14 Amtrak Fact Sheet Fiscal Year 2014, State of California,

http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/CALIFORNIA14.pdf

15 Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2015, State of California, http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/736/509/CALIFORNIA15.pdf


22

SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

SMOOTH (Santa Maria Organization of Transportation Helpers)—http://smoothinc.org/index.HTML

Service Types: Specialized Transportation, Regional Service

SMOOTH provides transportation in Northern Santa Barbara County and operates as a private nonprofit 503(c)(3) corporation governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. SMOOTH’s 36-year mission is to serve seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income residents of the Central Coast.

SMOOTH is composed of two divisions:

Transit

The first division includes Guadalupe Transit and the Santa Barbara County Health Clinic Shuttle.16 All transit vehicles are ADA accessible.

Ridership

FY 2013/14: 110,850

FY 2014/15: 105,990

CTSA

The other division is the Consolidated Transportation Service Agency (CTSA), a Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) designation awarded to SMOOTH in 1999. All CTSA vehicles are ADA accessible. The CTSA service customers include the following:

Santa Maria City Recreation and Parks District provides weekly transportation for developmentally disabled adults to a peer group activity center as well as transportation for four local school special education classes.

Senior Dial-a-Ride is a demand response service for seniors in Santa Maria and Orcutt who do not qualify for SMAT’s ADA service or choose not to attempt to establish SMAT ADA eligibility. Service is available Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Two-day advance reservation is requested. The fare is $3 per one-way trip and $6 per round-trip.

Special Social Service and Senior Activities provides special event shuttles at reduced or no cost to social service programs and senior centers.

Tri-Counties Regional Center/R&D Transportation provides service to developmentally disabled adults in Northern Santa Barbara County traveling to work training facilities, work sites, and day care facilities.

16 The Santa Barbara Health Clinic Shuttle is a regional service that picks up passengers at home in Buellton, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, and Solvang and takes them to medical appointments in Santa Barbara. The service is fully funded by the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and passenger fares. The shuttle operates on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.



FY 2013/14: 72,662 / 69%

FY 2014/15: 74,511 / 135%

Student Transportation

In Santa Barbara County, there are 21 public school districts with an enrollment of 67,686 (see Table 17) and four institutions of higher education with an enrollment of 64,401 (see Table 18). Transportation services for students vary according to educational institution. In general, public elementary and secondary schools provide transportation service through contract services—the “yellow school bus”—based upon established geographic boundaries. This service is supplemented by public transit in both South and North County.

Allan Hancock College is served by COLT Route 4 (Lompoc campus) and SMAT Routes 3 and 7 (Santa Maria campus). The Lompoc Campus is also served by Breeze Route 100. The Santa Maria campus is also served by SLORTA Route 10.

Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is served by MTD and Easy Lift. SBCC provides a night shuttle to take students, faculty, or staff to their cars between 5:45 PM and 10:15 PM. SBCC also provides a medical tram for students with limited mobility.

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is served by MTD, Easy Lift, and commuter services including the Clean Air Express and VISTA Coastal Express. UCSB’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) also coordinates carpools and vanpools—UCSB vanpools currently serve commuters from Santa Maria, Buellton, Santa Ynez, Solvang, Lompoc, Ventura, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. In addition, Bill’s Bus (http://bills-bus.com/) links Isla Vista with downtown Santa Barbara.

Westmont College operates several fixed route shuttle services between campus and a number of locations around Santa Barbara, providing service seven days a week. Dial-A-Ride shuttle service is also available to take students to specifically requested locations between Carpinteria and UCSB, seven days a week.

Vanpools

Traffic Solutions, the inter-agency Transportation Demand Management program of the SBCAG, assists employers and individual commuters to form new vanpools. An incentive program is available for individuals interested in forming a vanpool – a 50% lease discount for the first month and 25% lease discount on the second month. In addition, Traffic Solutions offers SmartRide, a comprehensive online commuter match list program that allows commuters to get up-to-date information about people with similar commutes and work hours, who are interested in carpooling and vanpooling. The program generates a personalized commuter match list from which participants can send standardized or personalized emails to other carpool and vanpool commuters or find out more about bus service in their area. The SmartRide web-based service also includes the Emergency Ride Home program, a commute calendar, a commute cost calculator, as well as a host of employer tools for managing commuter benefits programs. Commuters can visit www.smartride.org or call (805) 963-SAVE to find their optimal rideshare match.

17 SMOOTH CTSA farebox ratios include local funds.


24

SBCAG is a participant in the CalVans program, a statewide commuter and farm worker vanpool agency formed with a joint powers agreement (JPA). The JPA is currently between the councils of governments in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sutter, Tulare, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba counties. CalVans provides support for the formation and operation of both commuter and farm worker vanpools to all member agency counties. CalVans offers several advantages over private vanpool companies by providing lower cost vanpools, eliminating credit requirements for vanpool coordinators, allowing for the vehicle to be returned at any time with no financial consequences, removing the 30-day lease cancelation requirements, and providing vanpools for farm workers.

Airport Connectors

Central Coast Shuttle Services provides one-way and round-trip transportation from Santa Maria and Buellton (and Santa Barbara and Ventura as needed) to LAX.18 The Santa Barbara Airbus provides shuttle service from Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria to LAX. Roadrunner Shuttle serves all major airports and points of transportation to and from Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, as well as the entire Southern California region.

Taxis

There are dozens of taxi services through the County.

Transportation Network Companies

Similar to taxis, though dispatched via mobile apps and operated in personal vehicles, transportation network companies (TNCs) complement traditional taxi service. Examples include Uber and Lyft.

Misc. Specialized Transportation

Community Partners in Caring (CPC) offers free, volunteer-provided, door-to-door transportation to seniors in the Santa Maria, Lompoc, and Santa Ynez Valleys. Volunteers are trained and screened. Services are provided 24/7, dependent upon volunteer availability, to seniors who are alert and ambulatory.

In addition to the transportation provided by SMOOTH and CPC, various non-profit social service agencies provide transportation services for their clients. SBCAG, in coordination with SBCTAC, completed a survey of all social service agencies in the Community Resources Directory, or CRIS Directory, in November 2006.19 79 of 1,200 agencies responded; more than half of the respondents indicated they provide transportation services. Eleven agencies indicated that a CTSA (Easy Lift or SMOOTH) provided transportation services to their clients.

ANALYSIS OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

Transportation service is available in every region of Santa Barbara County, including even the remote Cuyama Valley (see Table 4). Service is provided not only within each urbanized area, but also

18 LAX = Los Angeles International Airport

19 See SBCAG’s November 2007 report, Transportation Connections: Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan for Santa Barbara County, for more information.


between urbanized areas. Passengers can get from essentially any area of the County to any other area using public transit. They can also travel into the neighboring counties of Ventura and San Luis Obispo. Service is also available for those who are unable to ride traditional fixed-route transit.

According to a survey conducted during the preparation of Transportation Connections, the needs of most clients of social service agencies, who are likely to be transit-dependent, can be met with service running between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM on weekdays. Service between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Saturday, and nighttime service on weekdays is also helpful. Many transit operators in the County already provide service meeting these criteria.

61% of the County’s population lives within ¼ mile20 of a bus stop and 81% of the population lives within ½ mile21 of a bus stop. In addition, 82% of the County’s jobs are within ¼ mile of a bus stop.22

Although significant transit service is available for the residents of Santa Barbara County, there is always room for improvement. Service may not be available at all times or on all days. Travel between some areas may require the use of several different services. The next chapter describes some of the improvements service providers have made to address transit demand.

20 SBCAG’s Regional Transportation Plan lists “Percent Population within ¼ Mile of Route” as a performance measure for transit mobility/accessibility.

21 One-half mile is the distance used to identify transit priority projects for California Senate Bill 375.

22 This percentage was computed in Maptitude by creating bands around bus stops and calculating the overlay with traffic analysis zones (TAZs). Assumptions: bus stops as of 2007, TAZ employment totals from 2000 Census.


26

Table 4: Areas Served by Transit

Bree

ze B

us

Cle

an A

ir E

xpre

ss

CO

LT

Cuy

ama

Tra

nsit

Easy

Lif

t (a

s M

TD

par

atra

nsit

pr

ovid

er)

Gua

dalu

pe F

lyer

Gua

dalu

pe S

hutt

le

Gua

dalu

pe A

DA

MTD

SMAT

SYVT

VIS

TA C

oast

al E

xpre

ss

Win

e Cou

ntry

Exp

ress

SLO

RTA R

oute

10

Ballard X

Buellton X X X X

Carpinteria X X X

Cuyama X

Goleta X X X X

Guadalupe X X X

Isla Vista X X

Lompoc X X X X

Los Alamos X

Los Olivos X

Mission Hills X

Montecito X X

New Cuyama X

Orcutt X X

Santa Barbara X X X X

Santa Maria X X X X X X X

Santa Ynez X

Solvang X X X X

Summerland X X

VAFB X

Vandenberg Village X X

Ventura X

Allan Hancock (L) X X

Allan Hancock (SM) X X

SBCC X X

UCSB X X X X

Westmont


CHAPTER 5. SERVICE EXPANSIONS & IMPROVEMENTS

This chapter analyzes the potential of alternative public transportation and specialized transportation services and service improvements to meet all or part of the transit demand.

Transportation service providers, as well as SBCAG and SBCTAC, continually evaluate changing transit demand. In addition to information gathered during the Transit Needs Assessment, transit agencies hold public workshops and update Short Range Transit Plans, and SBCAG develops a coordinated public transit-human services transportation plan (Transportation Connections) and published the North Santa Barbara County Transit Plan (2006). SBCAG is currently working with North County transit providers and stakeholders to update the North County Transit Plan. The updated plan is expected to be adopted by the SBCAG Board of Directors later in 2016. Over the years, these efforts have generated several requests for service expansions and improvements. Transit providers fulfilled some of these requests because they were found to be unmet needs reasonable to meet, while in other cases they made improvements even when the requests were not—according to the criteria—reasonable to meet. Future service expansions are identified below.

Santa Maria Area Transit (SMAT) Evening Service Realignment: SMAT has received requests for expanded and simplified evening transit service. Currently, two routes provide evening service, though neither operates during the day. With the soon to be implemented changes, evening service will be provided on established day-time routes to simplify scheduling and improve the rider experience.

Saturday North County Intercity Service: Based on previous service requests received during the Unmet Transit Needs processes of previous years, as well as through other channels, intercity service in the North County is expected to begin in FY 16/17. This includes Breeze routes 100 and 200, the Wine County Express, and the Clean Air Express’ service between the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara which currently operates as a pilot. These service enhancements are being made possible by the State’s Low-Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP).


An analysis of potential alternative public transportation and specialized transportation services and service improvements that would meet all or part of the transit demand


CHAPTER 6. TRANSPORTATION NEEDS ASSESSMENT & FINDINGS

Despite the efforts of the county’s transportation service providers, unmet transit needs may remain. Identifying these needs is the first critical step in the Transit Needs Assessment process. This chapter describes how SBCAG solicits public input, analyzes the input to determine whether or not unmet transit needs exist and, if any unmet transit needs exist, determines whether or not they are reasonable to meet. Copies of public notices, flyers, etc., are included in Appendix C: SBCAG Public Outreach Materials and Appendix D: Transit Agency Workshops.

PUBLIC INPUT

SBCAG held two Santa Barbara County Unmet Transit Needs Public Hearings on Thursday, January 21, 2016, in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room in Santa Maria, and on April 21, 2016, in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room in Santa Barbara, with remote access from the other hearing location. An interpreter was available at both meetings to translate public comments from Spanish to English.

SBCAG noticed the public hearing using a variety of means:

Newspapers (more than 30 days prior to the April 21 hearing): Lompoc Record, Santa Maria Times, Space Country Times, and the Santa Ynez Valley News. SBCAG also distributed a press release in English and Spanish to the newspapers in advance of the January hearing.

Websites: SBCAG, SBCAG’s Facebook page, and SBCAG’s Twitter page

Posted Flyers: North County libraries, major North County transit stops, COLT and SMAT buses

Mailed Flyers: Allan Hancock College, North County senior centers, North County schools, prior year commenters, persons who have requested notice, Vocational Training Center, and Work Inc.

E-Mailed Flyers: persons who have requested notice, Community Action Commission, Life Options, Vocational Resource Center, Goodwill Industries, Lompoc Senior Center, Catholic Charities, and the roughly 300 person SBCTAC email list (the list includes public, transit and social services representatives, elected officials, and members of SBCTAC).

Identify the unmet transit needs of the jurisdiction and those needs that are reasonable to meet.

Conduct at least one public hearing for the purpose of soliciting comments on unmet transit needs that may exist within the jurisdiction and that might be reasonable to meet by establishing or contracting for new public transportation or specialized transportation services or by expanding existing services.

Adopt by resolution a finding for the jurisdiction after consideration of all available information that:

There are no unmet transit needs,

There are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet, or

There are unmet transit needs, including needs that are reasonable to meet.


30

In addition to SBCAG’s hearing, the public had the opportunity to give input at several other workshops. North County public transit agencies COLT and SMAT held workshops in late 2015 and provided the input to SBCAG:

City of Lompoc Transit (COLT)

Thursday, November 12, 2015, 6:00 PM, Lompoc City Hall

Santa Maria Area Transit (SMAT)

Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 5:00 PM, Santa Maria Airport

Monday, November 2, 2015, 5:30 PM, Shepard Hall

Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 7:00 PM, Transit Center

Friday, November 6, 2015, 2:30 PM, Newlove Community Center

Tuesday, November 10, 2015, 12:00 PM, Allan Hancock College Student Center

Wednesday, November 11, 2015, 11:30 AM, Shepard Hall

Noticing for these local unmet needs workshops was provided in local newspapers, via flyers posted on bus stops and on local COLT and SMAT buses and bus stops, and (in the case of the Lompoc workshop) via local television and radio public service announcements. Notices were provided in both English and Spanish.

SBCAG also accepted input via mail, e-mail, and telephone up until April 21, 2016. Requests received through the public input process are analyzed in the following section.

ANALYSIS

Not all requests are applicable to the Transit Needs Assessment. The Assessment applies only to jurisdictions not dedicating all TDA funds for transit in FY 2016-17. In this cycle, the Transit Needs Assessment is only applicable to the unincorporated North Santa Barbara County. As the other jurisdictions already dedicate all TDA funds for transit, they have no additional TDA funds to meet any unmet needs. Therefore, requests concerning Buellton, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Solvang, and MTD (including Carpinteria, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and unincorporated South Santa Barbara County) were not considered in this analysis. The Clean Air Express does not use TDA funds for its service, and therefore, requests pertaining to the Clean Air Express are not applicable.

Within the guidelines of TDA, requests concerning operational service issues23 are also inapplicable. Similarly, requests for changes to the transit system do not apply; such requests are more appropriate for a Short Range Transit Plan. Table 5 summarizes examples of the types of requests not applicable to the transit needs assessment.

23 Operational issues include, but are not limited to, the adequacy or location of bus stops, minor route improvements, marketing, and service reliability.


Table 5: Requests Not Applicable to the Transit Needs Assessment

Type of Request Reason Request Not Applicable to TNA

More bus service on east side of Santa Barbara Already using all TDA funds for transit

Better lighting in bus shelters Operational issue

Reconfigure routes to run east-west and north-south Requires change to transit system configuration best addressed in update of local Short Range Transit Plan

Also, some requests are too general to analyze. Requests for “out of town trips” and “afternoon service,” for example, do not provide adequate specificity for analysis. However, SBCAG will forward all requests to the appropriate transit operators for their consideration in service planning and operations.

All comments received are included in Appendix D: Transit Agency Workshops, Appendix E: SBCAG Public Hearing Comments, and Appendix F: Other Public Comments.

SBCAG evaluated the applicable requests using the Board-adopted definition of “unmet transit need” and the adopted criteria for “reasonable to meet,” shown below. For the purposes of TDA, each RTPA determines its own definition of “unmet transit need” and criteria for “reasonable to meet.” Therefore, an unmet transit need as expressed by the public may not be the same as an unmet transit need as defined by SBCAG for the purposes of the Transit Needs Assessment.

Figure 5: Definition—Unmet Transit Need


32

Figure 6: Criteria—Reasonable to Meet

The reasonable to meet analysis, as is typical, requires estimating several factors related to the new or expanded service requested, including operating cost, ridership, fare revenue, and other performance measures. Such estimations can be difficult to make, especially when no comparable service exists. SBCAG used the following assumptions to make estimations for requests in this cycle.

Operating Cost per Revenue Hour (FY 2014/15):

Breeze24 $87.01

County Health Center Shuttle25 $61.00

City of Lompoc Transit $76.58

Passengers per Revenue Hour (FY 2014/15)26:

Breeze 13.4

24 Source for Breeze figures: As reported by SMAT.

25 Source for County Health Center Shuttle figures: As provided by SMOOTH, Inc.

26 These figures are averages. It is important to remember that ridership can vary widely by time of day and day of week, and between different routes on a service.


County Health Center Shuttle27 0.2

City of Lompoc Transit 10.0

Average Fare per Passenger (FY 2014/15):

Breeze $1.74

County Health Center Shuttle28 $2.00

City of Lompoc Transit $0.91

Annual Increase:

Operating Cost per Revenue Hour29 3%

Average Fare per Passenger30 0%

Passengers per Revenue Hour 5%

As shown, one of the requirements relates to farebox recovery ratio. One of the best tools for evaluating a transit system’s performance is through its farebox recovery ratio. This ratio is calculated by dividing the overall revenue received through rider fares or tickets sold by the total cost to provide the service. For urban fixed route services, the required farebox recovery ratio under TDA is 20 percent—getting $1 back for every $5 spent on a service. For rural services, the required farebox recovery ratio under TDA is 10 percent—getting $0.50 back for every $5 spent on service. Farebox recovery ratios vary by area and by service. Table 6 shows the farebox recovery ratios for transit systems throughout the County during FY 2013/14.

27 The County Health Center Shuttle serves an average of 15 passengers originating from the Santa Ynez Valley per month and operates an average of 12 days per month, as reported by SMOOTH, Inc.

28 The County Health Center Shuttle fare for service from the Santa Ynez Valley is $2 per roundtrip.

29 Source: North Santa Barbara County Transit Plan, p. 9-12.

30 Although the North Santa Barbara County Transit Plan assumes a 3% annual increase, fares generally do not increase linearly, but rather as step functions. For a long-range plan such as the North Santa Barbara County Transit Plan, fare increases may average out to 3% per year, but for a short-range plan such as the Transit Needs Assessment, it is not reasonable to assume fares will increase during the three-year period.


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Table 6: FY 2014/15 Farebox Recovery Ratios

Operator Category Required1 Actual

Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD)2 Urbanized 30.27% and 34.33%3 35%

City of Santa Maria4 Urbanized 20%5 24%

City of Lompoc6 Urbanized 15%/20%7 20%

Santa Ynez Valley Transit (SYVT)8 Non-Urbanized 10% 11%

City of Guadalupe9 Non-Urbanized 10% 22%

County of Santa Barbara10 Non-Urbanized 10% 8%

Easy Lift11 Specialized 10% 66%

Santa Maria Organization of Transportation Helpers (SMOOTH)12 Specialized 10% 135%

1) Systemwide/fixed route requirements. Operators that provide specialized demand response service may calculate demand response ratio separately, which must meet 10% on its own.

2) MTD ratio does not include local funds.

3) Since SBMTD had a farebox recovery ratio greater than 20% in FY 1978/79, it must maintain that higher farebox recovery ratio of 30.27%. Since SBMTD had a fare and local support ratio greater than 20% of FY 1978/79, it must also maintain that higher fare and local support ratio of 34.33%. FY 14/15 is the final year of this requirement due to the enactment of SB 508. In future years the SBMTD requirement will be 20%.

4) Santa Maria ratio includes SMAT local fixed route and demand response, and Breeze. Includes local funds.

5) SBCAG has set the required farebox recovery ratio for Santa Maria at 15% for FY 2015/16. See SBCAG Resolution 14-35.

6) Lompoc ratio includes COLT local fixed route (including Santa Barbara Shuttle) and demand response, and Wine Country Express. Includes local funds.

7) SBCAG has set the required farebox recovery ratio for Lompoc at 15% for one year and three years thereafter (FY 2014/15 and FYs 2015/16 through 2017/18). See SBCAG Resolutions 14-01 and 14-34.

8) SYVT ratio includes fixed route and demand response. Includes local funds.

9) Guadalupe ratio includes Guadalupe Flyer, Guadalupe Shuttle, and Guadalupe ADA. Does not include local funds.

10) County ratio reflects Cuyama Transit. Does not include local funds.

11) Easy Lift ratio includes local funds.

12) SMOOTH ratio includes local funds.


UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS ANALYSIS

This section shows the analysis of individual requests for “unmet transit need” status. Table 7 lists requests that are unmet transit needs. These requests are analyzed in the Reasonable to Meet Analysis section.

Table 12 lists requests that are not unmet transit needs. The requests are either already met by existing service, or they do not meet the definition of unmet transit need. Table 13 lists requests that are not applicable to the Transit Needs Assessment because they request service in jurisdictions already using all TDA funds for transit, are operational concerns, or require wholesale changes to the transit system. In addition, some of the requests in Table 13 are outside SBCAG’s jurisdiction or do not provide enough information for analysis.

Many of the requests identified do not meet the Board’s adopted definition of an unmet transit need that is reasonable to meet through new or expanded service. In areas where the transit operator is expending all available TDA funding on transit, SBCAG is not required to make findings regarding the existence of unmet transit needs. In addition, operational issues not requiring new or expanded services (e.g., adding benches, screening passengers on boarding, changes in fare structure, etc.) do not require findings by the SBCAG Board. It should be noted, however, that all requests are forwarded to the transit operators for use in service planning. The Notes column shown in Table 13 provides additional information on requests that are not applicable to the unmet needs process.

Table 7: Requests for New or Expanded Service

Request Source Category

Additional afternoon mid-day service on Breeze 100 Suzanne Sam de st. Jean

Email Regional

New or improved dial-a-ride service connecting the Santa Ynez Valley with regional medical centers (to Santa Maria)

Amy Mallet, Doreen Farr, and Elizabeth Farnum

SBCAG Hearing, Email Specialized

Increased frequency of service between the Good Samaritan Bridge House Shelter and Lompoc

Jim Richardson SBCAG Hearing Local

Table 8: Comments that are Not Unmet Transit Needs

Request Source Reason Not Unmet

Saturday Breeze and Wine Country Express service along the CA 246 corridor

Linda Byrd (letters) Low Carbon Transit Operations Program funding has been awarded to provide Saturday Wine Country Express service beginning in FY 16/17. This need has therefore been met.


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Request Source Reason Not Unmet

Saturday Breeze 100 service Kenneth M. Roane Jr. (Email), Jan Townley (SMAT workshop), Richard Valdez (Email) and Linda Byrd (letters)

Low Carbon Transit Operations Program funding has been awarded to provide Saturday Breeze 100 service beginning in FY 16/17. This need has therefore been met.

Increase awareness of the transit systems, survey potential riders, provide outreach to attract new riders

Kenneth Wolf (SBCAG Hearings) General comment

Improved service for seniors traveling to medical appointments

Jacob Lesner-Buxton (SBCAG Hearing and Email) General comment. A similar comment regarding the Santa Ynez Valley is addressed.

Consider who the passengers are before increasing fares

Refugio Hernandez (SBCAG Hearing) General comment

Improve the public outreach strategy

Marc Chytilo (letter), Jay Freeman (SBCAG Hearing)

General comment. SBCTAC discussed this letter and directed staff to increase public outreach. See the Public Input section of this report.

ADA riders are on fixed incomes and cannot afford fare hikes

Rene Wikerson, Connie Morris, and Janet Hoogheeis (SMAT workshop)

General comment

SMAT drivers drive like racecar drivers

Tara Bennet (SMAT workshop) General comment

Drivers (not bus drivers) need to pay attention to buses and bicyclists

Jan Townley (SMAT workshop) General comment

Catching up to technology is hard, but necessary to attract riders

ADA rides have been refused when scheduling in advance. If ADA rides are easier to book more people may ride.

Connie Morris (SMAT workshop) General comment

Commuter service between Lompoc and Goleta Cathy Runser (Email)

This request is satisfied by the Clean Air Express.

New or improved dial-a-ride service connecting the Santa Ynez Valley with regional medical centers (to the South Coast)

Amy Mallet and Doreen Farr (SBCAG Hearing), Elizabeth Farnum (Email)

This request, to the South Coast only, is met by the County Health Care Center Shuttle. This service provides door-to-door service from the Santa Ynez Valley to South Coast medical offices three times per week. The fare is $2 for a roundtrip.

Use smaller transit buses Peter Adam (SBCAG Hearing) General comment


Table 9: Comments that are Not Applicable to the Transit Needs Assessment

Comment Source Reason Not Applicable Notes

Breeze

Safer buses to Lompoc Tim Chayra (SMAT workshop) Operational Santa Maria is currently awaiting delivery of new buses for the Breeze routes.

Drivers need to be properly trained on route alignment and stop locations

John Fragosa, Colleen Simms, and L. Berber (Email)

Operational

Use a larger bus on the first Breeze 100 trip

John Fragosa, Colleen Simms, and L. Berber (Email)

Operational A new bus for the Breeze service has been ordered

Formalize the Breeze 100 stop location at Mission Plaza to be consistent with where passengers queue

John Fragosa (Email) Operational

Add wi-fi service to Breeze 100 John Fragosa (Email) Operational

Post a schedule at the Allan Hancock College stop Colleen Simms (Email) Operational

Provide consistent headways on the Breeze buses Richard Valdez (Email) Operational

Guadalupe

Guadalupe Flyer buses are dirty inside and out Refugio Hernandez (SBCAG Hearing) Operational

Lompoc

COLT and SMAT service until 9 PM on weekdays and 11 PM on weekends

Kenneth M. Roane Jr. (Email) Lompoc uses all TDA for transit

Extended Saturday services and new Sunday service on COLT routes.

Erna Gronert (COLT workshop) Lompoc uses all TDA for transit

New later service on COLT routes and special event service

Gary Lowen (COLT workshop) Lompoc uses all TDA for transit

Design routes that are not circular, rather back and forth on the same alignment

Kenneth M. Roane Jr. Operational

Homeless people are occupying bus shelters

Linda Byrd (COLT workshop) Operational


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Add a bus stop at Onstott Road and Harris Grade

Erna Gronert (COLT workshop) Operational COLT staff noted that this request has been satisfied.

Create or enforce a policy regarding animals on buses; allow service animals and disallow comfort animals.

Linda Byrd (letter) Operational

Add bus stop shelters in the Vandenberg Village area

Jay Freeman (SBCAG Hearing) Operational

Santa Maria

Direct service between Preisker Park and Betteravia at Miller in Santa Maria Bobbi Thompson (Email)

Santa Maria uses all TDA for transit

This journey can be completed by transferring from Route 1 to Route 2, or by boarding the Route 2 at Taylor and Railroad – a short distance from Preisker Park.

COLT and SMAT service until 9 PM on weekdays and 11 PM on weekends

Kenneth M. Roane Jr. (Email) Santa Maria uses all TDA for transit

New or rerouted service to the Blosser and Broadway corridors in Santa Maria Tara Hollmann (SMAT workshop) Santa Maria uses all TDA for

transit and Operational

Extended Saturday evening service beyond 5:30 PM

Connie Morris (SMAT workshop) Santa Maria uses all TDA for transit

Transition to smart fare media

Kenneth Wolf (SBCAG Hearing) Operational

SMAT is in the process of upgrading its fare system

Put 3-bike racks on SMAT buses, front and rear

Bring Greyhound and Amtrak service into the Santa Maria Transit Center

Install bicycle lockers at the Santa Maria Transit Center

Improve safety at bus stops

Add a bus stop at 2615 South Miller Street John Richards (Email) Santa Maria uses all TDA for transit and Operational.

This segment of Miller is not currently served by a SMAT route. Route 7 operates on Santa Maria Way and has a stop location proximate to 2615 S. Miller.



Add a Clean Air Express stop in Santa Maria

Kim Kenney (Email) The Clean Air Express service does not receive TDA funding.

Changes on some routes are needed to be more user friendly

Kenneth Wolf (SMAT workshop) Operational, lacks needed detail

SMAT buses have on-time challenges

Ed Zoost (SMAT workshop) Operational

SMAT should charge 25 cents for transfers

SMAT Route 3 should be eliminated

The portion Park to College to Stowell, previously served, should be added to Route 2

Increase the number of bike racks on buses

Tara Hollmann (SMAT workshop) Operational

Add a bus to Routes 5 and 6

Use technology to provide real-time arrival information

Tara Hollmann (SMAT workshop)

Operational

Market the service with a “Ride the bus day”

Add a bus route on Blosser Santa Maria uses all TDA for transit

Add bus service to Broadway

Do not include dimes on green punch passes

Brenda Miller and Shari Davis (SMAT workshop)

Operational

Add bus stops Brenda Miller and Tara Bennett (SMAT workshop)

Operational

More buses (4) to Orcutt

Tim Chayra (SMAT workshop)

Santa Maria uses all TDA for transit.

Add a bus to Broadway Santa Maria uses all TDA for transit.

Increase the hours of the Transit Center ticket office

Operational Ticket vending machines will be installed in the near term.


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Increase the evening service on Routes 5 and 6


Raise the price of day passes to $5 Jan Townley (SMAT workshop)

Operational

Sell SMAT passes onboard buses Operational

Place ticket vending machines inside the Albertsons on McCoy

Shannon Byrne (SMAT workshop)

Operational

Provide expanded early service on days operating under the holiday schedule


Revert to booklets instead of fold-out schedules

Richard Valdez (SMAT workshop) Operational

Send schedules to every address in Santa Maria and Orcutt

Formalize a policy for seats being surrendered for elderly and disabled individuals

Richard Valdez (Email) Operational

Create or enforce policies for eating on buses, smoking on buses, pets on buses, music on buses, abusive language on buses, rear door alighting, drivers conversing with passengers, English and Spanish driver announcements, buses driving in the left lane, and use of wheelchair storage areas

Add a SMAT ticket outlet in Orcutt

Align the route 5 along the route 6 alignment to the Lakeview/Orcutt Frontage Road stop, and add a second route 6 stop in the area

Serve the prior route 3 stops at Vons and the hospital



Provide shelters at additional stops and repair broken shelters (second shelter at town center, Bradley/Crossroads southbound, Orcutt Road/Clark Ave northbound, Clark Ave/Bradley near CVS, and Orcutt Road/Lakeview)

Replace punch pass with Value Pass

Connie Morris (SMAT workshop) Operational

SMAT will transition to $10 Value Passes.

Have reloadable SMART bus passes SMAT is in the process of transitioning to SMART passes.

Route 7 bus abruptly stopped at a roundabout

Refugio Hernanadez (SMAT workshop) Operational

Route 4 needs additional time to safely complete its trip

The Transit Center needs to be better maintained and smoking rules need to be enforced

South Coast

Reverse commute service from South Coast to Santa Maria

Erika and Derek Garcia, and David Mullins (Email)

South Coast and Santa Maria use all TDA for transit.

SBCAG Traffic Solutions can help commuters set up vanpools or find carpool partners.

Regular 60 or 90 minute all day service between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria

Jacob Lesner-Buxton (SBCAG Hearing and Email), Steve Johnson (Email), and Kenneth Wolf (SBCAG Hearing)

South Coast and Santa Maria use all TDA for transit.

The Clean Air Express provides unidirectional commuter service between Santa Maria and the South Coast.

Later service on the Clean Air Express (5:30-5:45 South Coast departure)

Luke Lindquist (Email) and Kim Kenney (Email and letter)

The Clean Air Express does not receive TDA funding.

Reverse commute interregional service – South Coast to Lompoc

Kim Gao and Alejandra Hernandez (Email)

South Coast and Lompoc use all TDA for transit.

SBCAG Traffic Solutions can help commuters set up vanpools or find carpool partners.

Discontinue Saturday Clean Air Express service – Santa Ynez to Santa Barbara

Linda Byrd (letter) Does not identify an unmet transit need.

Ensure Clean Air Express bus emissions equipment meets regulations.


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Add a Clean Air Express bus stop at 4400 Cathedral Oaks Road

Kim Kenney (letter)

The Clean Air Express does not receive TDA funding.

Relocate the Clean Air Express Santa Maria Park-n-Ride to behind the movie theater on Bradley Road

Operational and the Clean Air Express does not receive TDA funding.

Ensure passengers are seated prior to Clean Air Express buses departing stops

Operational

Provide a later Clean Air Express departure from Buellton to Santa Barbara (around 7:30)

Angie Robuck (Email) The Clean Air Express does not receive TDA funding.

Saturday Clean Air Express service between Lompoc and Santa Barbara

Colleen Simms (Email) The Clean Air Express does not receive TDA funding.

When possible, SBCAG works with transit providers to address requests that are not applicable to the Transit Needs Assessment process. For example, over the last several years SBCAG received requests for additional Saturday and new Sunday service on the Guadalupe Flyer. The Guadalupe Flyer connects Guadalupe and Santa Maria, both of which spend all TDA funding on transit, thereby making the requests not applicable to this process. However, when new funding became available, SBCAG staff worked with the City of Guadalupe to fund the requested service. As another example, Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) funding for FY 16/17 has been programmed to begin Saturday service on Breeze 100, Breeze 200, and the Wine Country Express. There were several requests for Saturday service on these routes and, using this new funding source, Saturday service will soon begin.

SBCAG forwards all requests and comments to the appropriate transit operators.


REASONABLE TO MEET ANALYSIS

This section shows the “reasonable to meet” analysis of individual requests that were determined to be unmet transit needs.

Additional Mid-Day Afternoon Service on Breeze 100

Figure 7: Breeze 100 & 200 Route Map

(Source: North County Transit Plan Existing Conditions Memo)

One individual requested additional mid-day afternoon service on Breeze 100. The request was received by SBCAG staff via email. The Breeze 100 provides service between Santa Maria, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and Lompoc, Monday through Friday. There are nine southbound trips and seven northbound trips scheduled between 5:05 AM and 6:30 PM. The service is run by the City of Santa Maria, but is a cooperative effort that also includes the City of Lompoc and the County of Santa Barbara as partners.

This request is not reasonable to meet per criterion #4: the service would cause a claimant to incur expenses in excess of the maximum allocation of TDA funds. Breeze 100 is operated by the City of Santa Maria as described in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Cities of Santa Maria and Lompoc, and the County of Santa Barbara. Each jurisdiction is a funding partner of the service, and the MOU states “The FUNDING PARTNERS will share equally in the net costs associated with the PROJECT, […].” As the MOU is structured, any new costs associated with the service would be shared equally by the three jurisdictions, and therefore subject to criterion #4. The Cities of Lompoc and Santa Maria would incur expenses in excess of their maximum allocation of TDA funds.


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Although this request is not reasonable to meet under the specific criteria for the TDA Transit Needs Assessment, the Cities of Lompoc and Santa Maria, and the County of Santa Barbara are not precluded from working together to fulfill this request voluntarily. The preliminary calculations below project one additional mid-day round trip for Breeze 100 could reach a 28% farebox recovery ratio by the third year of service (FY 2018/19). The farebox requirement under TDA for a service operated by the city of Santa Maria is 20%.

Table 10: Preliminary Calculations Additional Mid-Day Afternoon Service on Breeze 100

FY 2015/16 FY 2016/17 FY 2017/18

Operating Cost per Revenue Hour $89.62 $92.31 $95.08

Total Additional Hours per Year* 585 585 585

Total Operating Cost of Additional Service

$52,428 $54,001 $55,622

Passengers per Revenue Hour 14.1 14.8 15.5

Total Hours per Year 585 585 585

Average Fare per Passenger $1.74 $1.74 $1.74

Total Revenue from New Service $14,352 $15,065 $15,777

Estimated Farebox Recovery Ratio 27.4% 27.9% 28.4%

*2.25 hours/round trip, 1 round trips/day, 5 days/week, 52 weeks/year.

New or Improved Dial-a-Ride Service Connecting the Santa Ynez Valley with Regional Medical Centers

Three individuals, including an SBCAG Board member,-requested new or improved dial-a-ride service between the Santa Ynez Valley and regional medical centers. Another individual provided a more generalized request for improved service for seniors traveling to medical appointments. The requests were received during the SBCAG public hearing and via email. There is currently a three-times–per-week, dial-a-ride service operating between the North County, including the Santa Ynez Valley, and South Coast medical centers. This service is named the County Health Care Center Shuttle and it is operated by SMOOTH, Inc. It is funded through a combination of County Health subsidies and passenger fares. The roundtrip fare between the Santa Ynez Valley and the South Coast is two dollars. SBCAG found that service to the South Coast is not an unmet transit need because it is already being met. However, an analysis for connecting Santa Ynez Valley residents with Santa Maria area medical centers was conducted. Due to the unique nature of dial-a-ride service as compared to fixed route service, SBCAG staff requested SMOOTH, Inc., the operator of the County Health Care Center Shuttle, to provide a cost estimate for providing a similar service to Santa Maria. Ridership and fares are assumed to equal that of the South Coast service. Table 15 presents the preliminary calculations for this request.

This request is not reasonable to meet per criterion #5: the service would not meet the minimum required farebox recovery ratio, 10 percent, within three years. However, the County of Santa Barbara recognizes this issue and has taken several steps to improve transit services in the Santa Ynez Valley, including:

increasing its subsidy to Santa Ynez Valley Transit by $70,000 per year to provide increased levels of service in the unincorporated Santa Ynez Valley;


providing a $10,000 annual subsidy to the City of Lompoc to incorporate the Santa Ynez Valley into the COLT Santa Barbara Shuttle service;

providing one time sum of $60,000 to SMOOTH, Inc. to hire a consultant to comprehensively study the transit needs of Santa Ynez Valley residents; and

providing an additional $50,000 annual subsidy to SMOOTH, Inc. to increase its level of service in the North County.31

Additionally, Santa Ynez Valley Transit provides dial-a-ride service to eligible patrons in the Santa Ynez Valley. This service can be used to connect to regional transit services, and ultimately to regional medical centers. Though perhaps not convenient for all, a public service is currently provided.

Table 11: Preliminary Calculations for Dial-a-Ride Service between the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria

FY 2015/16 FY 2016/17 FY 2017/18

Operating Cost per Revenue Hour32 $61.00 $62.83 $64.71



$48,722 $50,184 $51,689




Total Revenue from New Service $320 $336 $352



Increased Frequency of Service between the Good Samaritan Bridge House Shelter and Lompoc

The SBCAG Board of Directors discussed pedestrian safety on the CA 246 Santa Ynez River Bridge near Lompoc during its April 21, 2016 meeting. As a result, a request by Director Richardson for increased frequency of transit service between the Good Samaritan Bridge House Shelter and Lompoc was received. The shelter is located east of the bridge and the City of Lompoc is west of the bridge. The roughly 450-foot long bridge has narrow shoulders, no sidewalks, and a 55 miles per hour posted speed limit, thereby giving rise to the need to connect shelter residents with Lompoc, safely. Many shelter residents have jobs in Lompoc and most are required to leave the shelter between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Additionally, roughly 25 of the shelter’s 75 residents are children, many attending school in Lompoc. The City of Lompoc Transit (COLT) Route 1 modifies its schedule to serve the shelter once in the AM and once in the PM, coinciding with the times residents are required to be away from the shelter—8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Through donations to the shelter from private individuals, transit fares for residents are partially subsidized.

31 Per the Santa Barbara County approved FY 16/17 TDA claim, BOS Resolution 16-98, April 19, 2016

32 For this analysis dead-head time and distance is included. The cost estimate provided by SMOOTH Inc.


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Following the receipt of this request SBCAG staff discussed the issue with COLT and shelter staffs to gain a better understanding of what service is currently offered, and what is needed. Staff discovered the following:

Between 15 and 25 individuals use the COLT service each day;

Most shelter residents are required to be away from the shelter during the day, every day including weekends, and COLT does not offer Sunday service;

Lompoc Unified School District buses do not serve the shelter in the PM due to the times that residents are required to be away from the shelter; and

Many of the employed shelter residents have work schedules that do not align with the provided COLT service.

An analysis for adding two additional AM and PM trips to the shelter was conducted. Shelter staff noted the following service times as ideal for shelter residents: 6:45 AM, 7:30 AM, 8:00 AM, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM. During the course of this project the shelter changed its policy and will permit residents to return at 3:00 PM, which will allow for coordination with the school district to have resident students be provided school bus service back to the shelter. Table 12 presents the analysis.

Table 12: Preliminary Calculations for Four Additional Round-Trips between the Bridge House Shelter and Lompoc

FY 2015/16 FY 2016/17 FY 2017/18

Operating Cost per Revenue Hour33 $76.58 $78.88 $81.24



$20,830 $21,455 $22,098




Total Revenue from New Service $2,475 $2,599 $2,729



This request is not reasonable to meet per criteria #4: the service would cause a claimant to incur expenses in excess of the maximum allocation of TDA funds. The area is served by the City of Lompoc and the City intends to allocate all of its TDA allocation to transit purposes. Implementing associated improvements would cause the claimant to incur expenses in excess of its allocated TDA funds. This finding, however, does not preclude the County of Santa Barbara from working with the City of Lompoc to improve transit services to the Bridge House Shelter. Providing four additional weekday trips to the shelter is estimated to cost roughly $22,098 in the third year, a figure that the County of Santa Barbara could provide and in turn work with the City of Lompoc to provide the service.

33 For this analysis dead-head time and distance is included. The cost estimate provided by SMOOTH Inc.


FINDINGS

As explained in Chapter 1, SBCAG must find that either

There are no unmet transit needs,

There are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet, or

There are unmet transit needs, including needs that are reasonable to meet.

After conducting the transit needs assessment for the FY 2016/17 TDA cycle, for the reasons discussed above, SBCAG's analysis concludes that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • i

APPENDIX A: ACRONYMS & DEFINITIONS

A

ACS American Community Survey

C

COLT City of Lompoc Transit

CTSA Consolidated Transportation Service Agency

F

FY Fiscal Year

L

LTF Local Transportation Fund

M

MTD Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District

P

PUC Public Utilities Code

R

RTPA Regional Transportation Planning Agency

S

SBCAG Santa Barbara County Association of Governments

SBCTAC Santa Barbara County Transit Advisory Committee

SLORTA San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority


ii

SMAT Santa Maria Area Transit

SMOOTH Santa Maria Organization of Transit Helpers

SSTAC Social Services Transportation Advisory Council

STA State Transit Assistance

SYVT Santa Ynez Valley Transit

T

TDA Transportation Development Act

TNC Transportation Network Company

TTAC Technical Transportation Advisory Committee

V

VAFB Vandenberg Air Force Base

VISTA Ventura Intercity Service Transit Authority

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • iii

APPENDIX B: DEMOGRAPHIC TABLES

Table 13: Population

2000 2010 2040

City of Buellton 3,828 4,828 7,400

City of Guadalupe 5,659 7,080 9,660

City of Lompoc 41,103 42,434 47,720

City of Santa Maria 77,423 99,553 141,530

City of Solvang 5,332 5,245 5,960

Total North County Cities 133,345 159,140 212,270

Uninc. Cuyama Area 1,349 1,245 1,510

Uninc. Guadalupe Area 404 265 390

Uninc. Lompoc Valley 17,198 15,308 18,950

Uninc. Santa Maria Valley 33,350 33,173 39,830

Uninc. Santa Ynez Valley 12,699 12,597 15,430

Total Uninc. North County 65,000 62,588 76,110

City of Carpinteria 14,194 13,040 13,890

City of Goleta n/a* 29,888 34,590

City of Santa Barbara 92,325 88,410 96,000

Total South County Cities 106,519 131,338 144,480

Uninc. South County 94,483 70,829 87,157

Total Santa Barbara County 399,347 423,895 520,017

2000 Source: U.S. Census, Census 2000 Summary File 1, DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics.

*The City of Goleta was not yet incorporated in 2000.

2010 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census.

2040 Source: SBCAG, Regional Growth Forecast 2010-2040, December 2012.


iv

Table 14: Race

White* Black or African American*

American Indian/ Alaska Native*

Asian* Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander*

Some other race*

Two or More Races

# % # % # % # % # % # % # %

City of Buellton 3,912 81% 37 1% 76 2% 137 3% 5 0% 42 9% 237 5%

City of Guadalupe 3,395 48% 74 1% 103 1% 279 4% 5 0% 2,783 39% 441 6%

City of Lompoc 25,950 61% 2,432 6% 750 2% 1,615 4% 186 0% 9,020 21% 2,481 6%

City of Santa Maria 55,983 56% 1,656 2% 1,818 2% 5,054 5% 161 0% 29,841 30% 5,040 5%

City of Solvang 4,326 82% 38 1% 59 1% 72 1% 1 0% 611 12% 138 3%

Total North County Cities 93,566 59% 4,237 3% 2,806 2% 7,157 4% 358 0% 42,679 27% 8,337 5%

Uninc. Cuyama Area 1,032 83% 8 1% 19 2% 13 1% - 0% 135 11% 38 3%

Uninc. Guadalupe Area 142 54% 4 2% 3 1% 7 3% 1 0% 88 33% 20 8%

Uninc. Lompoc Valley 11,597 76% 698 5% 181 1% 686 4% 94 1% 1,133 7% 919 6%

Uninc. Santa Maria Valley 26,547 80% 460 1% 452 1% 1,190 4% 61 0% 2,969 9% 1,494 5%

Uninc. Santa Ynez Valley 10,948 87% 67 1% 289 2% 194 2% 18 0% 737 6% 344 3%

Total Uninc. North County 50,266 80% 1,237 2% 944 2% 2,090 3% 174 0% 5,062 8% 2,815 4%

City of Carpinteria 9,348 72% 109 1% 144 1% 296 2% 15 0% 2,599 20% 529 4%

City of Goleta 20,833 70% 469 2% 283 1% 2,728 9% 26 0% 4,182 14% 1,367 5%

City of Santa Barbara 66,411 75% 1,420 2% 892 1% 3,062 3% 116 0% 13,032 15% 3,477 4%

Total South County Cities 96,592 74% 1,998 2% 1,319 1% 6,086 5% 157 0% 19,813 15% 5,373 4%

Uninc. South County 54,700 77% 1,041 1% 416 1% 5,332 8% 117 0% 6,306 9% 2,917 4%

Total Santa Barbara County 295,124 70% 8,513 2% 5,485 1% 20,665 5% 806 0% 73,860 17% 19,442 5%

*Includes only those who identify with only one race.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • v

Table 15: Hispanic or Latino Population

Hispanic or Latino

(of any race)

# %

City of Buellton 1,451 30%

City of Guadalupe 6,103 86%

City of Lompoc 21,557 51%

City of Santa Maria 70,114 70%

City of Solvang 1,530 29%

Total North County Cities 100,755 63%

Unincorporated Cuyama Area 555 45%

Unincorporated Guadalupe Area 148 56%

Unincorporated Lompoc Valley 3,376 22%

Unincorporated Santa Maria Valley 9,377 28%

Unincorporated Santa Ynez Valley 2,725 22%

Total Unincorporated North County 16,181 26%

City of Carpinteria 6,351 49%

City of Goleta 9,824 33%

City of Santa Barbara 33,591 38%

Total South County Cities 49,766 38%

Unincorporated South County 14,985 21%

Total Santa Barbara County 181,687 43%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census.


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Table 16: Vehicle Availability by Occupied Housing Unit

# %* # %* # %* # %* # %*

City of Buellton 1,566 24 1.5% 504 32.2% 599 38.3% 240 15.3% 199 12.7%

City of Guadalupe 1,805 138 7.6% 382 21.2% 830 46.0% 260 14.4% 195 10.8%

City of Lompoc 13,170 1,295 9.8% 4,614 35.0% 4,215 32.0% 1,962 14.9% 1,084 8.2%

City of Santa Maria 26,991 2,058 7.6% 8,324 30.8% 10,211 37.8% 4,232 15.7% 2,166 8.0%

City of Solvang 2,350 79 3.4% 811 34.5% 1,067 45.4% 258 11.0% 135 5.7%

Total North County Cities 45,882 3,594 7.8% 14,635 31.9% 16,922 36.9% 6,952 15.2% 3,779 8.2%

Unincorporated Cuyama Area 371 3 0.8% 103 27.8% 141 38.0% 79 21.3% 45 12.1%

Unincorporated Guadalupe Area 73 - 0.0% 40 54.8% 11 15.1% 10 13.7% 12 16.4%

Unincorporated Lompoc Valley 5,487 129 2.4% 1,409 25.7% 2,277 41.5% 1,177 21.5% 495 9.0%

Unincorporated Santa Maria Valley 11,903 379 3.2% 3,065 25.7% 4,744 39.9% 2,452 20.6% 1,263 10.6%

Unincorporated Santa Ynez Valley 4,546 58 1.3% 898 19.8% 1,923 42.3% 1,012 22.3% 655 14.4%

Total Unincorporated North County 22,380 569 2.5% 5,515 24.6% 9,096 40.6% 4,730 21.1% 2,470 11.0%

City of Carpinteria 4,946 328 6.6% 1,863 37.7% 1,748 35.3% 691 14.0% 316 6.4%

City of Goleta 11,091 599 5.4% 3,842 34.6% 4,237 38.2% 1,587 14.3% 826 7.4%

City of Santa Barbara 34,900 3,420 9.8% 14,023 40.2% 11,550 33.1% 4,312 12.4% 1,595 4.6%

Total South County Cities 50,937 4,347 8.5% 19,728 38.7% 17,535 34.4% 6,590 12.9% 2,737 5.4%

Unincorporated South County 22,048 1,051 4.8% 6,174 28.0% 8,724 39.6% 3,715 16.8% 2,384 10.8%

Total Santa Barbara County 141,247 9,561 6.8% 46,052 32.6% 52,277 37.0% 21,987 15.6% 11,370 8.0%

4+ Vehicles2 Vehicles 3 Vehicles

*Percent of households in jurisdiction

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008-2012 American Community Survey

Occupied

Housing Units

No Vehicle 1 Vehicle

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • vii

Table 17: Enrollment in Santa Barbara County Public School Districts, 2014-15

District Enrollment

Ballard Elementary 132

Blochman Union Elementary 1,063

Buellton Union Elementary 626

Carpinteria Unified 2,239

Cold Spring Elementary 158

College Elementary 408

Cuyama Joint Unified 233

Goleta Union Elementary 3,701

Guadalupe Union Elementary 1,282

Hope Elementary 1,031

Lompoc Unified 10,076

Los Olivos Elementary 471

Montecito Union Elementary 448

Orcutt Union Elementary 5,269

Santa Barbara County Office of Education 309

Santa Barbara Unified 15,593

Santa Maria Joint Union High 7,782

Santa Maria-Bonita 16,026

Santa Ynez Valley Union High 1,025

Solvang Elementary 591

Vista del Mar Union 118

Total 68,581

Source: California Department of Education. Educational Demographics Unit. http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/

Table 18: Higher Education Enrollment in Santa Barbara County

Institution Location Enrollment

Allan Hancock College (Credit, Fall 2013)

Lompoc, Santa Maria

10,474

Santa Barbara City College (2014/2015)

Santa Barbara 33,704

University of California, Santa Barbara (Winter 2016)

Santa Barbara 22,787

Westmont College (Fall 2015) Santa Barbara 1,304

Total 68,269

Sources (accessed 2/29/16):

Allan Hancock College. Office of Public Affairs & Publications. Statistical Picture 2012-13. Nov. 2013.

Santa Barbara City College Quick Facts 2014/2015

UCSB Registrar’s Third-Week Registration Reports, Winter 2016

http://www.westmont.edu/_about/index.html


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Table 19: Population with a Disability

Disability Total % Disability Total % Disability Total % Disability Total % Disability Total %

City of Buellton 0 297 0.0% 0 803 0.0% 118 3,192 3.7% 179 618 29.0% 297 4,910 6.0%

City of Guadalupe 0 903 0.0% 96 1,511 6.4% 323 4,159 7.8% 250 587 42.6% 669 7,160 9.3%

City of Lompoc 0 3,803 0.0% 251 8,242 3.0% 323 4,159 7.8% 1,636 3,831 42.7% 2,210 20,035 11.0%

City of Santa Maria 40 8,957 0.4% 1,089 22,257 4.9% 5,478 60,514 9.1% 3,876 9,141 42.4% 10,483 100,869 10.4%

City of Solvang 0 282 0.0% 17 616 2.8% 142 3,007 4.7% 519 1,365 38.0% 678 5,270 12.9%

Total N. County Cities 40 14,242 0.3% 1,453 33,429 4.3% 6,384 75,031 8.5% 6,460 15,542 41.6% 14,337 138,244 10.4%

Uninc. Cuyama Area 0 86 0.0% 11 213 5.2% 53 618 8.6% 34 154 22.1% 98 1,071 9.2%

Uninc. Guadalupe Area 0 0 #DIV/0! 7 44 15.9% 0 160 0.0% 7 18 38.9% 14 222 6.3%

Uninc. Lompoc Valley 0 1,235 0.0% 158 2,837 5.6% 3,070 27,884 11.0% 810 2,382 34.0% 4,038 34,338 11.8%

Uninc. SM Valley 0 2,020 0.0% 349 6,240 5.6% 1,675 19,579 8.6% 2,333 6,163 37.9% 4,357 34,002 12.8%

Uninc. SY Valley 0 321 0.0% 48 1,752 2.7% 429 7,398 5.8% 716 2,055 34.8% 1,193 11,526 10.4%

Total Uninc. N. County 0 3,662 0.0% 573 11,086 5.2% 5,227 55,639 9.4% 3,900 10,772 36.2% 9,700 81,159 12.0%

City of Carpinteria 0 689 0.0% 83 1,710 4.9% 752 8,673 8.7% 681 2,250 30.3% 1,516 13,322 11.4%

City of Goleta 4 1,503 0.3% 139 4,528 3.1% 1,054 19,927 5.3% 1,460 4,144 35.2% 2,657 30,102 8.8%

City of Santa Barbara 62 5,572 1.1% 322 11,514 2.8% 4,115 58,779 7.0% 4,227 13,314 31.7% 8,726 89,179 9.8%

Total S. County Cities 66 7,764 0.9% 544 17,752 3.1% 5,921 87,379 6.8% 6,368 19,708 32.3% 12,899 132,603 9.7%

Uninc. South County 0 2,200 0.0% 275 7,760 3.5% 2,358 52,140 4.5% 2,744 10,459 26.2% 5,377 72,559 7.4%

Total County 106 27,868 0.4% 2,845 70,027 4.1% 19,890 270,189 7.4% 19,472 56,481 34.5% 42,313 424,565 10.0%

Source: 2010-2014 American Community Survey, S1810 Disability Characteristics.

Ages 5-17 Age 18-64 Age 65+ Total

Includes only the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population.

Ages 5 and Under

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • ix

Table 20: Poverty Status

# %*

City of Buellton 0 440 53 493 10%

City of Guadalupe 716 696 56 1,468 21%

City of Lompoc 4,044 4,465 269 8,778 22%

City of Santa Maria 9,292 11,120 886 21,298 21%

City of Solvang 224 444 75 743 14%

Total North County Cities 14,276 17,165 1,339 32,780 21%

Uninc. Cuyama Area 114 152 15 281 26%

Uninc. Guadalupe Area 28 33 - 61 27%

Uninc. Lompoc Valley 362 600 79 1,041 7%

Uninc. Santa Maria Valley 787 1,114 458 2,359 7%

Uninc. Santa Ynez Valley 178 707 170 1,055 9%

Total Uninc. North County 1,469 2,606 722 4,797 8%

City of Carpinteria 225 845 59 1,129 8%

City of Goleta 342 1,721 261 2,324 8%

City of Santa Barbara 3,530 8,782 1,122 13,434 15%

Total South County Cities 4,097 11,348 1,442 16,887 13%

Total Uninc. South County 633 13,464 392 14,489 23%

Total Santa Barbara County 20,475 44,583 3,895 68,953 17%

18 to 64 65 and OverTotal

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010-2014 American Community Survey

*of the population for whom poverty status is determined

Under 18


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Table 21: Labor Market Indicators, 2015 Monthly

Labor Force Employment Unemployment Unemployment Rate

Jan 2015

Jun 2015

Nov 2015*

Jan 2015

Jun 2015

Nov 2015*

Jan 2015

Jun 2015

Nov 2015*

Jan 2015

Jun 2015

Nov 2015*

City of Buellton 3,000 3,200 3,100 2,900 3,100 3,000 100 100 100 4.2 2.9 3.2

City of Carpinteria 7,700 8,000 7,900 7,200 7,600 7,600 400 300 400 5.7 4.0 4.5

City of Goleta 17,200 17,900 17,800 16,600 17,500 17,300 700 500 500 3.9 2.7 3.0

City of Guadalupe 3,300 3,400 3,400 3,100 3,300 3,200 200 100 200 6.1 4.4 4.8

City of Lompoc 18,200 18,700 18,600 16,600 17,500 17,300 1,500 1,100 1,200 8.5 6.0 6.7

City of Santa Barbara

51,400 53,300 53,000 48,700 51,400 50,800 2,700 2,000 2,200 5.2 3.7 4.1

City of Santa Maria 47,800 49,200 49,000 44,100 46,500 46,000 3,800 2,800 3,000 7.9 5.6 6.2

City of Solvang 2,700 2,800 2,800 2,500 2,700 2,600 200 200 200 8.0 5.7 6.3County of Santa Barbara

217,400 224,700 223,600 203,200 214,400 212,200 14,200 10,400 11,400 6.5 4.6 5.1

Not Seasonally Adjusted*

Source: State of California Employment Development Department. http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/cgi/dataanalysis/labForceReport.asp?menuchoice=LABFORCE

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • xi

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APPENDIX C: SBCAG PUBLIC OUTREACH MATERIALS

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS

How could the bus better serve your needs?

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) wants to hear your comments about transit service in North County. SBCAG is holding a hearing to receive public comment on transit needs in Santa Barbara County, as required under Section 99401.5 of the Public Utilities Code.

The hearing will be held:

Date: Thursday, January 21, 2016

Time: 10:00 AM

Place: Board of Supervisors Hearing Room

511 E. Lakeside Parkway

Santa Maria, CA

If you cannot attend the hearing, you may still submit written comments up until Friday, January 29, 2016. You may e-mail them to [email protected] or mail them to SBCAG at 260 North San Antonio Road, Suite B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals needing special accommodations to participate in the meeting should contact SBCAG at least three working days prior to the meeting at (805) 961-8900.

For more information, call SBCAG at 961-8900. Favor de llamar a SBCAG al 961-8900, para más información del reunión.


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PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release Contact: Gregg Hart (805) 961-8905

How can the bus better serve your needs?

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments would like to hear what new bus routes or service schedules are needed in north Santa Barbara County to get local residents where they need to go. The public is invited to attend an Unmet Transit Needs public hearing on January 21st at 10:00 am to let our local government leaders hear your ideas on ways to improve local and regional community bus service. The hearing will be held in the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room at 511 East Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria. If you cannot attend the meeting, you may call the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments at 961-8900 or e-mail [email protected] to add your comments to the record.

¿Cómo puede servir mejor el autobús a sus necesidades?

La Asociación del Condado de Santa Barbara de Gobiernos quiere oír cuales servicios o recorridos nuevos del autobús se necesitan en el Condado del norte de Santa Barbara para ayudarle llegar a donde usted necesita ir. Favor de asistir una audiencia pública que se oye en el 21 de Enero a las 10:00 AM paraque los líderes de administración municipal oigan sus ideas en maneras de mejorar el servicio de autobus de la communidad. La audiencia estará en el quarto de audiencia del Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors en Santa Maria, en el 511 East Lakeside Parkway. Si usted no puede asistir la audiencia, usted puede llamar al Santa Barbara County Association of Governments al 961-8900 o manda su correo electrónico a [email protected] para dar sus comentarios al registro.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • xxiii

PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release

Contact: Gregg Hart (805) 961-8905

How can the bus better serve your needs?

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments would like to hear what new bus routes or service schedules are needed in north Santa Barbara County to get local residents where they need to go. The public is invited to attend an Unmet Transit Needs public hearing on April 21st at 10:00 am to let our local government leaders hear your ideas on ways to improve local and regional community bus service. The hearing will be held in the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room at 105 East Anapamu Street, Fourth Floor, in Santa Barbara. If you cannot attend the meeting, you may call the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments at 961-8900 or e-mail [email protected] to add your comments to the record.

¿Cómo puede servir mejor el autobús a sus necesidades?

La Asociación del Condado de Santa Barbara de Gobiernos quiere oír cuales servicios o recorridos nuevos del autobús se necesitan en el Condado del norte de Santa Barbara para ayudarle llegar a donde usted necesita ir. Favor de asistir una audiencia pública que se oye en el 21 de Abril a las 10:00 AM paraque los líderes de administración municipal oigan sus ideas en maneras de mejorar el servicio de autobus de la communidad. La audiencia estará en el quarto de audiencia del Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors en Santa Barbara, en el 105 East Anapamu Street, Fourth Floor. Si usted no puede asistir la audiencia, usted puede llamar al Santa Barbara County Association of Governments al 961-8900 o manda su correo electrónico a [email protected] para dar sus comentarios al registro.


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APPENDIX D: TRANSIT AGENCY WORKSHOPS

CITY OF LOMPOC TRANSIT (COLT) WORKSHOP


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SANTA MARIA AREA TRANSIT (SMAT) WORKSHOP


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APPENDIX E: SBCAG PUBLIC HEARING COMMENTS

From the Approved Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the SBCAG Board of Directors

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Jacob Lesner-Buxton – Community Organizer, Independent Living Resource Center

All day, two-way service between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Improved service for seniors traveling to medical appointments

Amy Mallett – Program Manager, Area Agency on Aging

Improved service for Santa Ynez Valley seniors travelling to Santa Barbara and Santa Maria for medical appointments

Kenneth Wolf – Transit Rider, Santa Maria

Increase awareness of the transit systems Transition to smart fare media Put 3-bike racks on SMAT buses, front and rear Bring Greyhound service into the Santa Maria Transit Center Install bicycle lockers at Santa Maria Transit Center

Refugio Hernandez – Transit Rider, Guadalupe

Guadalupe Flyer buses are dirty inside and out Consider the passengers before raising fares

Doreen Farr – SBCAG

Improved service for Santa Ynez Valley seniors travelling to Santa Barbara and Santa Maria for medical appointments

From the Draft Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the SBCAG Board of Directors

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Jay Freeman – 3rd District County Supervisor Candidate

Better outreach and direct engagement for future cycles of the Transit Needs Analysis process

More bus stop shelters in the Vandenberg Village area

Kenneth Wolf – Transit Rider, Santa Maria

Survey potential transit users to understand why they don’t use transit Provide more public outreach to attract transit riders Use a smart fare media, such as a TAP card Provide a better Santa Maria – Santa Barbara connection Improve safety at bus stops Find creative ways to subsidize transit passes Bring Amtrak and Greyhound to the Santa Maria Transit Center


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Peter Adam – SBCAG

Use smaller transit vehicles

Jim Richardson – SBCAG

Improve service/additional frequency of service across the CA 246 Santa Ynez River Bridge

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • xlix

APPENDIX F: OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS

LETTERS


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E-MAIL

From: John Richards Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016 2:50 PM

I hope consideration will be given to a bus stop at 2615 South Miller near the Department of Rehabilitation. It is very difficult for our disabled clientele to get here from McCoy or through the parking lot off Santa Maria Way. Thank you.

From: Erika & Derek Garcia Sent: Saturday, January 9, 2016 9:28 PM

Do you also provide route service for individuals living in Santa Barbara that work in Santa Maria?

From: Kenney, Kim Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 12:16 PM

I am interested in using the Clean Air Express to travel to my new job here in Goleta from my home in Santa Maria, but the nearest stop is about a mile away. Is it possible to get another stop added to the route schedule? If so, how do I got about requesting it? I would be going to 4410 Cathedral Oaks Road each day.

As a secondary request, how about having a later stop at the County Gov’t Center on Camino del Remedio? Since my hours are 8am-5pm, it’s impossible for me to get to the CAE bus before it leaves, but if there were a later bus (5:15 or 5:30pm), then I could find a way to get there.

Another thing to consider: A lot of the people I work with work either 4/10 or 9/80 hours, and they can’t take advantage of the CAE either because there isn’t a later pick-up time.

5:15 or 5:30 p.m. would work for those of us who can’t get off before 5:00 p.m. (“normal” business hours).

From: Myrna Heldfond Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 10:27 AM

You know what Andrew? I give up. It's a waste of my time to try to effect any change in the transportation needs of the North county, specifically the Santa Ynez Valley. Santa Maria and Lompoc are more motivated. When most cities are implementing ways to get people out of their automobiles, Santa Barbara County is going to widen the 101 freeway........again. Instead of spending the money on a MetroLink extension and/or regular, scheduled bus trips to and from Solvang, Los Olivos, Santa


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Ynez. Do you know what a nightmare traffic is now on Hwy.246 with the tourism push for the wineries, casino, hotels, spas, etc. Let's not even go to 154. Busses, trucks and all the wine tasters.

I don't get it. If YOU get it please let me know.

From: Jacob Lesner-Buxton

Sent: Monday, January 25, 2016 9:04 AM

My name is Jacob Lesner-Buxton and I am the Community Organizer at the Independent Living Resource Center. We are a Santa Barbara based non-profit that assists people with disabilities to live independently.

I spoke at the Unmet Transit hearing on January 21, 2016 and I wanted to e-mail you my comments as well.

I believe there needs to be regular bus service between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. Currently there is only one bus per day between these two urban centers in our county. The Clean Air Express travels from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara in the mornings and then returns in the evening. For people like myself who don't drive but need to do business in Santa Maria, often our only option is to take Greyhound and pay $32 for a one day return ticket.

Another issue with the Clean Air Express is that some seniors and people with disabilities who have to travel to Santa Barbara for doctors appointments have to spend 11 hours in transit. Even though some hospitals have shuttles from North County to Santa Barbara their services do not run daily.

SBCAG should consider expanding the Clean Air Express so it runs between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria every hour or 90 minutes. The VISTA bus between here and Ventura runs seven days a week and offers consumers a reliable service at a low cost. SBCAG should learn from VISTA and figure out a way to provide intra-county bus service that is frequent and affordable.

From: Bobbi Thompson

Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2016 2:41 PM

I am unable to attend the hearing tomorrow. This is my concern:

I would like to be able to take the bus to work. I live near Preisker Park in north Santa Maria. I work at the intersection of Betteravia & Miller in Santa Maria. I calculated it would take one hour to go that distance on the bus. In my car it averages less than a 12 minute drive. If there is any way to have a more direct route that takes less time, I would take the bus.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments • lvii

From: David Mullins Sent: Thursday, October 1, 2015 10:55 AM

I am in the process of accepting a job in Santa Maria and I live in Goleta. Most of the transit services seem to come from Santa Maria to Goleta. Are there any that go from Santa Barbara to Santa Maria in the morning and return in the afternoon?

From: Luke Lindquist Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2015 3:03 PM

Hi, would you ever consider adding a daily 5:30 or 5:45pm pick up from UCSB to Lompoc? I work a late flex schedule and the current pick up of only 4:25 doesn’t fit.

From: Kim Gao Sent: October 14, 2015 at 9:15:26 PM PDT

Do you provide service from Santa Barbara TO Lompoc? Will you in the future? This is my commute!

From: Suzanne Sam de st. Jean Sent: 12/11/2015 11:30 AM (GMT-08:00)

It has been a joy to ride the Breeze bus from Santa Maria to Lompoc for over five years. Now that you have newer buses it has been great. Angel, our driver is very safe and focused on customer service. I understand the rates will be going up next year which is understandable and fair. The schedule works out great for me except I wish you had another route in the early afternoon. If I need to get off earlier than 2:30 p.m. I have to catch the morning one which doesn't work for me at times. But overall I am very pleased and thrilled to get inexpensive and dependable transportation from Santa Maria where I live to Lompoc where I work.

From: Cathy Runser Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 2:50 PM

A regular bus line with 3 or 4 departures morning and evening from Lompoc to Goleta for commuters would be helpful.

The last time I checked, the Clean Air Express required people to buy a seat on a particular bus for the month.


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From: Steve Johnson

Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 6:30 PM

I have the same concern as last year (and the 10 years previous).

I am interested in bus service between Santa Maria and the City of Santa Barbara; has any such service been established yet (other than Greyhound)? Thanks.

From: Mr. Kenneth M. Roane Jr.

Sent: Friday, December 04, 2015 11:44 AM

Hello, I have been living in North county ( Lompoc since 2007), Having come from a big city back east, I cannot still understand how the county justifies not having reliable public transportation connecting the closest two cities Santa Maria and Lompoc, the bus service offered in Lompoc is little more than a shuttle to nowhere. The buses in Lompoc don't even run in both directions on a given route, which means that in order to travel in the opposite direction you must wait for the bus to complete a full run, or just ride in a circle to get back to your destination, on the weekends the service is pretty much non-existent, the Breeze bus that would connect the two cities of Santa Maria and Lompoc does not run on weekends , so there is no way of getting to the mall or any other services in Santa Maria or the airforce base, I guess what is insulting to the intellect is that no one without a personal vehicle can hold any type of employment since, there is no reliable public transportation. We all know that most jobs require you to be available to work at least one weekend a month, maybe if the COLT, BREEZE and SMAT could offer longer service until 9pm and offer weekend service til 11pm, that would create a opportunity for employers to have a third shift, people could work over nite and more money could be spent at the fledgling mall.The same holds true for getting to Santa Barbara and Goleta where most jobs are, does the county really want people to work and contribute to society? a reliable and affordable taxicab service to the airports would be too much to ask for??? how about UBER??

From: Elizabeth Farnum

Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2016 5:25 PM

Our office continues to receive calls from people in the valley who are not served by public transit for their transportation needs. Some live too far away to use Dial A Ride to get to medical appointments. A mother has a disabled child who will soon age out of whatever transportation assistance now available. I have referred folks to SBCAG’s process and the annual meeting focusing on unmet transit needs. Is SBCAG still taking comments? What will be the next steps?

If someone wants to make a financial contribution toward solving these issues, what should I suggest?

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From: John Fragosa

Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2016 6:22 AM

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in your public hearing today. I am a daily Breeze bus rider between Lompoc and Santa Maria. I use the Breeze to get to work and appreciate this service. There are some things that could be done to improve this bus service.

Larger bus needed for the 6:30 am bus from Lompoc to Santa Maria. In the past couple of months we had a small bus for an overflow crowd that left up to 10 riders standing from Lompoc to Santa Maria. This is not safe if the bus driver had to slam on the breaks to avoid an collision.

We need the same driver every day for this route. Without proper training riders had to tell the driver where the stops are for this route. One of your new drivers almost got into a crash with a passenger car. I felt unsafe.

Please allow the driver to pick up the riders where we form our line. We stand in the parking lot in Lompoc Alberterson’s center to avoid confusion for the Lompoc COLT drivers.

Wi-Fi wireless internet would be a nice addition to our bus service. Amtrack offers it to train riders. It would make a world of difference to your riders.

I thank you for your time and hope to get a reply from SBCAG on my public comments.

From: L. Berber

Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 9:09 PM

I am writing about the Breeze Bus service, specifically the one that leaves Lompoc's Mission Plaza at 6:51 each weekday morning. I ride that bus every weekday morning. Many Hancock students also regularly ride the bus at this time. I do value the service to and from Santa Maria, so glad it is available, but improvements are needed.

A bus insufficient to passenger's needs is being provided and has been for a few years. The current bus being used for our route is a small 14-seat bus that is actually marked for the Los Alamos, Buellton, Solvang route. Nearly every morning there are passengers sitting on the floor or standing because there are not enough seats. This is not an easy way to ride 45 minutes to an hour to your destination. A larger bus is needed.

I have offered possible solutions to this problem, but none have been implemented. I called the Breeze Bus phone number and suggested they send two buses at this time. Their response, "We don't have enough drivers". I suggested they send a larger SMAT bus. Their response, "SMAT buses can't go on the highway". I suggested allowing the passengers that have to stand or sit on the floor a reduced rate of one dollar instead on two. Their response, "That's a good idea", yet it remains to be seen.


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In addition to the too small bus being used for the 6:51 Lompoc to Santa Maria route, there also seems to be some inadequate training of the bus drivers. We do not have a regular driver and quite often we have a new driver. It is us passengers that often have to tell these new drivers the route to follow and where the stops are. Better training is needed.

Thank you for providing this opportunity to voice transit needs.

From: Colleen Simms

Sent: Thursday, April 7, 2016 9:26 AM

I want to make a comment on the unmet transit needs in Lompoc. I live in Lompoc and catch the Breeze bus to Santa Maria to go the Allan Hancock College. Several things I want to comment on that I think the county can correct.

First of all, there is no Breeze bus schedule posted at the bus stop. There used to be one, but now the spot where the schedule is supposed to posted up is empty, why is that? It's easy just to have one of the drivers put up the most current schedule and keep it current. So many people are always asking the bus driver and other passengers about the bus routes. It would be easy to have the schedule posted, that's what the spot is supposed to be used for right how easy is this? Even the drivers when asked about it don't seem to know anything - which is ridiculous. You're the driver shouldn't you know why there is no schedule posted.

Next, there is an ADA bus that picks up at the 6:45 a.m.route and almost all the time people are standing up because this bus is so small ? Why can't they have the big bus during this time?

Also, when there is a new Breeze bus driver, a lot of times they do not even know the route and are asking the passengers where to go. There should be no excuse for this. Why aren't the new drivers trained with an experienced driver on the bus routes, the training should only take a ride or two with an experienced driver. This has caused delays and stops being missed because of this.

There seems to be a disconnect between North and South County. It seems to me like no one cares about Lompoc and things are overlooked or just flat out ignored. Hopefully, this email will give some insight as to what is happening and someone will hear what we are going through and take it to heart and DO SOMETHING!

Follow-up sent: Thursday, April 7, 2016 1:29 PM

Yes, I did have an additional comment. I'm not sure who is in charge of the clean air express bus but, they run their service on Saturdays now. However, you can only catch the bus which picks up in Buellton to go to Santa Barbara. Why can't they pick up in Lompoc, we want to go to Santa Barbara too.

From: Angie Robuck

Sent: 03/31/2016 9:34 AM (GMT-08:00)

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I live in Buellton and work in downtown Santa Barbara. IF there was a reasonable bus schedule, I would take the bus, but unfortunately, I find myself commuting 5 days a week by myself in my own car. I’ve tried finding people to commute with over the years and that hasn’t worked out.

The only bus I know about is the Clean Air Express which has only ONE pick-up in Buellton at 6:15 am, and arrives downtown Santa Barbara at 7:09 am. Since I need to get a child off to school in the morning, that’s entirely too early for me; plus, I start work at 8:30 am and arriving downtown 1-1/2 hours early doesn’t accommodate my work schedule. Since that’s the only schedule option from Clean Air Express, I choose not to take the bus.

I would take the bus from Buellton to Santa Barbara if there was one that departed at a reasonable time in the morning, like 7:30 am. Alternatively, if there was a vanpool or an organization that coordinated carpools, that would be really helpful too.

From: Richard Valdez

Sent: April 13, 2016 at 3:19:17 PM PDT

My name is Richard Valdez, I have been a rider on SMAT and a resident of Santa Barbara County since 2007, and I would like to express my feeling about SMAT and transit in Santa Barbara County in general.

Most of this e-mail was given to SMAT officials last November when they announced plans to change some of their transit schedules and increase fares (which as of this date, still hasn't happened). In the six months since I wrote them and attended the November 11 meeting, no noticeable change has occurred with improving the experience with SMAT.

The following is an example of a bad experience on a SMAT bus.

It occurred on September 25, 2015. My mother and I were waiting for the 5 bus at “The Jetty,” (the stop basically at the corner of Foster Road and Orcutt Expressway), which should arrive around 12:15pm (based off the schedule, the Righetti stop). It arrived around 12:25, but I noticed that the bus seemed to be very crowded. When we got on, the bus was basically full, there were no seats available. We paid our fares, but no one offered their seats to my 64-year old mother, who has knee problems and should have been allowed to have a seat. The driver did nothing and the teenagers from Orcutt Academy (we learned later that Orcutt Academy had an “early out” day) who were seated in the seats that are supposed to be for elderly/handicapped didn't either. Now I can handle standing up, but my mother shouldn't have to. Why didn't the driver do something about this?

We stood up for the whole ride, even after the drivers switched. Ruben was the next driver and didn't do anything to improve the situation. When we arrived at the Broadway/Newlove stop (where the paint store and Lassen's are), a person entered the bus and Ruben didn't notice that the passenger had a small dog on a leach. Ruben only complained that he was in a hurry and wanted his friend to get on the bus, she had a used cigarette in her hand. Neither person should have been allowed on the bus.

This ride is a prime example of what's wrong with SMAT. Drivers that don't care if the bus is late (Routes 5 and 6 can sometimes be 20-30 minutes late) and they don't really care what happens on the bus (food and drink are allowed by some drivers; pets that aren't for handicapped people are allowed; music and abusive language occur at times; and passengers who want to get off the bus via the back


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door either have to alert the driver that they want to get off [even if the person pulled the cord to begin with] so the back door can open, or try to get to the front doors before the drivers leave.)

Lately, drivers also do not put the front seats down when the handicapped passengers get off. If all four bench seats are up, a total of 9 seats are basically unavailable unless a passenger who knows how to put the seat down manages to do that. During one Route 5 bus trip, all four bench seats were up and no one tried to put those seats down, and Ruben didn't put them down either (sometimes he does, although sometimes Ruben puts the seat belt over the pulled-up seats to prevent people from sitting there), so passengers were standing up at area instead. I took a couple pictures with my cellphone and attached them to this e-mail.

Another problem that has popped up lately is allowing small dogs on the bus. In the last couple weeks, a person

The first time that I would like done is that all bus drivers should enforce the rules, especially these:

No food or drinks

No pets (unless for handicapped people)

No loud music

Bus drivers should refrain from talking to passengers if it isn't about routes or destinations. (in other words, no small talk).

Although it is very rare, there have been a couple times that a problem occurs on a bus (a breakdown or changing buses) and the driver makes an announcement, but the driver only makes it in Spanish. The driver should make the announcement in English first, than Spanish.

Drivers should try to avoid leaving the right lane unless they are planning to make a left-hand turn. Several drivers now try to go to the left hand lane to pass slow cars in the right lane or if there are several cars in the lane. This basically occurs on Broadway going south towards Stowell (where a lane is added and there are now two lanes between the bus and the bus stop at FoodsCo [which always has someone entering or exiting the bus]) and on Orcutt Expressway between Lakeview and Santa Maria Way.

Secondly, these are suggestions to improve the SMAT experience in Oructt, where I live.

There is technically no places in Orcutt to get bus passes. The only location near here is the Spenser's Fresh Market, which is on the dividing line between Santa Maria and Orcutt. A good place would be the UPS Store at the Oak Knoll shopping center near the Albertson's (which used to be a place that sold bus passes).

There is no bus stop on Route 5 between the Broadway/McCoy stop and the Foster Road/FoodBank stop. This is a distance of 2.7 miles. Why can't the 5 bus follow the same route that the 6 bus does and stop at the Lakeview/Oructt Frontage Road stop?

This is only one stop for Old Town Orcutt on Route 6. A second one would be nice.

When they changed Route 3, there is now no stop on East Main Street on either direction. Going towards the hospital, there's no stop before the stop across from Vons. Going from the hospital, there's no stop from the Nicholson/Cypress stop to the courthouse stop at Miller/Cook (a distance of 1.6 miles.

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There should be at least one going eastbound and two going westbound. Or you could go back to the old 3 route that went down Chapel Street, which had two stops in the general area.

Lastly, I have suggested that we need more shelters at stops. I first brought this up back in 2010 when I mentioned that the shelter at the Broadway/Carmen stop (between the 7-11 and the Taco Bell) had most of its plexiglass broken out. It wasn't fixed or replaced. Recently, the bus shelter at Broadway/Battles was apparently hit by a vehicle and was damaged. It should also be fixed or replaced.

Also, the transit maps on many stops are not up to date, they still have the original 2012 schedule which had Routes 5 & 6 weekend schedules (which were running at the same time), but nearly all of them are have fallen down or unreadable.

No new bus shelters have been put up either. Several stops had shelters before the 2011 schedule change, which were taken down since the routes didn't stop there, but when the stops were instituted, no shelters were returned. The following stops had shelters that weren't replaced:

Re-install a second shelter at the Santa Maria Town Center

Bradley/Crossroads southbound

Orcutt Road/Clark Ave northbound (where the car wash now is)

Clark Ave/Bradley on the CVS side

Orcutt Road and Lakeview (both the 5&6 and the 7 stop)

The biggest problem with the Breeze Bus is the schedule. I know that the RTA bus isn't part of your business, but it's weird that their bus system runs once an hour and has a limited weekend schedule. Why can't Breeze run maybe every 60 to 90 minutes and maybe two or three trips on weekends? Since I live in Orcutt, it's only 15 to Lompoc but I only go there at 10am or 1pm and then have to be in Lompoc for several hours to catch the bus home. I wish it was better.

I hope you consider these suggestions in the future. Thank you.

From: Alejandra Hernandez

Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 5:22 PM

Hello ! Quick question ! Is there a bus from Santa Barbara to Lompoc in the morning or is it just in the afternoon ?

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APPENDIX G: SBCAG RESOLUTION

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Documents

Transit Needs Assessment 2016 - SBCAG · Transit Needs Assessment 2016 2 Thus SBCAG finds that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet. With this finding, the