A new train option aimed at easing the morning traffic crunch along Highway 101 is on track to launch by early May.
On Thursday, the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments unanimously approved a plan to add a sixth Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train from Los Angeles to Ventura County and the South Coast.
“We’re excited,” said Whitney Rush, senior transportation planner at SBCAG. “This is not a Monday-through-Friday train. This does not take off for holidays. It will run 365 days a year.”
The new train is scheduled to arrive in Santa Barbara at 7:56 a.m. Currently, the earliest option reaches the downtown station at 9:55 a.m.—too late for many people headed to a day job.
After departing Goleta, the train will continue on to San Luis Obispo, with southbound return service commencing midday.
In a 12-0 vote, SBCAG directors authorized a cooperative funding agreement with the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency, or LOSSAN, and the Ventura County Transportation Commission, VCTC.
Thursday’s decision follows the collapse of a plan to bring Metrolink service to the South Coast. Last month, a series of delays stemming from prolonged contract discussions forced LOSSAN to pull the plug on that plan, which had been years in the making.
SBCAG directors on Thursday urged agency staff to avoid past pitfalls and ensure the new train option is marketed heavily to the public.
To spread the word, officials will prioritize engaging large employers in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. They’ll let commuters know about free connecting shuttles, bike lockers, bike share programs, fare relief and other incentives that can help make it easier to catch a ride, Rush said.
“We’re really working with VCTC to reach the people in Ventura county who can most benefit from this train,” she said.
For nearly two decades, officials have tried to bring a commuter train to Santa Barbara in tandem with the now nearly complete widening of Highway 101. It’s unclear how popular the new morning route to Santa Barbara and Goleta will be, but officials anticipate it can reduce the number of people who drive into the area from Ventura.
SBCAG will contribute $1.1 million in Measure A funding to the 12-month pilot program. VCTC will contribute the same amount from its own separate source. Service between Los Angeles and Goleta is expected to cost nearly $4.48 million over the course of the pilot. An estimated $2.3 million in revenue from fares collected along the entire service route will help to offset that cost, according to SBCAG.
Approved by 79% of Santa Barbara County voters in 2008, Measure A is expected to provide more than $1 billion in local sales tax revenue to transportation projects in Santa Barbara County over 30 years. Carved from that total, $25 million has been earmarked for commuter and passenger rail projects, including capital and operating costs, marketing and connecting services.
Joan Hartmann, an SBCAG director and Third District Santa Barbara County supervisor, said she hopes the new train will prove more reliable than a similar service SBCAG funded from 2018 to 2020, adding officials should work to communicate dependability. Reliability failures hampered that previous service until the COVID-19 pandemic derailed it altogether.
“We are anticipating significantly higher reliability,” responded Rush, noting that—unlike before—other train schedules along the entire corridor will be adjusted to accommodate the new service.
SBCAG Vice Chairman David Silva, mayor of Buellton, said he’s hopeful that once the 12-month pilot phase is complete other funding sources can be identified, especially as other jurisdictions benefit from the expansion.
Director Alice Patino, mayor of Santa Maria, expressed concern that residents there rarely catch Surfliner trains, which can be boarded in the nearby small town of Guadalupe.
“I don’t think the people in Santa Maria even know they can drive out to Guadalupe and get on,” Patino said. “When you take the train, say, from Guadalupe to Santa Barbara, it’s just a beautiful ocean view you don’t get any other way.”
The new train will depart Union Station in Los Angeles at 5:13 a.m. with anticipated departures from Ventura at 7:11 a.m., Carpinteria at 7:37 a.m. and Goleta at 8:15 a.m. This northbound morning trip will include stops in Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard—and, indeed, Guadalupe—and reach San Luis Obispo at 10:53 a.m.
At 12:12 p.m, the service will depart San Luis Obispo on its southbound return and make all the same stops, leaving Santa Barbara at 2:57 p.m. before reaching Los Angeles at 5:50 p.m.
“This (afternoon southbound) service can work for tourists, those commuters with flexible schedules or anyone who wants to get to downtown Los Angeles in time for dinner,” Rush said, adding that it might not be the best option for end-of-day commuters.
Southbound workers looking for a convenient way home will likely continue to benefit most from the existing Surfliner 790 train, which departs Santa Barbara at 4:40 p.m.
SBCAG Chairman Bob Nelson, Fourth District Santa Barbara County Supervisor, did not attend Thursday’s meeting.
