The Isla Vista community, especially UCSB students, are celebrating an announcement from the Governor’s office that he has proposed legislation that would prevent the decertification of $1.6 billion dollars in federal grants to transit agencies in California like Santa Barbara MTD.
Associated Students and CAUSE held a public forum late last month in Isla Vista to address this issue. Santa Barbara MTD General Manager Sherrie Fisher, Manager of Planning George Amoon, and representatives from the offices of Das Williams and Hannah Beth Jackson attended the forum and heard community concern that the potential service reductions would harm the transit dependent population of Isla Vista. Two lines that were frequently mentioned were the 24x that would have had reduced weekend service and the 27 which was slated to be eliminated should Santa Barbara MTD not receive its Federal Transit Administration grants.
“I’m relieved that politicians in Sacramento have decided not to let their fight with bureaucrats in Washington burden the lives of students and transit dependent people all over the state,” said Alex Moore, Associated Students External Vice President for Local Affairs (A.S. EVPLA). He added, “All of this really helped students appreciate the excellent transit service provided by Santa Barbara MTD and how important it is to our community.”