Buses are always late. Would not use if you want to get somewhere on time. App will show the bus as arriving in 10 minutes, and when that time is up it will show as 5 minutes, or go up to 20 minutes. Sometimes it never arrives and you are left sitting there at the bus stop looking like an idiot. I have been late multiple times because A) The bus arrives 10+ minutes late or B) The bus never arrived at all. Ive been to the bus stops early but had to pay for an Uber to class to make it to my exams on time because the bus never shows. Crappy public transportation service and a waste of taxpayer dollars if I've ever seen one read more

Saturday 6/3/23 was at transit center waiting for line 29 to go home to carp was waiting since 845pm come to find out after asking another driver who was nice to contact a supervisor on duty to find out the 9pm line was cancelled and had to wait until 10pm the last line to carp to go home now not only myself but others were inconvenienced by this!!! WHY WAS IT CANCELED? read more

there's not one good thing I can say about SBMTD. unreliable, inconsistent, incompetent . They should be bought out and replaced. They do Santa Barbara County a disservice every morning day and night. read more

Not dependable unable to get home after work. I have been riding for nearly 50 years, never has it been this bad.

Moist of the bus drivers are nice people, however today is the 2nd time I've almost been run over because they would rather kill you than stop, if you're crossing the street trying to catch it. In December the same thing happened and I made a complaint. The busses have cameras and I was told someone would get back to me after they review it. They never did. I finally called after a month and they said after reviewing the video, I was right in my compliant and the driver had been re-trained. I'm positive that driver repeated the same mistake today against me. I called at 8am to complain and no one was available to answer the phone. MTD please ask your drivers not to kill riders simply trying to catch the bus. Thanks read more

One of their bus drivers ran me off the road today while riding my bike. Happened 12-1-2018 about 11:50 AM just east of the dolphin fountain on Cabrillo, near first parking lot entrance. I was traveling east when the bus overtook me and I had to veer onto to the sidewalk to avoid being hit.. or near miss. Totally careless and irresponsible driving. Two of my friends (Corey and Richard) witnessed and caught up with the driver just before he turned toward the zoo. Corey told him that he almost ran me down. This was an electric shuttle, not the big bus. I'm upgrading to 2 stars because someone at MTD responded immediately to my FB comment on their page. Said they'd investigate Monday. I don't want anyone fired, but would like them to be aware of what happened and to be more careful in the future. read more

My truck broke down in Goleta. I decided on taking the bus into Santa Barbara. Good choice. $1.75 and a three block walk home. read more

Worst experience on the bus today, the bus driver missed my stop when the stop was requested. I wish I had his name to provide. He was rude and unapologetic that I had to ride all the way back towards Goleta since my stop was the last stopp before the freeway entrance. I hope SB MTD gets better drivers! They work with the public and have one major job, STOP AT THE STOPS WHEN REQUESTED ! read more

It is obvious that there is a lack of people wanting to work but MTD really has a horrible job choosing their drivers. Most are old and underpaid and you can tell how miserable they are. The worst yet is Bill the mf who drives line 20. He's always in a bad mood and not to mention how he discriminates people of Hispanic decent and also disabled people. Today I heard one of his coworkers tell him there was still time left for his departure and he just got on the bus and started to head out of the center and that's when a man walked up to the door and he just looked at him and ignored him and continued driving almost hitting the man. The man then tried meeting him at the line where all the other drivers stop for last minute onboarding but this fkn btxh straight up didn't even yield at the line. This was one of the many times I've seen him act this way and it has to stop. MTD was bailed out by the government and would be around if it wasn't for it and they act like straight up bitches. But like the other post mentioned, karma is a bitch. read more

Santa Barbara MTD - Public Transportation Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

I've had very bad experiences with bus drivers. They're never on time and when your a few sec behind they don't always wait for you.

MTD busy system is awesome. 25 cents for a ride from Stearns Wharf to the end of State Street (near Alameda Park). Awesome. A MTD car stopped a MTD bus to take off the windows because it was getting warmer (weather). So it was perfect. Machine also accepts pennies. Win! Drivers - they were helpful in letting us know where to go. I'm not from around SB and so they were really helpful. Even tho State Street had delays, they rerouted and still went back and forth on their route. Great system. I wish LA had one. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. Can't keep to advertised 30 min schedule at all. City should plan routes and time management accordingly. Don't say 30 min if you can't keep the schedule! Say 45 or 1 hour. Over promise under deliver-typical govt bs. read more

As a tourist, I think the Santa Barbara MTD is awesome! We stayed at a hotel in East Beach and looking at the map, we thought that we were going to have to drive to Stearn's Wharf and to Downtown SB. Thank goodness for our wonderful host at the hotel who told us about the shuttle that takes us to the Wharf AND to Downtown for only a quarter for one way. That's way cheaper than riding the Big Blue Bus in the LA as a student...and I thought that was a good deal then! But a quarter when gas is so expensive now?! Awesomeness. Less driving, looking AND paying for parking, and more partying for us! The shuttle made our stay there in SB pleasant. In the summer, it runs until about 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and until 6 pm every other time. Check out the schedule here: http://www.sbmtd.gov/Lines/Line_Downtown.htm read more

We were exhausted from walking all the way down State St. to the wharf, so we decided to try out the MTD shuttle. Only 25 cents to take us all the way back downtown and in time for Sunday Mass... great deal! The driver was very helpful too and gave us directions to the church. Looks like they'll take you to the zoo too (have to switch shuttles at the wharf). Highly recommended for easy travel around SB. read more

Okay, I did give it a star as the A/C felt great on a hot day and it was on time. This was my first time trying the bus in Santa Barbara since I went to school here 25 years ago. Sadly, it's gone down hill since then. Main problem was the driver. Bigger woman on the #11 with earrings all over her face. VERY rude and poor attitude. Was rude to me, then as I sat there, I watched her be short and rude to almost every passenger that entered the bus and tried to ask her a question. Shame on MTD for not training their drivers better. This could be a nice experience with a good attitude driver. Instead, I'm eliminating it from my list of transportation options. Bus was also pretty dirty. If MTD would take some pride in their product, they would probably get a lot more riders. Good luck! read more

This review is not really about MTD but the patrons of MTD. The MTD service itself is not great but acceptable. I lived in the Bay Area where buses are possibly the best in the country so my standards are high. However with the exception of the lines that circle SBCC and UCSB the buses seem to attract the dregs of society. It might have more to do with the culture of So cal where most people who can drive will. It seems those who ride the buses are the most hopeless sad eyed lot I have ever seen. Foul mouthed, smelly, and overweight. I realize this sounds stuck up and well I guess it is, but riding the MTD lines inspires me to make big bucks so I never have to ride the bus. read more

This review is for the shuttle driver Christina. She was super friendly and smiled almost the whole time she was driving. She said she usually drives the regular buses but today was her first day driving the shuttle, she was great. Thank you Christina read more

This review is based on the driver Willis currently on the 24x route. Very very very rude and condescending and unprofessional. If you hate your job, then quit. Makes rude and unnecessary comments to people constantly. read more

OK, so between the months of March and September this year, husband and I were taking the line 20 from Milpas to Carp, every Sunday around noon. The bus driver immediately disliked us or something? A few times we weren't ready with our change OMGRIGHTAWAY, or didn't stand up fast enough? I don't know. He was really good about showing up around 15 minutes late so we never had to worry about missing the bus, which was nice . The weirdest thing, though, was that even though he was already running so late, he would take the most bizarre detour ever imagined. He'd drive all the way down Milpas and then get on the North/West freeway (though Carp is toward the South/East). He'd go NW to the next freeway exit, then get off, then do a U-turn to get right back onto the freeway going SE, right? Then he'd get off at the corresponding Milpas exit to the on-ramp he originally took. We thought maybe he was going about 5 miles round trip on the freeway out of his way to avoid driving the bus under the freeway bridge, but he'd totally drive under it every time on the return trip. Suffice to say, we were consistently late thanks to this weird detour, but were afraid to ask why. OH and once, a new bus driver was driving the route and showed up on time. It was so weird! read more

What I'm about to tell you is absolutely true. I was on the 24x from UCSB to downtown one wednesday night in may. it was perhaps a few minutes after 10 pm when I got on. A gaggle of girls got on near garden court and were obviously headed out to party- they were wearing tiny dresses, gargantuan heels, and were stumbling about from their pregame. Some of them had conspicuous water bottles with them. anyway! the ride went without a hitch. there were a few other people besides myself and party-girls on the bus. when we got downtown we stopped by the gas station on chapala and state. Some grungy-looking bitch STRAIGHT UP got on the bus, was apparently displeased by the loud gaggle of party-girls, and consequently punched on of them in the face- then jumped back off the bus and ran away. The girl's friends were all outraged and the punched girl was especially indignant. She stormed up and down the bus aisle, saying how "that bitch punched her in the face" and whatnot, and also claiming "she made make a mess!" The puncher was already long gone, so the driver tried to placate her and just told her to sit down, but she went back to the front of the bus and announced to us all, "That bitch made me piss myself!" It was awesome. Truly, a once in a lifetime spectacle. Thank you, Santa Barbara MTD, for making this all possible. One star lost because there are definitely not enough buses to the Oak Park area. Whenever I take the bus to UCSB I end up having to walk half an hour from the transit center if I get there after 7 pm or some ridiculously early time like that. read more

Lol who writes and gives these 5 star reviews? Family members of the employees? Anyone who isn't knows how awful and terrible the bus and service is. Some people really rely on the bus system. Like their daily life (work, school) depends on it. Unfortunately, SB MTD doesn't give a single crap about you. The MTD is NEVER consistent with their times. Always late, at times too early but NEVER on time. I can't count how many people I've spoken to who have complained about their service as well as my own experience walking to the bus stop (minutes earlier than the departed time schedule) and see the bus leave way earlier than expected, (even though I'm supposedly early for the departed time!) and or then wait a long amount of time up until an hour under the burning hot sun. Thanks SB MTD! You definitely DON'T need to get your stuff together. /insertsarcasmhere read more

As a long time Santa Barbara resident and regular MTD rider, I deeply appreciate the drivers' regular efforts to make mine and the other passengers time on the bus enjoyable and comfortable. Many of the drivers (such as Romauldo, Gary and others) are known to be very patient with disabled and elderly riders needing extra assistance. They are also always courteous and accommodating when necessary and have been known to regularly investigate and fix problems with the handicapped ramps and extensions so that those needing assistance to board the bus can do so in an effortless and safe manner. I highly recommend MTD as the transportation of choice around town and, in fact, am so impressed with not only the service I have received but MTD's consistent efforts to improve its service to meet the needs of each and every rider. The drivers handle their passenger volume with courteous ease and professionalism and I would highly advise the budgetary powers-that-be to allocate funding toward generous raises and bonuses in the coming year. Thank you so much, MTD for being conscientious, consistent and caring! read more

Worst attitude of any bus driver. They are usually very pleasant. NANCY ... I got on her bus to go to surgery and the driver states she needs the money for me to ride the bus. I had just got off a bus that turned into another bus route 24x to 6 ... and then I got on her bus. The transfer was bad and was going the other way she said.. I showed her the Webpage and the page that told me to do that route. She did not want to see that. Then she said she was late and put more money in or get off the bus. I put the money in and sat down. I did say I was going to call the bus company and complain. She said the number to complain was on the schedule. I have a new car by the way yet thought it would be fun to ride the bus. My mistake, as I had a ride home as the surgery required. I sat down to call, yet the bus was too noisy to make the call which I will tomorrow. I wish I took a picture because a man got on and made her more late because he had no money. That's another story yet she said nothing to him. Her bus was hot because it was 80 degrees and all the windows were open, no air conditioning. It is time to offer these rude drivers some customer service lessons. Please do so. The surgery to rid my cancer was fine and comfortable and I tried to keep this horrible service off my mind. . Thank you for reading this message. read more

For a small city SB MTD is reliable, inexpensive, and easy to use. Also, it's CLEAN! I'd recommend getting a 10-ride or 30-day pass if you're visiting/on vacation - it sure beats having to pay $1.75 cash each time you need a ride (also a huge time saver). Every driver I encountered this week was kind and helpful. They have regular routes from UCSB to downtown - take the 11 or 6. read more

I Take the shuttle bus all the time. Only .50 cents. Super easy to bring my daughter. All of the staff is great. I have to give a special thanks to Tony!!! he saw my friend, daughter and I waiting on the other side for such a long time. I didn't plan well because the cruise ship was in town. He told us to come over so we could catch him at the stop before he picked up the huge group of tourist. It was so hot out on top of it all. Since we had walked all the way from Arrellaga down to the pier, it was so nice to not have to walk all the way back with a child who needed a nap. Thank you Tony! And all the other drivers! I will continue to be a loyal customer :) You guys rock! read more

I have only come across one driver who wasn't rude. The service and times are efficient but who ever is in charge of hiring needs to reconsider who they think is worthy of the pay read more

Worst bus ever they pass you up even though you are standing right in front of the stop they have breaks in the middle of routes and the bus loop is really confusing one of the WORST services ever read more

Mtd bus drivers very inappropriate and disrespectful. THEY want to be right and don't take a moment to listen. Just got off the line 1ws 420pm. My daughter pulled the cord for w pedregosa x san andres stop. DRIVER did not stop so i pulled the cord again. HE was quick to argue with me and insisted I didn't ring the bell. THIS is not my first inccident with mtd bus drivers. YOU think they would be kind being that we are the reason their employed.But no fat chance , almost all of mtd male drivers are rude angry mad at the world!!MTD drivers need training on patience and how to speak to people. VERY disappointed in MTD employee and whoever allows them to behave the way they do. read more

I was waiting for line 20 at Milpas and Cacique. I arrived at the stop 5 minutes early. 915, driven by David, did not slow down or stop. I ran to catch up with him. When I asked why he didn't stop he told me "you didn't stand up " I said "you didn't stop" He repeated himself. I had a Dr.apt to look at my swollen foot. He didn't apologize or comp the ride read more

Bus driver Ronnie never shows up. I waited for 20 minutes and nothing I took the bus headed in the other direction and asked why the other bus driver didn't come even she was surprised. Then we got to the bus loop to see Ronnie driving in the other direction and the bus said no in service I don't think this is correct I was trying to report it but I couldn't find anyway to do that so maybe yelp can help read more

MTD is fantastic. Have been using them for several years now, very reliable and if your a student at UCSB it is totally free. Furthermore the people working there are amazing. Today I got dropped of at the Santa Barbara Airport and realized I had left my wallet on the bus. I almost had a heart attack because my flight was leaving in an hour and I was heading to Japan for an interview. I called MTD up and they said they would try and get their supervisor to bring it to me. Apparently the supervisor was not available so they had the bus driver turn around and bring me my wallet. Cannot thank them enough! read more

The MTD is completely horrible and slimy business to deal with. They damaged my car (which it is completely totalled). I went through their claims process and they denied my claim without a reason. They are a horrible business that wouldn't pay for the damage they caused nor did they own up to committing the damage. I'm a student who cannot afford another vehicle and can barely get a loan for a car so now I'm screwed because these slimy people refused to show integrity and own up to the fact that they hit my car. Just a word of advice, karma is a bitch and you'll get yours.... read more

Once you get the schedule down it is a great way to get around. I buy a pass so I don't have to worry about exact change. Pretty reliable and usually on time. Their electric shuttle for 25 cents on State Street is great although it's quicker to walk it the traffic is bad read more

Bad service. The bus driver Named ROY was really rude too me and didn't even wait for me to put in my money I almost felled. I suffer from an injury on my leg and this RUDE bus driver made my leg even worst because I almost felled RUUUDEE!!!!!!! If I could give 0 stars I would. Fucking annoying read more

These 5 stars go to all the extremely nice bus drivers who drive through Isla Vista and the UCSB area. I've been going to UCSB for four years and will graduate in June. In my time here I have relied heavily on the MTD bus system to get me to class, Downtown SB, and various parts of Goleta. I have a car now and I still use the bus to get to class, so my reliance is still pretty high. Now there are some bus drivers that have been rude or thought I was an uppity UCSB kid who had no respect bus drivers. In actuality, I'm from South Central Los Angeles (born and raised), my dad is a bus driver, and I do not look down on people who help me or in general. Those rude bus drivers would know that if they talked to me, but this review isn't about those bus drivers; onto my real reason for this review. I'm making this review to shout out the drivers that have been incredibly nice to me over the years when they didn't have to. Chip, JB, Charlie, Carmen, Nicky G, Ronnie, and Tony! Thank you for being a service to me and the UCSB community because I know it is not easy. I appreciate you and I know this review does not do justice but I wish you all you nothing but the best! If I am ever in Santa Barbara after I graduate, I know bus drivers I would love to ride with. read more

I was waiting for the Cabrillo beach/waterfront shuttle at a designated stop on the beach side of Cabrillo at Anacapa and State Street. The shuttle drove right past me in the far lane going about 40 miles per hour in the construction zone at Anacapa and State Street. As I needed a ride due to foot surgery, I waited for the next shuttle. I saw it coming so I went out in the road and waved at it. Once again, it drove right by me. Now it was almost 6pm when the shuttle stops running so I had to walk home, over a mile with a foot just recoverying from surgery. I guess the driver was in such a hurry to get off shift, he didn't want to stop for any riders. MTD you should be providing decent service for those that depend on it. I plan to take this complaint up to the highest level as I'm sure you don't care about YELP comments. read more

my daughter is a ucsb student and is often waiting for the bus for much much longer than 30 minutes, often late at night coming from school or errands in the city or goleta or from parties on the weekend. I AM TERRIFIED for her safety. In a small, pretty affluent city, this city bus service should be ashamed of themselves. Their excuse is ..... TRAFFIC!!!! AS THOUGH THEY'RE THE ONLY CITY IN THE WORLD WITH TRAFFIC AND THEY HAVEN'T FIGURED THAT OUT YET!!! How about adding some buses since the demand is so high and it's completely unsafe to wait at stops for so long... let alone these kids usually have to BE SOMEWHERE AT A SPECIFIC TIME.. A responsibility the buses in santa barbara don't have to deal with apparently read more

Buses are usually 10 minutes late, especially on thin schedules. And since you should make sure you are 5 minutes early in the bus stop so that you wouldn't miss it, I usually end up waiting 15 minutes for one trip. Also, in the holidays, don't rely on this service, I was stood up more than several times during the holidays. An average service. read more

As a student I ride the bus everyday, even on weekends. I am very unsatisfied with the service MTD provides. In the one and a half years that I've been riding the bus, only about 2 drivers have ever asked my how my day was going. I ALWAYS say thank you as I board and exit the bus but the drivers never seem to acknowledge me. They are really rude to the foreign students who ride the bus and usually get really frustrated when they ask a question, like just now for instance. About 5 minutes ago, a lady who seemed to be European boarded the bus and asked if we stopped in montecito. She had an accent but she was easy to understand, The driver Eddie G. Didn't seem to think so though, he was very rude and short with her and seemed bothered that she asked. When she payed her fare, she stood around for bit expecting to get change before Eddie lashed at her and said, "you can sit down now!" In a very sarcastic and mean spirited way! I'm used to much nice service coming from NorCal. Also the morbidly obese driver with the extremely thick glasses drives very verrrrrrry slow, he talks slow, walks slow, buckles in wheelchairs slowly, everything he does he does it slowly, and I've seen him get a little road rage a couple times. I would think Santa Barbara a rich city would have better public transportation than this. read more

I must say, the quality of the Santa Barbara MTD is declining rapidly. I used to rely on the bus service for work, and well everything. However, this new crew of bus drivers is rude and jaded. They are particularly rude to students I've noticed, and recently changed their student ID policy. UCSB students have to rely on the school to send them the current registration stickers which allow them unlimited rides. However, the school is not always timely in their delivery. For that reason, students used to have a grace period of a week during the new quarter to use their previous registration sticker. Unfortunately they changed this policy without notifying students, and so you are responsible for the 1.75 (which in itself is an outrage) fare if you have not yet received your sticker. This is ridiculous on many levels, for one, the fact that these aren't actually free-students pay for these passes in their lock-in fee whether or not they choose to use the sticker for their bus pass. Additionally, buses have been leaving early lately which messes up people who count on them leaving at their scheduled time. read more