The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transportation District moved its 60-foot long articulated buses to Line 28 on Oct. 15, according to district spokeswoman Hillary Blackerby.
An articulated bus is one that can carry two passenger compartments instead of one, allowing more passengers on board.
The new 60-foot long articulated buses can accommodate approximately 113 people when passengers are standing, Blackerby said.
The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transportation District’s (SBMTD) 60-foot long buses as well as 40-foot buses will service Line 28 while UC Santa Barbara is in session, according to Blackerby.
Generally, the 40-foot long buses serve Lines 11 and 24x, while 30 and 40-foot long buses serve Line 27.
Only two of SBMTD’s 60-foot buses are in service at any one time.
A 30-foot long bus can hold approximately 57 people with a standing load, while a 40-foot long bus can hold about 81.
Most of Line 28’s ridership is UCSB students, according to data from UCSB. UCSB students comprised approximately 92 percent of riders on Line 28 in May 2017, according to the UCSB Transportation and Parking Services website.
UCSB students also make up significant portions of ridership on several other lines, particularly during the academic year.
Approximately 88 percent of Line 27’s riders in 2017 were UCSB students; about 52 percent of riders on Line 24x and 29 percent of Line 11’s riders were also UCSB students that year.
Data courtesy of UCSB and SBMTD. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
Line 28 is the only line fully funded by UCSB, according to Blackerby.
It started service in August 2016 in preparation for the opening of the San Joaquin Apartments in August 2017.
Line 28 accommodated a large number of passengers before San Joaquin opened, she said. However, demand is still outpacing the Line 28 buses’ capacity.
“UCSB is aware of the issue, and we look forward to continuing the conversation on how to accommodate UCSB’s growing population,” Blackerby said in an email.
When there are more passengers than there is room on the buses, the drivers must refuse to let further individuals on board.
Approximately 2,300 “too full to board” loads occurred on Lines 11, 24x, 27 and 28 in 2017, while about 3,400 occurred on all SBMTD buses that year.
Data courtesy of SBMTD. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
These lines, however, had a higher portion of “too full to board loads” than other busses on the SBMTD system in 2017, according to data from the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit Agency.
Line 28 had an especially disproportionate number of “too full to board” loads.
While it handled approximately seven percent of overall ridership across SBMTD busses in 2017, its busses had approximately 26 percent of the system’s “too full to board loads.”
Data courtesy of SBMTD. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
Lines 27 and 24x also had high proportions of the system’s “too full to board loads” compared to ridership.
Line 27 accommodated approximately five percent of the system’s ridership and 11 percent of the system’s “too full to board loads,” while Line 28 had approximately nine percent of the system’s ridership and 15 percent of “too full to board” loads.
