Employers Await The Newest Commuter Train Service on the South Coast

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - The newest commuter train service between Ventura County and Goleta is set to roll on May 4th.

It's been years in the planning by local leaders and transportation agencies before this latest concept picked up enough steam to create a workable schedule to and from locations where thousands of employees travel on weekdays.

The plan had to fit the most common shifts and currently workers can make it in from, for example, Oxnard to Santa Barbara and Goleta jobs by about 8 a.m.

The goal is to reduce peak hour congestion which has been frustrating for thousands of commuters for years. On many weekdays the freeway speeds through Carpinteria to Santa Barbara go down to 10-20 miles per hour.

A special meeting was held with agencies including the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), The Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC), Metropolitan Transit District (MTD), The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency  and BCycle.    About 200 participants registered for the event at the Hilton Garden Inn in Goleta.

During the session, they broke out into groups to go deeper into their concerns and challenges to get employees out of their cars and on to a train.

Incentives suggested included free or reduced transportation from the train stops to their work places.  They also wanted to see if employers would pay employees  to work on the train via the online web resources.  Essentially that would have them on the clock.

Offering free coffee and meals was also a perk.

The commuter route would originate in Simi Valley at 6:15 a.m. with stops in Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta ending at 8:11 a.m.

Those who need bus service from Santa Barbara would get it for free with their train ticket. Large buses will make stops by the County Administration Building, the Santa Barbara Courthouse and Cottage Hospitals. There would also be buses for the Hollister Ave. corridor in Goleta which has thousands of employees many in the tech industry.

Adding a commuter train to the travel options for workers in Ventura County who commute to Santa Barbara and Goleta has been a lengthy process which almost included Metrolink extending up to Santa Barbara for the first time. That option started and stopped but the time slot on the tracks was still available from Union Pacific which owns and maintains the tracks. It provides access for passenger rail service such as the Pacific Surfliner and with that additional train

As the owner, Union Pacific controls freight traffic as a priority and manages access for passenger rail services like Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner.

For more information go to:  SBCAG

(More details, photos and video will be added here later today.)

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