More bus service between Santa Maria-Lompoc and Santa Barbara and express buses between Santa Maria and Orcutt were some of the unmet transit needs cited by local residents at a hearing Thursday before the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments board.

The panel, composed of county supervisors and city representatives, listened to public testimony but did not respond or take any action during the mandatory annual hearing that focuses on use of Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds received from the state.

An advisory committee and the SBCAG staff will make recommendations this spring on which new transit services, if any, can be reasonably provided using TDA money.

During the 40-minute hearing at the Betteravia Government Center in Santa Maria, numerous representatives of the Latino activist group PUEBLO - most testifying in Spanish, with the help of an interpreter - pleaded for better bus service between the Santa Maria-Lompoc areas and the South Coast cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta.

Other speakers underscored a need for more buses between Santa Maria and the Amtrak station in Guadalupe; more and quicker bus routes between the Orcutt area and Santa Maria, including Hancock College; and specialized transit services for senior citizens.

“It still takes nearly an hour to get from Orcutt to Santa Maria” by bus, said Deborah Brasket, an Orcutt resident and executive director of Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN). She presented the board with that citizen group's list of what it considers the highest priorities for more transit services. For instance, “We need more door-to-door service for seniors,” she said.

“Remember the seniors,” echoed Ashley Payne, executive director of the volunteer group Community Partners in Caring, which provides shuttle service to seniors between Santa Maria and Lompoc, with occasional trips to the South Coast. She urged using some TDA funds “to support volunteer programs” like hers.

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The purpose of the legally required hearing is to discuss what unmet needs for bus or transit services can be “reasonably met” using TDA funds, which are distributed through SBCAG to local communities and the county. Those funds totaled $15.6 million countywide this fiscal year.

The comments received Thursday will be considered next month by a transit advisory panel whose preliminary recommendations for any changes will be presented to the SBCAG board in March, according to Michael Powers, the agency's deputy director of planning. Final recommendations are to be ready for the board by April, but no funds will be allocated for any new or expanded services until June, he added.

Typically, much of the TDA money - especially in the North County - has been used to help pay for road projects. However, the use of those funds is gradually shifting toward transit services. Last year, the SBCAG board decided to use some that money to add Breeze bus service between Lompoc and Buellton.

North County officials are expressing a greater willingness to use TDA money for transit programs, “but we'd like to see a more formalized commitment to that,” Brasket told the board.

Chuck Schultz can be reached at 925-2691, Ext. 2241, or cschultz@santamariatimes.com.

January 18, 2008