Isla Vista and Goleta are the main off-campus areas in Santa Barbara that most UCSB students live. However, unlike Isla Vista which is located at the neighborhood of UCSB campus, Goleta is somehow far away. Approximately, it takes 10-15 minutes to drive, 25-30 minutes to ride a bicycle, and even 40-60 minutes to walk to UCSB campus from different apartments in Goleta. It is obviously time-consuming for students to ride and walk, compared to driving to the campus. However, not everyone who lives in Goleta is able to afford to buy a car. Thus, public transportation in Goleta, which is mainly the bus, becomes the most common way that students can take advantages of. However, the main bus stops in Goleta are all centered at public malls and markets such as Camino Real Marketplace, and the number of bus routes that can reach the apartments in Goleta is still limited. To be more specific, out of the five most popular apartments in Goleta (Los Carneros Apartments, Willow Springs Apartments, Hollister Village, Sumida Gardens Apartments, and Pacific Oaks Apartments), none of them is particularly equipped with a bus route that stops directly at the entrance of the apartment. Students currently have to walk at least 7 to 20 minutes to the nearest bus stations, wait for the buses, and then get to the campus, which can take almost an hour. 

The lack of available and convenient bus routes from UCSB campus to the apartments in Goleta can have negative impacts on students both academically and financially. In order to walk a long way to catch the bus, students may either sacrifice their sleep time or even choose not to attend the classes, which will obviously distract them from committing to academic performance. Also, in order to save time, some students may choose to take a Uber or a Lyft, which becomes an extremely large amount of extra expenses.

Thus, in order to better accommodate students, this petition is firstly aiming to gain more attention from a variety of responsible parties, including Santa Barbara Government, city planners, city transportation administrators, bus companies, UCSB Office of Transportation and Office of Students Affairs, and etc. Based on the difficulties that most students are encountering, at least the five popular apartments that are mentioned above need to be equipped with convenient bus stops. In order to accomplish this goal, two recommendations are provided: (1) add FIVE more bus routes that can directly target these apartments; (2) revise the current bus routes and set up new bus stops at the apartments.

Please sign this petition to save time and money for students!

If you have any questions or recommendations, please feel free to email hwang02@ucsb.edu