With gas prices at $4/gallon, have you considered taking the bus to school, work and to shop? Bus fares range from $.85 -$1.75 and are an economical and environmentally friendly way to get around town. Since 1969, the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) has served the Goleta Valley.

Riders can take MTD buses to popular shopping centers, restaurants, schools, activities and destinations such as the Goleta Valley Community Center and Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital. Using the handy Online Trip Planner, you can find specific directions and timelines based on your departure and destination locations and time of day and day of the week.

Riding the bus is an attractive transportation option for those who might otherwise drive cars,providing more than 31,000 passenger trips each weekday, resulting in 22,676 cars being left at home on weekdays. Last year alone, MTD provided nearly 8,000,000 passenger trips. Think of all of the fuel saved, traffic prevented and reduced impact on the environment as a result of taking those cars off the road!

MTD operates North America’s largest fleet of 100% battery electric buses and was the first in California to operate its fleet of diesel and diesel-electric buses with a biodiesel blend of fuel.

For more information about getting around the Goleta Valley by riding MTD, visit www.sbmtd.gov, call 963-3366, or try the new trip planner on the MTD homepage using Google Transit. Follow MTD on Twitter: @SantaBarbaraMTD and become a friend on Facebook: Ride Santa Barbara MTD.