Traveling to and around Santa Barbara

Air

Santa Barbara has its own regional airport (SBA), with connections to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Phoenix, Arizona (PHX), and Denver (DEN) airports. As well as flying direct to SBA, visitors commonly fly to LAX and catch the regular Airbus coach service, which stops in Santa Barbara and Goleta, with fares around $69 one way.

Road/Rail

Amtrak connects to Santa Barbara through a number of services, both by road (bus service) and rail. The rail services include the regular Surfliner trains from Los Angeles Union Station and the scenic Coast Starlight which runs down the length of California once a day.

Car Rental

Most of the major US car rental agencies have offices in Santa Barbara, and many have desks at the Santa Barbara airport.

Taxis/Uber

Uber and Lyft operate in most of Santa Barbara county.

There is also a taxi rank outside the terminal building at Santa Barbara airport, but be aware that there is a minimum fee when departing from that location.

A more complete list can be found on the SBA airport website.

Bus Services

MTD is our local bus service, which offers buses all around Santa Barbara and Goleta. The central hub of the network is the Transit Center on Chapala Street. All single journeys have a single flat rate fare of $1.75 (adults), and multi-trip passes are available from the bus station offering discounts although you can pay by cash on all buses.