Getting to and around Santa Barbara
Hotel Shuttle
If you are staying at the Fess Parker, the hotel offers complimentary transport to/from the airport and the Amtrack station.
Air
Santa Barbara has its own regional airport (SBA), 9.5 miles from the meeting, with connections to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Phoenix, Arizona (PHX), and Denver (DIA) 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 between $46-50 one way and $88-95 round trip.
Road/Rail
In addition to the Airbus connecting LAX with Santa Barbara, Greyhound also runs services to the city from LA and San Francisco.
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.
Enterprise +1 800 261 7331
Hertz +1 800 654 3131
National +1 800 227 7368
Budget +1 800 527 0700
Valet parking is available at the Fess Parker and there are cityparking lots around the downtown region.
Taxis/Uber
Uber operate in most of Santa Barbara county.
There is a taxi rank outside the terminal building at Santa Barbara airport, but be aware that there is a $15 minimum fee when departing from that location.
Local companies include:
Rock Star Taxi +1 805 882 9191 or +1 877 418 7267
Yellow Cab +1 800 549 8294 or +1 805 965 5111
Checker Cab +1 888 511 1110 or +1 805 966 6666
Rose Cab +1 805 564 2600 or +1 866 767 3222
A more complete list can be found on the SBA airport website. The fare from the airport to the Fess Parker varies significantly depending on demand and will be > $30.
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 ofering discounts although you can pay by cash on all buses.
MTD also runs two shuttle services every day, handy for getting around Santa Barbara downtown:
The Downtown Shuttle runs up and down the central State Street between
9am - 10am every 30 minutes
10am - 6pm every 15 minutes
The Waterfront Shuttle runs past the Fess Parker resort between the harbor and the Zoo every 30min between 10am - 6pm. The adult fare is $0.50.