July 2 marked the first day of beta testing in Santa Barbara, CA. A route between Isla Vista and Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) will have SBCC Summer School students using the Avego Driver application to share rides in real time over the coming 4 weeks on a program that local officials call “SmartRide”.
In the fall semester, the situation between Isla Vista and SBCC is intense. Each semester there are stories of students forced to drop out of classes, not because they can’t keep up with the course work, but the unreliability of their commute, due to over-crowded busses and parking lots, causes them to miss too many classes to pass.
Through Avego RTR technology, the SmartRide program hopes to work with MTD to provide SBCC students a quick, cost-effective alternative to get to school when busses are beyond capacity. Kent Epperson of Santa Barbara Traffic Solutions believes “SmartRide can provide a release valve to take the pressure off during those peak times.”
During Summer School, the commute is a bit easier as attendance is much lower. However, according to Tim Lyles, an SBCC student and beta tester on the SmartRide program, even in Summer “kids just get left at the stop when the bus drives by full. How are you supposed to get to class on time then?”
A larger rollout for the Isla Vista to Santa Barbara route will begin this September for the SBCC fall semester.