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LCTI: Isla Vista Community Mobility Plan

Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP)
Planning and Capacity Building Grant

Isla Vista Community Services District | Isla Vista Community Mobility Plan

Isla Vista Community Services District Logo

June 2021 – March 2024

Project Details

The Isla Vista Community Mobility Plan involves developing an equity-based, community mobility plan for the low-income, unincorporated community of Isla Vista in South Santa Barbara County. The goal of this planning effort is to empower Isla Vista residents, namely non-college students, to identify gaps in their mobility ecosystem, experiment with solutions, and develop a list of priority projects that will increase access to an equitable, affordable, sustainable, and safe multimodal transportation system. The plan will be created based on deep community outreach, pop-ups, and demonstration projects.

 

The Road, Street and Highway Map covers Isla Vista, a small, unincorporated community located on a south-facing portion of the in Santa Barbara County coast. The Isla Vista STEP Project area boundary is marked by a thick, solid, and closed line that extends along the Pacific Ocean on the south, the University of California, Santa Barbara campus on the east, the community of Goleta to the north and the Coal Oil Point on the west. For more map details, contact movingca@arb.ca.gov.
Project Area Map, Isla Vista, CA in Santa Barbara County

Funding Details

Grant Amount: $182,158

Resource Contributions: $29,928

Project Total: $212,086

By the Numbers

Planned Community Engagement Activities

  • 1 Transportation Town Hall with bidirectional simultaneous interpretation in Spanish and English
  • 1 Mobility Plan Workshop with bidirectional simultaneous interpretation in Spanish, English, and Mandarin
  • 1 Public Workshop to present the draft plan with bidirectional simultaneous interpretation in Spanish, English, and Mandarin
  • 1 Pop-Up Demonstration Event
  • 1 Lighting Walk Event
  • Over 1,000 Mobility Survey Responses
  • Monthly Project Steering Committee meetings

Estimated Quantifiable Benefits

  • Direct Jobs: 1
  • Induced Jobs: 1

Project team tabling at community event talking to residents Community workshop with presentation and tables in background

 Community event with bikes and dedicated bike lane demo  Project team volunteer asking resident survey questions on street

Community Details

Isla Vista is a small, densely populated, unincorporated, low-income community surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on one side and the University of California, Santa Barbara campus. Of a population of about 18,500, 86% are 18-24 years old and 97% are renters. 15% (800) are family households (2,800 people), half have children. 68% of residents make $35,000 per year or less, including 45% of the family households.

Isla Vista is home to 24 parks, an elementary school, and other destinations. While bus service is robust and bicycle mode share is high, mobility options are not evenly accessible to all residents. Services prioritize the needs of college students, and leave low-income Latinx families, K-12 aged youth, seniors, and residents with disabilities with less than ideal transportation modes. Gaps in Isla Vista’s sidewalk network limit safe and easy paths of travel for residents of all ages and abilities. In addition, the lack of secure bicycle parking results in a high rate of bicycle theft.

Demographics of Community Served by Project

53% White, 23% Hispanic/Latino, 15% Asian, 5% Black/African American, and 4% Other 
Median Household Income: $66,266

Community Benefits

The Isla Vista Community Mobility Plan will work directly with frontline communities in Isla Vista to identify the most desirable clean transportation solutions that can meet their mobility needs and align with the character of their community. This effort will help advance solutions that improve transportation equity for residents and create a transportation equity-focused plan that can be leveraged to bring additional resources to Isla Vista. A well-crafted Isla Vista Community Mobility Plan will lay the important groundwork to create a community with a complete sidewalk network, the ability to safely own and maintain a bicycle or skateboard, and the ability to easily rent an affordable shared bike, scooter, or other clean micro-mobility, as well as shared-mobility options and other transportation solutions as identified by the community. The project team’s vision imagines an Isla Vista where these other mobility options are so convenient and flexible that owning a car is not a necessity.

    Outreach & Engagement Strategies

    • Project webpage
    • Canvassing
    • Flyers and direct mailers
    • Social media 
    • Weekly-monthly tabling 
    • Pop-ups and demonstration projects
    • Focus groups
    • Family-friendly community events
    • Public workshops with participant incentives  

    Target Populations

    • Low-income families
    • Non-English speakers
    • K-12 aged youth
    • College students

    Partnership Structure

    Grantee

    The Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) aims to improve the resources available to the community, ensure a high quality of life and level of public safety, and provide a local voice to the people of Isla Vista. In addition to overseeing and managing all project elements, IVCSD, known for exceptional grassroots community engagement, will also play a lead role in conducting project outreach, and coordinating the project team and steering committee meetings.

    Subgrantees

    Community Partners

    Contact

    Jonathan Abboud | (805) 770-2752 ext. 0 | IVCSD