Santa Barbara Car Free Project

Santa Barbara Car Free is a community project founded and led by Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District to encourage car free travel to and around Santa Barbara. The project started in 1998 to address the peaking ozone levels during visitor season after the county was designated a "serious" ozone nonattainment area, and has more than 100 business and community partners.

The project encourages visitors to arrive in Santa Barbara car free–or if they choose to drive, to park their cars and enjoy the area car free. Resources include a website with extensive information regarding car-free travel in Santa Barbara, "discover Santa Barbara car free" vacation packages, and Amtrak discounts.

The project's mission is to encourage car free, carefree travel to and around Santa Barbara for cleaner air and a healthier planet.

In 2008, the website had more than 1.5 million hits, and up to 25 percent of website visitors are from outside the US. More that 65,000 car free maps and brochures are distributed every year. The project and website have received positive publicity in more than 75 newspapers around the country, including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Ventura Star, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune, the Seattle Times, and others.