Come to Earth Day car free and stop by the Santa Barbara Car Free/Air Pollution Control District booth and enter to win prizes, including pairs of tickets on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner®, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary, and the  25 millionth passenger in 2010. Think of it: taking 25 million people off the road between San Diego and San Luis Obispo in the past decade. Enjoy free wifi in the Surfliner Business Class. Other prizes will include: MTD bus passes and other goodies; Axxess cards from Traffic Solutions; free passes to the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum; and a free kayak or bike tour for one or walking tour for four from Pedal & Paddle of Santa Barbara. Lucky car free visitors to the booth on Saturday can also get a free 5-minute chair massage provided by Integrated Wellness.

The Grand Prize will be round-trip tickets for two including roomette accommodations from Santa Barbara to Portland or Seattle on the Amtrak Coast Starlight®. Along the route, you’ll enjoy a gorgeous backdrop of dramatic, snow-covered peaks, lush forests, broad valley and miles of stunning vistas. The Dining Car offers fresh cuisine served on china with glassware and table linens, and the Parlour Car offers wifi.  See more about the Coast Starlight on this page of Amtrak's site.

How to Come Car Free

Take the bus: MTD buses and shuttles stop near the Festival location at Alameda Park, and buses from all over the South Coast, including UCSB, Goleta and Carpinteria, stop at the MTD transit center, only five blocks away. See www.sbmtd.gov or call 963-3366 (answered by MTD staff weekdays 6am-7pm, Saturdays 8am-6pm or Sundays 9am-6pm) for routes and schedules.

Walk: Earth Day’s location makes it easy to get to without a car. Alameda Park is only a 30 or 40 minute walk from the Mesa, Upper State Street, or Milpas Street, and can be easily reached from lower downtown and the harbor either entirely on foot or with help from the MTD Downtown/Waterfront shuttle. So lace up your walking shoes and get some exercise while you make this a car-free day!  

Bike: Bike to the Festival and in addition to qualifying for a car free prize, you can also win one of 40 prizes from Bici Centro!  View the online bike maps at www.trafficsolutions.info to plan your route. You’ll find free valet bike parking at the corner of Santa Barbara and Micheltorena Streets, and you can get a free bike checkup from local bike mechanics (including the Santa Barbara Middle School Bike Monkeys!) and the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. Bici Centro is also leading the Bike Train, a safe and comfortable paced group ride bike ride to Earth Day with stops in Carpinteria/Summerland, Montecito, Goleta, UCSB, and the Mesa - see details at CycleMaynia. 

Other ways to come to Earth Day Car Free:

Check out www.trafficsolutions.info  for online bike maps, and a full menu of car free options!