Santa Barbara County wants to stop paying for $500 phone calls

Another California county is preparing to get rid of a technological relic on its freeways once and for all.

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On Thursday, the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments discussed the future of the county’s remaining 47 call boxes as it decides whether to sunset the program for good amid the rise of cellphones. A final decision by the regional planning agency is due in October or November.

In 2019, the board decided to drastically reduce the number of call boxes from around 350 to 47 — keeping the ones in areas with limited or no cell service. The boxes have experienced a 90% decline in call volume over the past decade, with an average of 1.5 calls per box annually, according to a county staff report. 

Almost 8,000 calls were made on the call boxes in 1999, according to a report to county directors, but during the fiscal year that began in June 2025, the system averaged just 12 calls per month. And during the same period, the inflation-adjusted cost to the county per call has risen from 42 cents in 1999 to $510 in 2025. 

“I’d just like to see what other options we’ve got, where to spend the money,” county Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said at Thursday’s meeting. “This might be like the phone booth, that it’s gone, and the telephone book and everything else.”

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Call boxes are disappearing throughout the state, with San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Merced, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Monterey, Santa Cruz and several Bay Area counties either reducing the number of boxes or eliminating them entirely over the past few years. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center study, 98% of Americans have a cellphone, and only four of the 47 remaining call boxes in Santa Barbara County appeared not to have cell service, Peter Williamson, a transportation planner for the county agency, said at the meeting.

“Our region is on the way to becoming a callbox island,” Williamson said. 

The call box system is paid for by a $1 fee tacked onto vehicle registration. The supervisors discussed various uses for the $1 fee, including an information campaign about texting 911 and partnering with cellular service providers to expand their networks to cover areas that still lack service. 

Drivers should always have a fully charged cellphone to call 511 to reach the Freeway Service Patrol or AAA for roadside assistance, AAA spokesperson Marie Montgomery told SFGATE in April. Freeway service provides drivers in California with free roadside assistance, including jump-starts, tire changes, a gallon of gas and tows off the freeway.