Ride-along opens Sunday on San Diego’s new trolley extension
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Crowds of people hopped on the trolley at the UCSD stop for a free ride.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY, California – Sunday marks the opening day for San Diego’s big new extension to the blue trolley line. It’s a $ 2.17 billion project that started in 2016 under the direction of SANDAG.
They hosted a large family friendly event off the UCSD campus with free food and music.
Crowds of people hopped on the trolley at the UCSD stop for a free ride.
“This is really exciting and makes it easier to get around San Diego. I’ll be taking it to work at UCSD every day,” said one trolley driver.
The 11-mile extension of the UCSD Blue Line is being built by SANDAG and operated by the Metropolitan Transit System. It includes nine new stations from the downtown Santa Fe Depot to the University City area along the I-5 corridor in the middle of the coast.
CBS-8 reporter Ariana Cohen drove from the UCSD stop to the UTC mall. Cohen says the round-trip journey took about 30 minutes with a 15-minute wait between tram rides.
It is the largest transit project in the region to date.
It connects the trolley to major work centers in the Sorrento Valley and University City, and provides direct access to locations like Westfield UTC and UCSD.
“I’ll start driving more. You have all of these stops. It’s wonderful,” said trolley driver Doreen Döner.
While some people would like to ride the trolley, others say the trolley won’t be all that beneficial for San Diego.
“This is my first time bringing my son with me. I’m really looking forward to his first trip and experience,” said trolley driver George Jones.
“I think it will be great for shopping and not worrying about driving,” said another trolley driver.
“I don’t trust our politicians to do what’s best for the people. They do it for business reasons, to make money and projects. I don’t understand why they piled all of this through these expenses just to get to UTC. We have Genesee to do at UTC. Why not just sit in the middle? “Said trolley driver Richard Ernst.
“Everyone will complain. I am complaining because Clairemont has no parking spaces. There will be adjustments,” said another trolley driver.
“I’m a UCSD student who’s really into town planning. It’s really exciting,” said trolley driver Molly Ryan.
The trolley is mainly used by students driving to class, people trying to get downtown, and people trying to save time commuting.
Trolley tickets are $ 2.50 for a one-way trip or $ 6 for a day pass. You can also download the Pronto San Diego app for a mobile ticket.
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