In June 2005, in cooperation with the City of Escondido and the North County Transit District (NCTD), SANDAG initiated the Escondido Rapid Bus project. The purpose of this project is to identify and implement improvements that will facilitate a “rapid bus” connection between the Escondido Transit Center, downtown and south Escondido, and Westfield North County Shopping Mall (North County Fair). This service also connects to the SPRINTER passenger rail line at Escondido Transit Center, to existing Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) services, and to future I-15 Bus Rapid Transit services.
This project corridor is identified in the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan, the region’s long-term transportation plan, for improved local and rapid bus services. Transit priority measures include bus stop improvements, queue jump lanes at congested intersections, and transit signal priority. These changes will improve the travel time and reliability of Route 350 without adversely impacting the local transportation system. Route 350 is a six-mile route that suffers from congestion in key locations during the morning and evening commute periods.
Bus stops will be consolidated from the existing 31 stops to 25 stops, decreasing bus dwell times. Stops will also receive physical enhancements such as new benches and shelters, advanced customer information, and special branding. The new bus stop improvements will be installed by late 2010.
The NCTD Board of Directors, the Escondido City Council, and the SANDAG Transportation Committee approved the recommendations from the initial study. Preliminary engineering and design was completed in 2007, final design was completed in 2009, and implementation is scheduled for completion in 2010.
The Escondido Rapid Bus Project Final Environmental Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) is available for download below.
| 
