If you’ve elbowed your way onto the Blue Line Trolley, you may have noticed that it has the most riders of any light rail in the country. This Trolley, which runs from San Ysidro to La Jolla, serves an average of 67,000 riders a day traveling north or south on this route. That’s why we’re exploring strategies to make it faster, more convenient, and less crowded. In addition, we’re continuing to invest in keeping the Trolley coming every 10 minutes or less and expanding service hours earlier in the morning and later in the evening.
Blue Line Transit-Oriented Development Study
We’ve heard from communities in South County that they need safer and more efficient ways to connect to transit stops and popular community areas, including upgrades to walkways and bike lanes.
One way we’re working on this is through Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). TOD is a way of planning neighborhoods where common destinations—like housing, shops, and recreational spaces —are built near public transportation. The Palomar Street and San Ysidro Transit Centers are two of the busiest stations on the Blue Line, so TOD would help these areas better serve their communities.
We’re planning ways to make these areas more walkable, bikeable, and useful for the community, including through this study by researching and recommending opportunities for future development.
The Blue Line TOD Study examines how new housing, retail, and community spaces can be integrated around key Blue Line stations to support regional housing goals, improve transit access, and promote healthier, more connected communities.
You can read the full Blue Line TOD Study report here.
South County Rapid Transit Study
We are developing short- and long-term solutions to expand travel options for riders and help people move more efficiently between major destinations and communities on the Blue Line route. This includes studying infrastructure upgrades that could speed up trip times. We are also looking into adding other efficient transit (such as Rapid bus service) and potentially extending other rail options to the U.S.-Mexico border (such as the COASTER or Amtrak).
