Old Town Transit Center

History

The Old Town Transit Center was built in the early 1990s, and San Diego Trolley's North/South Line was extended here on June 16, 1996. In November 1997, the line, renamed the Blue Line, was extended into Mission Valley. When the Green Line service was introduced with the opening of the Mission Valley East extension on July 10, 2005, the Blue Line's northern terminus was pushed back to this station, which also served as the Green Line's western terminus. During a system redesign on September 2, 2012, as part of the Trolley Renewal Project, MTS extended the western terminus of the Green Line from this station to 12th & Imperial Bayside Terminal and shortened the Blue Line's northern terminus to America Plaza. The Special Event Line was eliminated; instead, the Green Line will add cars and offer more frequent service to Petco Park, San Diego Convention Center, Qualcomm Stadium and Viejas Arena at San Diego State University when necessary.

Commuter and intercity rail

The Old Town Transit Center hosts passenger trains operating on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner intercity rail route and on the San Diego Coaster commuter rail line. Of the 22 weekday Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains operating in San Diego, 18 of them stop at the Old Town Transit Center, though the Surfliner trains operating at Old Town do not offer checked luggage service, and stop at Old Town to board passengers (northbound trains) or detrain passengers (southbound trains) only, respectively.

Amtrak ridership at Old Town Transit Center has exploded over the last two years. In Fiscal Year 2011, there were just 22,867 boardings and detrainings at Old Town (which was a 5.79% increase over Fiscal Year 2010). In Fiscal Year 2012, boardings and detrainings at Old Town rose to 61,118, a 167% increase over FY2011. As of Fiscal Year 2013, the Amtrak ridership figure has continued to rise, to 135,749 boardings and detrainings, a further 122% increase over FY2012. (There has been a corresponding decrease in Amtrak boardings at the Santa Fe Depot in Downtown San Diego over this same period, possibly indicating that some Amtrak boardings have been relocating from Santa Fe Depot to Old Town over the past two years.) Of the 74 California stations served by Amtrak, the Old Town Transit Center was the 25th-busiest in Fiscal Year 2013, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 372 passengers daily.

San Diego Trolley

Old Town Transit Center is also a light rail station on the San Diego Trolley's Green Line. This station originally served as that line's terminus, until a system realignment on September 2012 extended the Green Line though Old Town to Downtown San Diego.

Once the Trolley's Mid-Coast extension is completed, the Blue Line will be re-extended through this station to serve the University City area, and so the Blue Line will once again serve Old Town by approximately 2018. In July 2015, a 30-year naming rights agreement between MTS and UC San Diego Health was announced; as a result of this agreement, the Blue Line will be renamed "UC San Diego Blue Line" and the Old Town Transit Center will become "Old Town UC San Diego Health South".

Bus service

Old Town also operates as a bus transit center for San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's routes 8, 9, 10, 28, 30, 35, 44, 88, 105, and 150. There is an underground pedestrian tunnel linking bus terminals on both sides of the station with the trolley/train areas. Old Town is also served by university shuttles for University of California, San Diego and University of San Diego.

Location

The station is located at the intersection of Rosecrans Street/Taylor Street and Pacific Highway, adjacent to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. Free parking (Park & Ride) for up to 24-hours is available in the Transit Center lots.