The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System continued its efforts to improve transit choices for the San Diego region with the grand opening of the 80,000 sq. ft. UTC Transit Center on Friday, Oct. 27. The agency will operate 11 bus routes out of the facility that service thousands of passengers daily in the heart of San Diego’s second largest business sector — University City.
The UTC Transit Center is part of the $500 million Westfield UTC mall renovation that will connect to the Mid-Coast Trolley extension platform via a sky bridge when completed in 2021. The $13.7 million transit facility was built as a public/private partnership with the San Diego Association of Governments and Westfield UTC and the city of San Diego.
Since June 2014, MTS, in partnership with SANDAG, has exponentially improved San Diego’s largest transit system — giving more and better choices than ever before to transit riders. Other capital investments include:
- $2 million boost in bus service as part of the Transit Optimization Plan that will add to the agency’s high frequency network and streamline routes to reduce travel times
- $660 million complete overhaul and renewal of the Orange Line and UC San Diego Blue Line infrastructure
- Launched a new network of high frequency, limited stop bus service called Rapid
- Modernized the UC San Diego Blue Line to allow low-floor Trolley cars to speed up boarding and improve on-time performance on the network’s busiest line
- $38 million to build the East County Bus Operations & Maintenance Facility
- $50.9 million to build the South Bay Operations & Maintenance Facility
- $21 million to modernize bus stations on the Broadway corridor in downtown San Diego that provide a premier level of comfort, security and convenience for transit riders
The latest investment, the UTC Transit Center, will serve bus routes that have grown significantly in recent years due to increased demand from UC San Diego’s growing community. In 2014, the university’s student body approved the Student Transportation Fee referendum that provides more than 30,000 students with unlimited rides on all MTS buses and Trolleys. Since then, routes that serve both the campus and UTC Transit Center such as SuperLoop Rapid (Routes 201/202) and Route 150 have seen ridership increases of 56 percent and 46 percent respectively.
The new 80,000 sq. ft. transit center will be off-street, have a bus-only entrance/exit, and avoid all the pedestrian and private auto flow from the mall. It will also include a new controlled bus-only intersection at the southwestern corner of the transit center on Genesee Avenue. Some UTC Transit
Center amenities include:
- Rapid-branded digital pylons displaying real-time service information
- Shaded waiting areas for passengers at all 11 bus bays
- Direct pedestrian access to Westfield UTC mall
- New shelters and benches
- ADA accessibility
- Bike lockers
- Information kiosks
- Ticket vending machines
- Security cameras
The southern half of the transit center is open air and the northern half is sheltered on the bottom floor of the parking structure. Bus traffic will flow clockwise around a transit island that has 11 sawtooth bays to accommodate 12 routes (11 for MTS and 1 for North County Transit District).
