“Infrastructure” is a word we’ve been hearing a lot lately, especially with the just-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in Washington, D.C.
This monumental (and bipartisan) effort will deliver $1.2 trillion to upgrade our nation’s transit and rail, broadband, airports, ports, waterways, and power and water systems. There’s also funding for environmental restoration, electric buses and ferries, and building a network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers.
This Sunday, November 21, we’ll get an early local taste of the future when everyone’s invited to ride free all day on San Diego’s new game-changing trolley extension!
Plus, you and your family are invited to the grand opening celebration between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. with free food, giveaways, live music and more. Read on for your invitation.
The new nine-station Mid-Coast addition to the Blue Line will connect Old Town to La Jolla, UCSD, Mission Bay Park, Pacific Beach, and Clairemont.
As Chair of SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments), I can tell you that this is truly a transit line that was designed and built to be where the people are.
The new transit stops touch shopping centers, three hospitals, our county’s largest university – UCSD (San Diego County’s second-largest employer, after the Navy) – and high tech, job-rich employment centers.
Now, a college student living in Pacific Beach can ride the trolley to UCSD. This is a game-changer for those who don’t have a car, or don’t want to own one. The new options for our residents are real and transformative. For the first time ever, people will be able to take a one-seat ride all the way between the UTC area and the U.S./Mexico Border – in just over an hour.
This project is part of SANDAG’s 2021 Regional Plan, which builds a foundation for future generations by ensuring that our region is ready for tomorrow. It envisions a transportation system that gets us where we want to go in a convenient, safe, sustainable, and accessible way – a system that improves air quality and combats climate change, while preserving nearly three million acres of open space.
In one article, the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote, “The $2.2 billion line has the potential to reduce notorious traffic congestion in the Golden Triangle, boost beach access for low-income areas and help solve San Diego’s housing crisis by spurring high-rise projects along much of its pathway.”
More information about the Mid-Coast Trolley can be found in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Fox5, and another article from the Union-Tribune.
Here’s your invitation to the party!
I know a couple of families who are planning to make a day of it and ride the new trolley extension from top to bottom (and back!) for free on Sunday.
I’ll be speaking at the grand opening event at around around noon at the UCSD Central Campus station, and I’d love to meet you! Please stop by and say hi.
In service,
