Old Town Transit Center San Diego, CA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Green Line trolley approaching Old Town Transit Center in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | 4005 Taylor Street San Diego, California United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°45′19″N117°11′58″W / 32.7552°N 117.1995°W /32.7552; -117.1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line | NCTDSan Diego Subdivision[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 2side platforms (Amtrak/Coaster) 2 side platforms, 1island platform (San Diego Trolley) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 (Amtrak/Coaster) 2 (San Diego Trolley) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bus stands | 21[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parking | 412 spaces[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Status | Unstaffed, platform with shelters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Station code | Amtrak:OLT 75042, 75043 (San Diego Trolley)[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | 3 (Coaster) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1994; 31 years ago (1994)[citation needed] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FY 2024 | 290,461[5] (Amtrak) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Old Town Transit Center, also known asSan Diego–Old Town station, orOld Town San Diego station, is an intermodal transportation station in theOld Town neighborhood ofSan Diego, California. It is served byAmtrak'sPacific Surfliner, theCOASTER commuter rail service, and theSan Diego Trolley, as well as numerousSan Diego Metropolitan Transit System bus lines.
The station is located at the intersection of Rosecrans Street/Taylor Street and Pacific Highway, adjacent toOld Town San Diego State Historic Park and the freeway intersection ofInterstate 5 andInterstate 8. It is also located about two miles southeast ofSeaWorld San Diego andMission Bay, providing access to the northernmost beaches in the city of San Diego. Free parking (Park & Ride) for up to 24-hours is available in the Transit Center lots.
Old Town Transit Center was built in the early 1990s, and theSan Diego Trolley's North/South Line (known until then as the South Line) was extended here on June 16, 1996.[6] In November 1997, the line, renamed theBlue Line,[6] was extended intoMission Valley. When theGreen Line service was introduced with the opening of the Mission Valley East extension on July 10, 2005,[7] 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 to12th & Imperial Bayside Terminal and shortened the Blue Line's northern terminus toAmerica Plaza. TheSpecial Event Line was eliminated; and instead, the Green Line added cars and offer more frequent service to theSan Diego Convention Center,Petco Park,Snapdragon Stadium, andViejas Arena when necessary.[8]
As part of the Mid Coast Trolley Project, on November 21, 2021, theBlue Line returned to service the Old Town station. The Blue Line provides access to places such as theUniversity of California, San Diego,Jacobs Medical Center,Westfield UTC, and theMexico–United States border inSan Ysidro.
The Old Town Transit Center hosts passenger trains operating onAmtrak'sPacific Surfliner intercity rail route and on theCOASTER commuter rail service. Of the 22 weekdayAmtrakPacific Surfliner trains operating in San Diego, 18 of them stop at the Old Town Transit Center,[9] 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 between Fiscal Year 2011 and 2013. In Fiscal Year 2011, there were just 22,867 boardings and detrainings at Old Town[10] (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.[11] 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 atSanta 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.[12]
Old Town Transit Center is also a light rail station on theSan Diego Trolley'sGreen Line. This station originally served as that line's terminus, until a system realignment in September 2012 extended the Green Line though Old Town to downtown San Diego.[8]
The Trolley'sMid-Coast extension that was completed in November 2021[13] extends to serve theUniversity City area.[14]
Old Town also operates as a bus transit center forSan Diego Metropolitan Transit System's routes 8, 9, 10, 28, 30, 35, 44, 83, 88, and 105.[15] There is an underground pedestrian tunnel linking bus terminals on both sides of the station with the trolley/train areas.
The station is also served bySan Diego International Airport'sSan Diego Flyer shuttle which operates every 20 to 30 minutes between the Old Town Transit Center, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.[16] The station also sees service fromUC San Diego's Triton Transit Hillcrest Express, which connects passengers with theUC San Diego Medical Center, Hillcrest,[17]University of San Diego shuttles,[18] andFlixBus intercity motorcoaches.[19]
On the east side of the station complex is aconvenience store andbus bays which serveMTS Access, theSan Diego Flyer shuttle, andMTS bus routes44,83,88, and105. A bay forFlixBus/Greyhound buses is located across Congress Street at the entrance to the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.[20]
The rail facilities consist of four tracks with a combination ofside andisland platforms. Track 1 carries northbound San Diego Trolley service, with the Blue Line continuing toward UTC and the Green Line toward El Cajon. Track 2 carries southbound trolley service, with the Blue Line toward San Ysidro and the Green Line toward 12th & Imperial. Track 3 accommodates southbound Coaster commuter trains, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner intercity trains, andBNSF Railway freight services toward downtown San Diego. Track 4 serves the corresponding northbound Coaster, Pacific Surfliner, and BNSF operations.[20]
Additional bus bays are located on the west side of the station, serving MTS routes8,9,28,30, and35. A bay for route10 is located inside the parking lot.[20]
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