by Anne M. Haule

TRY THE TROLLEY . . .It’s easy, fast, cheap, clean, safe, and environmentally friendly!

The 11-mile blue line extension opened last November and I’ve been riding it to Osher classes with my friend Patti. I live in Hillcrest and Patti lives in Bay Park. I pick her up and we drive to the Tecolote stop where we park for free.

Having put the PRONTO app on our phones, we place our phones under the reader and automatically $1.25 per ride is deducted. Next, we wait for the trolley – which usually takes no more than five minutes. Finding a seat is no problem as we speed along passing the four stops until we get to the UCSD Central Campus stop. We get off and either walk down the steps or take the elevator to the UCSD shuttle stop which is well marked.

Next, we wait for the “Central Campus” shuttle, which usually arrives within another five minutes. We then ride on the shuttle until we get to the Thurgood Marshall stop and walk two blocks south to our Osher classrooms.

City and South Bay residents have numerous options for accessing the blue line – from San Ysidro north. East county residents can take the Green Line west to the Old Town Blue Line stop. We haven’t tried walking from the trolley stop to class yet, but we understand from some of our classmates that the walk is definitely Doable. Maybe we’ll try walking once the weather cools off.

https://www.sdmts.com/transit-services/trolley 

https://transportation.ucsd.edu/campus/shuttles/loop-o.html