Late Night Trolley Runs to Santee Make for Safer New Year's Partying

The two main transit agencies in San Diego County will offer expanded service Tuesday night to provide New Year's revelers with safe rides home, including late trolley service to Santee.

The Metropolitan Transit System will offer two extra trolley runs on all three lines, which will leave the 12th and Imperial station in the East Village roughly around 12:30 a.m. and between 2:20 a.m. and 2:30 a.m, which would respectively get you to Santee at 1:47 a.m. and 3:37 a.m.

Additional buses on the MTS routes 2 and 7 will leave State and B streets in downtown shortly after 2 a.m. for communities in South Park, North Park and along University Avenue.

An extra Route 901 bus will leave State and B streets around 2:15 a.m. for Coronado, Imperial Beach and San Ysidro. A Route 30 bus will depart the Old Town Transit Center at 2:45 p.m. for the beach communities.

"We want to encourage everyone who celebrates the New Year in downtown San Diego to allow our bus and trolley operators to be their designated drivers," said Paul Jablonski, the MTS CEO. "A one-way fare is just $2.50, which is much less expensive than a DUI that will cost thousands, if not more."

The regular bus schedule has downtown departures between 12:15 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. The schedules are online at sdmts.com.

North County Transit District buses and trains will be free after 6 p.m.

The agency is adding a Coaster train that will leave the Oceanside Transit Center at 10:10 p.m. and arrive at the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego at 11:10 p.m. The extra northbound run is scheduled to depart downtown at 12:45 a.m. and get to Oceanside in 1:45 a.m., the NCTD said.

The Sprinter will run hourly between Escondido and Oceanside after 9 p.m., and a final run will leave Oceanside just after 2 a.m. to accommodate the late Coaster riders.

The free NCTD rides do not apply to the Coaster tie-in with Amtrak, according to the agency.

-City News Service