Old Town Transit Center, also known as San Diego–Old Town station or Old Town San Diego station, is an intermodal transportation station located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California. It is served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, the COASTER commuter rail service, and the San Diego Trolley, as well as numerous San Diego Metropolitan Transit System bus lines.

Old Town Transit Center San Diego, CA
Green Line trolley approaching Old Town Transit Center, 2008
General information
Other names	San Diego–Old Town Old Town San Diego UC San Diego Health South
Location	4005 Taylor Street San Diego, California United States
Coordinates	32.7552°N 117.1995°W / 32.7552; -117.1995
Owned by	San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
Line(s)	Surf Line
Platforms	2 side platforms (Amtrak/Coaster) 2 side platforms, 1 island platform (San Diego Trolley)
Tracks	2 (Amtrak/Coaster) 2 (San Diego Trolley)
Train operators	Amtrak Coaster San Diego Trolley
Bus stands	21[1]
Bus operators	MTS: 8, 9, 10, 28, 30, 35, 44, 83, 88, 105[2] San Diego Flyer shuttle University of San Diego shuttle Viejas Casino shuttle FlixBus UC San Diego Triton Transit - Hillcrest Express
Construction
Parking	412 spaces[3]
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Status	Unstaffed, platform with shelters
Station code	Amtrak: OLT 75042, 75043 (San Diego Trolley)[4]
Fare zone	3 (Coaster)
History
Opened	1994; 28 years ago (1994)
Rebuilt	2018; 4 years ago (2018)[citation needed]
Passengers
FY 2021	156,622[5] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Solana Beach toward San Luis Obispo Pacific Surfliner San Diego Terminus Preceding station North County Transit District Following station Sorrento Valley towards Oceanside Transit Center COASTER San Diego Terminus Preceding station San Diego Trolley Following station Tecolote Road towards UTC Transit Center Blue Line Washington Street towards San Ysidro Transit Center Morena/Linda Vista towards Santee Town Center Green Line Washington Street towards 12th & Imperial Transit Center
Location

The station is located at the intersection of Rosecrans Street/Taylor Street and Pacific Highway, adjacent to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park and the freeway intersection of Interstate 5 and Interstate 8. It is also located about two miles southeast of SeaWorld San Diego and Mission 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.

History

The Old Town Transit Center was built in the early 1990s, and San Diego Trolley's North/South Line was extended here on June 16, 1996.[6] In November 1997, the line, renamed the Blue Line,[7] was extended into Mission Valley.[6] When the Green Line service was introduced with the opening of the Mission Valley East extension on July 10, 2005,[6] 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 to 12th & Imperial Bayside Terminal and shortened the Blue Line's northern terminus to America Plaza.[8] The Special Event Line was eliminated; and instead, the Green Line added cars and offer more frequent service to Petco Park, San Diego Convention Center, Aztec Stadium and Viejas Arena at San Diego State University when necessary.[8]

Service

Commuter and intercity rail

The Old Town Transit Center hosts passenger trains operating on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner intercity rail route and on the COASTER commuter rail line. Of the 22 weekday Amtrak Pacific 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.[12] (There has been a corresponding decrease in Amtrak boardings at the Santa 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]

San Diego Trolley

Old Town Transit Center is also a light rail station on the San Diego Trolley's Green 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's Mid-Coast extension that was completed in November 2021[13] extends to serve the University City area.[14] In July 2015, a 30-year naming rights agreement between MTS and UC San Diego Health was announced; as a result of this agreement, the Blue Line will be renamed "UC San Diego Blue Line" and the Old Town Transit Center will become "Old Town UC San Diego Health South".[15]

Bus service

Old Town also operates as a bus transit center for San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's routes 8, 9, 10, 28, 30, 35, 44, 83, 88, and 105. There is an underground pedestrian tunnel linking bus terminals on both sides of the station with the trolley/train areas. Old Town is also served by University of San Diego shuttles.[16]

The station is also served by San Diego International Airport's San Diego Flyer shuttle which operates every 20 to 30 minutes between the Old Town Transit Center, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.[17] The station also sees service from shuttle buses to Viejas Casino.[18]

Station layout

There are four tracks; two tracks are designated for the San Diego Trolley services, while the other two tracks are used for COASTER, Amtrak, and BNSF freight service.[19]

Side platform, doors will open on the right
Track 1	←  Blue Line toward UTC Transit Center (Tecolote Road) ←  Green Line toward Santee Town Center (Morena/Linda Vista)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Track 2	→  Blue Line toward San Ysidro Transit Center (Washington Street) → →  Green Line toward 12th & Imperial Transit Center (Washington Street) →
Island platform, doors will open on the right
Track 3	→ COASTER toward San Diego (Terminus) → → Pacific Surfliner toward San Diego (Terminus) →
Track 4	← COASTER toward Oceanside Transit Center (Sorrento Valley) ← Pacific Surfliner toward San Luis Obispo (Solana Beach)
Side platform, doors will open on the right

See also

• List of San Diego Trolley stations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Old Town Transit Center (San Diego).

• San Diego, CA–Old Town – Amtrak
• San Diego, CA–Old Town – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• COASTER Stations
• Old Town Transit Center – SDMTS
• Old Town San Diego Amtrak Station – USA RailGuide (TrainWeb)
• Old Town San Diego State Historic Park (California State Parks)