MTS ramps up service on several bus routes and Trolley lines, plus “Friends Ride Free” holiday promotion
San Diego – On the Fourth of July, the Metropolitan Transit System will primarily run on a Sunday service schedule all day. Extra Trolley service will be added for the Big Bay Boom fireworks show in Downtown San Diego to accommodate the 250,000 people expected to attend. Passengers are being advised to travel early to beat the crowds.
Friends Ride Free! Also on the Fourth of July, MTS allows up to one person to ride free with each fare-paying adult on all MTS routes.
Big Bay Boom – San Diego's biggest Fourth of July Fireworks show takes over the San Diego Bay with four barges at different points. There are great viewing areas all along the bay for this annual event! Parking is free and plentiful at SDCCU Stadium as well as at other park-and-ride lots throughout the system. With large crowds expected, MTS advises riders to travel early as trains and park and ride locations will be crowded closer to show time.
Pre-Fireworks: Sycuan Green Line trains will run on Sunday service schedule most of the day.
From Santee: Beginning at 5:48 p.m. service will be increased to every 15 minutes. From SDCCU Stadium: Beginning at 5:22 p.m., service will be increased to every 7.5 minutes until the start of the show at 9 p.m. On the UC San Diego Blue Line and Orange Line, trains will depart every 15 minutes throughout the day.
Recommended viewing locations along the Trolley line are:
County Center/Little Italy
Santa Fe Depot
Seaport Village
Convention Center
Gaslamp Quarter
Post-Fireworks: Frequent Trolley service will resume on all three lines after the show concludes, and MTS recommends attendees to adjust their departure time after the show to avoid the immediate rush of people leaving the downtown area. Check the MTS Big Bay Boom webpage for more details and schedules.
Compass Cloud: To avoid Trolley ticket lines and speed up the boarding process, attendees can purchase and store transit passes on their smart phones at any time prior to arriving at stations by using Compass Cloud, MTS’s free mobile ticketing app. Multiple passes can be purchased and stored on one phone, making it easy for family and friends traveling together.
Key MTS Bus Routes for Service Downtown and the Beach: People hitting the beach and Downtown on Fourth of July have a variety of options using MTS bus routes.
The routes with the best access are:
Route 8: Old Town – Mission Bay – Mission Beach – Pacific Beach
- Runs every 15 minutes most of the day
Route 9: Old Town – Sea World
- Runs every 15 minutes most of the day
Route 30: Old Town – Pacific Beach – La Jolla – UTC
- Runs every 15 minutes most of the day between Old Town & Pacific Beach
- Runs every 30 minutes most of the day between Pacific Beach, La Jolla & UTC
Route 35: Old Town – Ocean Beach
- Runs every 30 minutes most of the day
Rapid 215: SDSU – City Heights – North Park –Hillcrest – Downtown
- Runs every 15 minutes most of the day
Rapid 225: Otay Mesa – Eastlake – Otay Ranch –Downtown
- Runs every 30 minutes, approx. 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Rapid 235: Escondido – Rancho Bernardo – Miramar College – City Heights – Downtown
- Runs every 30 minutes, approx. 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Route 901: Downtown – Coronado – Imperial Beach
- Runs every 60 minutes all day
Route 933/934: Iris Avenue Transit Center – Palm City – Imperial Beach
- Runs every 30 minutes most of the day
Visit the MTS Holiday Services webpage for more information about the modified schedule.
Support Services: The MTS Information and Trip Planning call center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Fourth of July. The MTS Transit Store, Compass Service Center and Customer Service will be closed.
MTS operates 95 bus routes and three Trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Every weekday nearly 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and Trolley services in 10 cities and the county. In FY 2017, MTS served more than 88 million riders. For more information on how you can use public transportation and save money, go to www.sdmts.com.
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