San Diego – The largest Mardi Gras celebration in San Diego takes over 5th Avenue on Fat Tuesday and MTS is adding extra trains on all three lines to accommodate party revelers.
The Mardi Gras celebration goes from 5 p.m. to midnight. The Green, Orange and UC San Diego Blue Line all provide convenient access to the festivities. Additionally, Rapid 215 (SDSU-downtown) and Rapid 235 (Escondido – downtown) bring revelers to the heart of the action. Last trains and Rapid buses leaving downtown are as follows:
- Green Line to SDSU: 12:23 a.m.
- UC San Diego Blue Line to San Ysidro: 12:22 a.m.
- Orange Line to El Cajon: 12:26 a.m.
- Rapid 215 to SDSU: 1:07 a.m.
- Rapid 235 to Escondido: 10:09 p.m.
Getting to Mardi Gras:
- UC San Diego Blue/Orange Lines: Use the 5th Avenue Station and walk down 4th to the event gate located at 4th Avenue and E Street.
- Green Line: Use the Gaslamp Quarter Station and walk north to the event gate located at 4th Avenue and E Street
- Rapid 215 and Rapid 235: Use the Bus Stop at Broadway and 4th Avenue. Head home from the stop at Broadway and 6th Avenue.
Recommended locations to park and ride the Trolley include:
- Qualcomm Stadium: 5,000 free parking spots (Green Line, 30 minutes to Petco Park)
- Old Town Transit Center: 412 free parking spots (Green Line, 15 minutes to Petco Park)
- Palm Avenue Station: 499 free parking spots (UC San Diego Blue Line, 23 minutes to Petco Park)
- Spring Street Transit Center: 324 free parking spots (Orange Line, 26 minutes to Petco Park)
MTS has 22 bus routes with touch points in the downtown area including Rapid 215 (SDSU – downtown) and Rapid 235 (Escondido – downtown). Passengers can use the MTS Trip Planner function or OneBusAway app to find the transit trip that works best.
MTS operates 95 bus routes and three Trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Every weekday more than 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and Trolley services in 10 cities and unincorporated areas of the county. In FY 2016, MTS served 92.6 million riders. For more information on how you can use public transportation and save money, go to www.sdmts.com.
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