SANDAG is in the very early stages of planning a rapid bus route between San Ysidro and Downtown.

“For many, many years we have heard from the community that more and better service is needed in this corridor,” Antoinette Meier, senior director of regional planning, said in a virtual information session where the public provided input on where potential stops should be placed in Chula Vista, National City and Barrio Logan in addition to the main focus of providing another connection to Downtown’s workplaces and schools from the border.

The Blue Line Trolley, which passes through Downtown on its route from the border to UCSD, is the most ridden light rail in San Diego “by far.” Limitations on creating an express version of the Blue Line Trolley has the regional transportation agency looking at bus options instead as they are cheaper and easier to implement. “We know more service is needed, but there’s a lot of constraints and a lot of challenges to adding trolley service in this corridor. But rapid bus is something we can bring to the community much sooner,” Meier said.

SANDAG does not have funding secured for the additional route, dubbed Rapid 640, so although it could begin service as early as 2029, that is by no means a guarantee. The report the agency is working on currently is funded, which will gather input from riders at listening sessions, evaluate route options, and finalize the stops. The next step, if funded, would be to conduct an environmental report. Again pending funding, the design and construction phase could commence with bus service starting in 2029.

MTS launched Route 910, which SANDAG officials described as a “mini express route,” in late January which starts at the San Ysidro border crossing then only stops once in Imperial Beach, Chula Vista and National City before making several stops in Downtown San Diego. Ridership has steadily grown week over week. Route 910 also has an overnight option seen as a solution for the many tourism industry workers living in Mexico and the South Bay with early morning and late night shifts.

SANDAG’s proposed rapid bus may follow a similar route but rapid buses have several other advantages. In addition to having fewer stops slowing down passengers wanting a direct route to and from Downtown, modern technology is used to avoid traffic by changing the lights at intersections so the bus can move unimpeded. Bus only lanes may also be added. Rapid stops are outfitted with digital displays with arrival times. Fare costs the same as on a normal bus.

They operate seven days a week with high frequency, sometimes as often as every five minutes during peak hours so people do not have to think about timing, they can just head to a bus stop knowing a bus will arrive within a couple minutes. The current proposal for Rapid 640 would be to come every 15 minutes during peak times and every half an hour otherwise.

Today, there are seven rapid bus routes operating in San Diego. In the Draft Proposed 2025 Regional Plan, includes 35 new rapid routes by 2035, making it a much wider network of express options in the region. SANDAG is currently planning six of those routes, including the Rapid 640. “If we don’t start planning for them today, we won’t get to them by [2035],” said Brian Lane, a planner at SANDAG.

The proposal does not preclude adding an express option for the Blue Line. However, a 2019 study found adding another track to skip certain stops would only save five to seven minutes on the current 32-minute trip because California law requires light rail to slow at all stations even if not stopping. It would also not fix the many slowdowns which occur in Downtown due to traffic. SANDAG may look into going under or over street level at some of those conflict points to save time that way. Another idea would be to add an additional car to the Blue Line Trolley so at least it is less crowded.

All of those are being pushed less because of the added expense and complexity of the ideas while the rapid bus route can come online faster and cheaper.

To take a survey on potential stops of the Rapid 640 bus route, visit engage.sandag.org/Rapid640Survey.

Top photo credit: sandag.org