A trolley that runs from downtown San Diego to UCSD could arrive on campus within the next five years. UCSD administration is working with city officials on the plan that is scheduled to be launched in 2016, though the trolley could be completed as early as 2015.
The budget for the project — as approved by the San Diego Association of Governments board of directors — is $1.2 billion.
“We are at a point where we have a general understanding of the routes that the trolley would be taking,” Vice Chancellor of Resource Management & Planning Gary Matthews said. “Nothing is finalized, but we’re getting closer to the specifics.”
According to Matthews, SANDAG has been holding open forums to discuss routes and the trolley’s impact with members of the UCSD and greater San Diego community.
“There was an enormous amount of support for the locally preferred alternative,” SANDAG Project Development Program Manager Leslie Blanda said. “There were a couple of alignments that the public didn’t like and those did not move forward.”
Over 15 UCSD departments are a part of the Light Rail Transit Group that advises Chancellor Marye Anne Fox to identify campus impacts. Undergraduates, Sixth College and Preuss School are part of the collective advisory group.
The locally preferred alternative currently refers to the proposed plan that has had the positive reinforcement from the public also known as the Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project.
Locations for stops are still being discussed, but will most likely include Pepper Canyon Hall and a spot near the Preuss School and Health facilities.
Environmental studies will be completed by the end of 2011 and publicly released in 2012, according to SANDAG Project Development Program Manager Greg Gastelum.
“We’re developing a footprint,” Gastelum said. “Then we can start evaluating those areas that are within that footprint to make an assessment.”
A fare structure has not been set. Currently, SDSU students pay $3 one-way and $5 for an all-day pass. Matthews said that UCSD wants fare structures to emulate the arrangement set with Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit.
UCSD Director of Physical Planning Brad Werdick said a trolley can hold up to 120 passengers and travel at a maximum of 55 miles per hour, running every 7.5 minutes.
“[With] greater transportation options on campus, people are not bringing as many cars to campus,” Matthews said. “We haven’t sold as many parking permits over the last several years as we had done in the past.”
