The following is a list of transportation options in

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

Rail services

Local

San Diego Trolley

The San Diego Trolley is a light rail that serves the metropolitan area including central San Diego, East County, South County to the border.

COASTER Commuter Rail

The San Diego Coast Express Rail, or COASTER is a forty-one-mile commuter rail line that connects

North County North County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second-most populous region in the county (after San Diego), with an estimated population of 869,322. North County is well known for its affluence, especial ...

to central San Diego. Eight stations in total are served, between Oceanside and Downtown San Diego.

SPRINTER Hybrid Rail

The SPRINTER is a 22-mile light rail line between Oceanside and

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Ety ...

. Fifteen stations are served, including stops in the cities of Oceanside (western terminus), Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido (eastern terminus). SPRINTER service is operated with

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

Sprinter

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s manufactured in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, where they are widely used.

Regional

Amtrak ''Pacific Surfliner''

The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a 350-mile (563 km)

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...

route serving communities on the coast of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

between

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

with stops in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

Metrolink

Metrolink is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

network connecting major cities in Southern California including San Diego via transfers at Oceanside,

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, Los Angeles, and Riverside. Metrolink does not serve the immediate San Diego area, just Oceanside in northern

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

Bus services

Buses in San Diego County are operated by two agencies: MTS and NCTD. A third agency, CTS (County Transit System) formerly operated in the eastern and southern suburbs and Poway but was integrated into MTS in 2002.

Metropolitan Transit System

The

San Diego Metropolitan Transit System The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (''SDMTS'' or often simply ''MTS'') is a public transit service provider for Central, South, Northeast and Southeast San Diego County. The agency directly operates a large transit system that includes ...

(MTS) is the public transit service provider for Central, South, and East San Diego County. MTS operating subsidiaries include the

San Diego Trolley The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. It is known colloquially as "The Trolley". The Trolley's operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. (SDTI), is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Tra ...

, Incorporated (SDTI) and

San Diego Transit The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (''SDMTS'' or often simply ''MTS'') is a public transit service provider for Central, South, Northeast and Southeast San Diego County. The agency directly operates a large transit system that includes th ...

, Corporation (SDTC).

directly operates approximately half of all fixed-route bus services within its service area. The remainder is provided under contractual agreements with

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. History The group was formed by the merger of ...

or Southland Transportation Services. Some MTS bus routes connect to Breeze services in Escondido or Ramona in the NCTD service area. MTS also provides the MTS Access service (provided under contractual agreement with

First Transit First Transit is an American transportation company. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, First Transit operates over 300 locations, carrying more than 350 million passengers annually throughout the United States in 39 states, Puerto Rico, Panam ...

) throughout its service area. This service is a point-to-point service provided upon request by passengers who qualify for special assistance under the ADA (

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...

). This service is available in most of the cities of San Diego and Poway, as well as most of the southern and eastern suburbs of San Diego, and connections are available to a similar NCTD service. The city of

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...

contracts with Transdev to provide fixed-route bus service.

North County Transit District

The

North County Transit District The North County Transit District (typically abbreviated as NCTD) is the agency responsible for public transportation in Northern San Diego County, California. The agency manages the COASTER commuter rail service between Oceanside and San Die ...

's (NCTD) "BREEZE" operates 34 bus routes in the northern portion of the county from Del Mar, Escondido, and Ramona, to Orange County and Riverside County line

Routes are in the 300 and 400 series (with the exception of route 101). Bus Passes and transfers may be used both on MTS and NCTD services including the bus and the trolley, but the use of the COASTER may require an upgrade. In addition, express buses from the

Riverside Transit Agency The Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) is the main transit agency for western Riverside County, California, United States. RTA provides both local and regional services throughout the region with 39 fixed-routes (including RapidLink Gold Line), 9 Com ...

connect

Temecula Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a ...

with Oceanside and Escondido.

Bus rapid transit

MTS and NCTD operate

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

lines in San Diego County. Breeze Rapid and

SuperLoop The SuperLoop was a bus rapid transit system in San Diego, California, United States, in the University City area. It connected the University of California San Diego to Westfield UTC. The first phase of station construction began in late 200 ...

are BRT-lite implementations in Escondido and University City respectively. There is a signal priority and dedicated stations but no dedicated lanes or similar infrastructure. MTS launched

MTS Rapid Rapid is the brand name given to the bus rapid transit system in San Diego County, California. The system serves nearly half the county, operating mainly on the HOV lanes on Interstates 15 and 805, with most of the stops also served by other ro ...

service along the I-15 corridor June 8, 2014, launched

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

and Downtown San Diego and launched

Otay Mesa Otay Mesa ( ) is a community in the southern section of the city of San Diego, just north of the U.S.–Mexico border. It is bordered by the Otay River Valley and the city of Chula Vista on the north; Interstate 805 and the neighborhoods of Oc ...

and Downtown San Diego in 2015.

Road services

Public roads

San Diego County has an extensive network of public roadways that allows vehicle drivers and

bicyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

s convenient direct access to all practical destinations in the county. Major freeways were built and repeatedly expanded to serve the needs of commuters coming into the city from the suburban regions of

, South Bay, and

East County East County is a region of San Diego County, California, east of San Diego. Geography East County does not have an official geographic definition, although East County boundaries are unofficially drawn by the County of San Diego for its second d ...

, as well as the

Tijuana metropolitan area The Tijuana metropolitan area, and in Spanish the Zona Metropolitana de Tijuana, is located by the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. The 2010 census placed the Tijuana metropolitan area as the fifth largest city by population in the country with 1,751,3 ...

. San Diego is the terminus of three primaries

interstate highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

begins at the U.S.-Mexico border and heads north to

Interstate 8 Interstate 8 (I-8) is an Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the southwestern United States. It runs from the southern edge of Mission Bay (San Diego), Mission Bay at Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego, San Diego, Californi ...

begins at the Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in Ocean Beach, and heads east to the

Imperial Valley , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

begins as State Route 15 at Interstate 5 in

Southeast San Diego Southeast San Diego refers to the southeastern portion of the City of San Diego (excluding South San Diego) and the neighborhoods south of State Route 94 ( Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway) and east of Downtown San Diego. There are three official ...

near the 32nd Street Naval Station, becomes a formal interstate at Interstate 8 in

Mission Valley Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Miss ...

, then heads northeast to the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the citie ...

and then

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Bikeways

Public

bikeway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by Motor vehicle, motorists are also cycling infrastructu ...

s in San Diego County consisting of Class 1

bike path A bike path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "Class III bikewa ...

s, which are separate from the public roads, Class 2

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...

s, which are demarcated space on the roadways designated to be used primary by bicyclists, and Class 3

bike route Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

s, which are regular surface streets designated as being particularly attractive to bicyclists.

SANDAG The San Diego Association of Governments (abbreviated SANDAG) is an association of local San Diego County governments. It is the metropolitan planning organization for the County, with policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and Cou ...

publishes a map that shows all of these bikeways in the greater San Diego Metropolitan area annually, and it is available at most local bike shops.

Air services

San Diego International Airport San Diego International Airport , formerly known as Lindbergh Field, is an international airport northwest of Downtown San Diego, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.. US Feder ...

is the only airport in San Diego County to have commercial air service. Here is some information about the airport. San Diego International Airport is the third busiest single-

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

commercial airport in the world, with approximately 600 departures and arrivals carrying an average of over 55,000 passengers a day, and over 24 million passengers a year. However, it occupies a much smaller footprint compared to other airports in the United States. As a result, recently, numerous plans have been proposed to either add another airport in the area or relocate it entirely.

Ferry services

The Coronado Commuter Ferry takes morning and afternoon commuters across

San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...

from the

Broadway Pier, San Diego Broadway Pier in Downtown San Diego, California, is located on San Diego Bay at the intersection of Broadway and North Harbor Drive. It houses one of San Diego's two cruise ship terminals. History Built in 1913, the pier has a long history of s ...

and the Coronado Ferry Landing. San Diego Harbor Excursion operates ferry shuttles directly to and from the Broadway Pier, San Diego, the Coronado Ferry Landing and the Fifth Avenue Landing.

Pronto (Smart Card)

PRONTO Pronto, stylized as PRONTO, is the second-generation contactless payment system for automated fare collection on public transit services in San Diego County, California. The system is managed by the San Diego Association of Governments, operat ...

is the universal electronic fare system used in San Diego County. It replaced the previous smart card system,

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

. Fares are paid either with the mobile app or the reloadable

contactless smart card A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...

and accepted on different systems such as MTS buses, the San Diego Trolley, North County Buses, the Coaster, and the Sprinter.

Taxis

There are a variety of taxi companies that are legally allowed to operate in the San Diego area. The general rate of each trip is $3/mile and there is an additional fee tacked on of $2 when being picked up from an airport. The RideYellow app launched in 2016 and provides a steep discount of 33% off of each ride taken through the app in order to compete with other ridesharing platforms.

Sources

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