San Diego Needs Higher Train Frequencies, Not Another Express Light Rail or Bus

Alex Wong is Data Researcher for RideSD, a nonprofit organization working to improve public transportation in San Diego. 

The San Diego Association of Governments is studying concepts to speed up transit between San Ysidro and downtown San Diego, including offering an express option of the trolley’s Blue Line. Trolleys on this express option would skip less popular stops to get riders where they need to be faster.

However, Los Angeles and San Jose have cancelled light rail express services due to low ridership, and Blue Line Express would similarly underperform. 

SANDAG is also studying an express bus paralleling the Blue Line that would be just as ineffective. The real solution is much simpler: increase trolley frequencies on the Blue Line as well as travel speeds downtown.

These alternatives would boost capacity and cut travel times far more than an express bus or light rail would.

The Blue Line Express’s Problems

Currently, trolleys make 11 stops on the 34-minute Blue Line trip between San Ysidro and downtown. Express trolleys travelling this corridor would skip several of them. 

However, the Metropolitan Transit System discovered that two proposed concepts for the express line would both result in minimal time savings. 

The first concept would cut four minutes from end-to-end trips by building passing tracks only at stations where both express and non-express trains stop, enabling the former to overtake the latter. Express trains would pass through other stations without stopping – but they’d do so at only 10 miles per hour due to regulations protecting pedestrians crossing tracks at these stations. 

The second concept would allow express trolleys to skip most stations at full speed via a new, separated track spanning the entire San Ysidro-12th/Imperial corridor. Even so, end-to-end time savings would be just five-to-seven minutes for the mere 15 percent of corridor passengers who travel its full distance. Time savings for all other passengers would be less, vanishing completely for trips beginning or ending at stations skipped by express trains.

Furthermore, longer wait times would negate express train time savings, because express trains would likely come every 15 minutes versus every 7.5 for non-express trains.

Most crucially, Blue Line Express would not speed up trains through downtown, the trolley network’s slowest section, where trolleys crawl at 8.7 miles per hour. This discourages people traveling between northern and southern San Diego from taking transit, even on trips as short as Old Town to Barrio Logan. And, unfortunately, downtown streets lack room for express tracks.

How About an Express Bus?

SANDAG is also studying Rapid 640, a bus alternative to the Blue Line Express that is equally foolish. 

Even with two $180 million freeway median bus-only lanes, Rapid 640 may be no faster than the trolley. SANDAG maps suggest Rapid 640 would follow 910 bus’ route. But despite 910 buses completely avoiding congestion by operating from 12:30 to 5 a.m. and skipping six out of 11 trolley stops between San Ysidro and 12th/Imperial, they still take 38 minutes to travel the corridor compared to 34 minutes for Blue Line trains. The time 910 buses save by skipping some stations is canceled out by buses detouring off the freeway onto surface streets to serve the remaining stations. 

Nonetheless, Bus 910 is necessary when the Blue Line closes overnight to accommodate freight trains on its tracks. But Rapid 640 is superfluous. Blue Line trains max out at 450 passengers each and run every 7.5 minutes all-day in both directions. By comparison, 640’s 100-passenger articulated buses would run only every 15 to 30 minutes.

The Case for Five Minute Frequencies

Instead of running express trains serving only select stations between San Ysidro and downtown, all Blue Line trains should continue to stop at every station, but have frequencies increased from 7.5 to five minutes. This would benefit every station from San Ysidro to University City. 

On average, this would save passengers 1.25 minutes of wait time, which would feel like cutting 3.13 minutes from on-board travel times. That’s because studies show passengers perceive one minute of wait time as equivalent to 2.5 minutes of in-vehicle time. 

MTS could implement five-minute Trolley frequencies more quickly and cheaply than Blue Line Express. Both express Trolleys and five-minute frequencies would need $270 million in grade separations and $125 million in additional vehicles, plus operating expenses. But while express Trolley concepts require $500 million to $3 billion of new tracks, five-minute frequencies can be operated with existing infrastructure and therefore require zero new tracks. 

Currently trains stop for red lights in Downtown. Trolley signal priority could cut down the Blue Line’s downtown travel time from 15 minutes to 10, and unlike Blue Line Express, also benefit Orange Line passengers. Removing America Plaza Station could further speed up Downtown trains, since trolleys already stop across the street at Santa Fe Depot. And MTS will straighten and grade-separate tracks to speed up trains around San Ysidro Station as part of its redesign. 

Blue Line ridership was already fairly consistent throughout the day in 2019. Post-Covid increases in teleworking and MTS’ 2020 doubling of midday and late-night Blue Line frequencies further encouraged off-peak ridership.

Forget peak-focused express services and speed up Blue Line trips at all times of day instead.

The post San Diego Needs Higher Train Frequencies, Not Another Express Light Rail or Bus appeared first on Voice of San Diego.