Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My prediction is that the Blue Line extension will have an impact in San Diego similar to the Purple Line extension for Los Angeles. UCSD/La Jolla is arguably as much or more of a focus point for the county than Downtown San Diego. Has anyone ever been up there at any time and not seen it jammed with cars? I've never thought "well, no trolley, not going" about downtown/Balboa Park, etc., but I have thought this about La Jolla. When complete, that will be one trolley line with 32 stops. I haven't checked, but that might be a bigger line than anything BART or LA Metro has.
I think the Blue Line extension is great, but won't have nearly the kind of impact that the Purple Line extension will have, though it will be a very well-trafficked line.
When the Regional Connector in LA opens, you'll see something that passes 32 stops.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 06-05-2018 at 06:27 PM..
I think the Blue Line extension is great, but won't have nearly the kind of impact that the Purple Line extension will have, though it will be a very well-trafficked line.
When the Regional Connector in LA opens, you'll see something that passes 32 stops.
There are already little travel hacks you can do to get to West LA with the Expo. I'm not downplaying the massive impact the Purple Line extension will surely have, just pointing out that you can right now take the Expo to Westwood, then take a $4 Lyft/Uber to UCLA. ASFAIK, there is no equivalent "transit hack" to get from DT SD to La Jolla. IMO, it will be 100 times more impactful than any trolley stops along University Ave would be.
It has a lot to do with the fact that the city of Seattle has really been waging a war on cars. They are intensely focused on expanding public transit. So a lot of it comes down to policy. In Seattle, only 25% of people commute by car to downtown for work as of 2017, compared to 65% of people commuting to work by car in SD in 2016 (might be a bit lower for 2017 but I couldn’t find data - see p. 37 of the UCSD report). Still, it’s a rather marked difference.
Between the Link, buses, streetcars, and ferries/water taxis, the city of Seattle is extremely easy to get around in without a car, including to and from the airport which is particularly significant. Conversely, SD has a superior freeway system, even with increased traffic during the past few years. Having a car in SD is feasible and even preferable for a much larger share of the population, which is why buses are seen as a “lower class” transit option. It also has a lot to do with the fact that, as I previously noted, Seattle is a much larger nerve center for the metro than downtown SD is to SD county.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
