Getting Around San Diego
The San Diego Metro Transit System was an early convert to light rail, which began running about 30 years ago, and is now undergoing modernization with new low floor trolley cars which are handicap accessible and slightly faster. There are three lines with 53 stations covering 51 miles of track with stops at several prominent sites, including Qualcomm stadium and Fashion Valley mall. The southbound trolley line runs from downtown San Diego to about eight blocks from the Mexico border, thus it is dubbed the Tijuana Trolley.
The Metro Transit System trolley and bus lines connect at the downtown San Diego Santa Fe depot with the Coaster train operated by North County Transit District, which runs to Oceanside. Amtrak operates frequent rail service from the Santa Fe depot to Los Angeles. Metro Transit System buses connect with North County Transit District buses at the University of California San Diego campus and other points.
MTS also operates all public buses, including one bus route that runs to Lindbergh Field from downtown in about 10 minutes. Lindbergh field is the airport and main point of entry into San Diego, which is only an easy 3 mile walk from downtown San Diego along the shore of San Diego Bay. At the airport there are several limousine, luxury sedan, and taxi services, plus shared-ride shuttle vans that take passengers throughout the city and southern California.
Interstate highway 5 runs along the coast, interstate 805 is the inland alternative that runs through the South Bay and Mission Valley areas. Interstate 15 splits off from I-5 in South Bay and runs north to the inland suburbs of Mira Mesa, Escondido, and Rancho Bernardo plus Riverside County. The main east west artery is Interstate 8 which runs from Point Loma to El Cajon. The entire San Diego freeway system often gets congested during rush hour traffic.