The Metropolitan Transit System’s trolley services will reach UCSD by 2018 according to a report released last week by the San Diego Associations of Governments.

SANDAG released a draft environmental report on the Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project on Friday, May 17, which introduced the first extension of the San Diego Trolley system since the completion of the Green Line to San Diego State University in 2005. 

Major incentives for the project include catering to the growing population density in the Mid-Coast Corridor and taking advantage of the growth of the University City area as a major employment and high-density residential area.

The project by SANDAG will extend the San Diego trolley into UCSD with construction beginning in 2015 and services starting in 2018. In total, eight new stations will be created, including stops on Tecolote Road, Clairemont Drive, Balboa Avenue, Nobel Drive, Pepper Canyon, Voigt Drive, Executive Drive and the Westfield UTC Transit Center. The new trolley route will also connect to lines in Mission Valley, East County and South County and will connect the international border with University City.

According to SANDAG, chair of the Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project Working Group Ron Roberts said that the trolley would connect UCSD to several key locations in San Diego.

“The Mid-Coast Trolley extension will be a significant step forward for transit access in San Diego,” Roberts said. “Extending the Trolley service from Old Town, up along Interstate-5 to the UTC area, will connect dozens of communities, jobs centers and regional assets like the VA hospital and UC San Diego.”

The project will cost upwards of $1.7 billion, half of which will come from the TransNet half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1987. The rest of the costs will come from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program.

According to Vice Chancellor for Resource Management and Planning Gary Matthews, the new trolley routes will also be beneficial to the San Diego environment.

“Bringing the trolley to UCSD will provide greater access to the campus for the San Diego community,” Matthews said. “It also will reduce the campus’ carbon footprint, by encouraging members of the UCSD community to get out of their cars.”

SANDAG will host four open house meetings in June to provide the San Diego community with opportunities to learn more about the project and offer suggestions to be considered in the final environmental report. Comments must be received by July 16 to be considered in the official report.