UCSD Students, Faculty and Staff Can Ride Coastal Bus Route for Free

By Paul Sisson, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

Feb. 1–NORTH COUNTY — Starting today, UC San Diego students, faculty and staff can ride Route 101 coastal buses for free.

“The route’s not changing, schedules are not changing, it’s just that it’s now free for staff, faculty or students at UCSD,” said Sarah Benson, a spokesperson for the North County Transit District, which operates North County’s Breeze bus fleet.

Route 101 follows the path of Old Highway 101 from Oceanside to the University Towne Center shopping mall. It already cuts directly through the heart of the UC San Diego campus, following North Torrey Pines Road and Gilman Drive.

Gonzalo Garcilazo, ride-share coordinator at the university, said Wednesday that thousands of students have already come by his office to get special blue stickers affixed to their student identification cards so that they can ride several new routes, including Route 101.

“A lot of people have shown interest,” Garcilazo said. “It’s happening, really, because people have shown interest.”

Benson, a UCSD graduate, said the university will reimburse the transit district $1.25 for every Route 101 boarding. She said the subsidized service is not expected to affect Coaster train riders because the university already provides free shuttle service from the Coaster’s Sorrento Valley Station into the heart of campus.

She said the biggest benefit is likely to be for students who do not have cars and who live in coastal North County within walking distance of Old Highway 101.

“We think it’s a benefit for the campus because a lot of students and faculty and staff live in North County and already take the coastal roads to get to campus,” Benson said.

The transit district also announced Wednesday that, on Saturdays, children will ride free on all Coaster trains for the months of February, March and April.

“One paying adult can bring along two children on Saturdays for free,” Benson said.

In December, the district found itself swamped by North County families who wanted to take a free ride on a special Christmas Coaster train. Benson said the popularity of that free ride convinced transit planners that they should do more to court families, especially during the winter months when there is no summer rush.

“This is just to try and convince more families to try it,” Benson said.

She added that the transit district is committed to trying its Santa Coaster Express train again in December. However, next time around, she said, steps will be taken to make sure that hundreds of families do not have to be turned away due to lack of space, as occurred the first time.

“We’ve pretty much decided the only way to deal with potential overcrowding is to give tickets ahead of time,” Benson said. “If you get a ticket ahead of time, you would be guaranteed a seat.”

She said details of the next Christmas train will be ironed out this summer and announced in the fall.

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Copyright (c) 2007, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

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