By Sue Taylor
There are people who tell those of us who don’t want to pay for parking in Balboa Park, “Just take transit!” I’m sure this works fine for people who live near the park. For the rest of us, it’s more of an adventure.
Today I had a public meeting downtown at 10:00 a.m. Having commuted downtown many times in the past, I know that if you want to arrive on time by transit, you need to leave very early and build in a generous margin for… surprises.
I left my house at 8:30 and walked to the bus stop for the 8:45 bus. I like to get there early because buses can be early, and there’s nothing quite like watching yours drive past as you’re jogging downhill waving at the driver to stop for you!
At 8:45, no bus. I checked the “One Bus Away” app. It said the bus was delayed by 12 minutes. Fine. That’s why I padded my schedule.
A few minutes later I checked again. Now it said the bus was 30 minutes away. What? Apparently the 8:45 bus had achieved such a profound level of lateness that it had effectively ceased to exist.
I waited a bit longer, checked again. Still a long delay so I decided to walk toward the trolley instead. I always hesitate to leave the bus stop, because that’s usually when the bus magically appears. I checked the app one more time. Still delayed.
Five to ten minutes into my walk, the bus passed me.
Of course it did.
I walked to the next stop and had to decide: wait 15 minutes for the next bus or just keep walking to the trolley station. I resumed my trek.
When I got to the station, I saw a trolley pull up, so I made a full sprint across the parking lot and up the stairs. I made it onto the trolley but didn’t have time to tap my PRONTO card, because the machines are not located anywhere near the “person running for their life” entry points. And of course, there is no way to tap once you’re on board. (I mean, why would MTS make the obvious improvements to help its customers?)
So I sat there composing my explanation for trolley security in my head while scanning every station for a machine where I could jump off, tap, and reboard. There wasn’t one.
At 12th & Imperial, I finally got off, tapped, and managed to reboard that same trolley. (I probably could have ridden the whole way without tapping, since no security ever showed up, but that wasn’t the point. My goal was transportation, not a life of crime.)
I arrived around 9:45 a.m., which was on time, but only because I had built in massive padding. Total travel time: about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
If I had driven, it would have been about 20 minutes, including parking.
And this wasn’t even going to Balboa Park, which would have required an additional bus ride.
All I can say is that taking public transit always feels like a gamble. I’m lucky that I can walk a mile to the trolley station if I have to, but that’s not exactly convenient.
For a lot of people, public transit is slow, indirect, and unpredictable. So “just take transit” isn’t really a solution. It’s more of a suggestion to rearrange your entire day and hope for the best.
Just another petri dish to get sick from.
“So I sat there composing my explanation for trolley security in my head while scanning every station for a machine where I could jump off, tap, and reboard. There wasn’t one.”
I use the Pronto app on my phone. As often as not, the trolly scanners don’t work which the MTS security guys (and gals) acknowledge. As long as you explain that to them (and not look poor; his words) they’ll just scan you on the spot.
What a perfect description of public transit in San Diego. If it weren’t so funny, so predictably accurate, one could cry. But what about the people who “rely” on such a system for work or school? Forget about them., like always. But what about that app that tells if the late bus has disappeared into the ether? Forget about it: it’s part of the modernity mirage, just like the City’s Get It Done gizmo.
Let’s just say there’s room for improvement in tour town.
Taking Public Transit in San Diego is the only option for some people. While I agree with the statement that public transit is “slow, indirect, and unpredictable,” the above scenario seems more of the result of impatience. I am a San Diego native who has not owned a car for 15 years. I have always functioned by the adage that if you are not early, you are late. I have never missed an important meeting, deadline, class, or training due to San Diego’s public transit. If more people took transit, it would run more frequently, while removing personal vehicles from over-congested roadways. Stating that “Taking Public Transit in San Diego Is a Big Gamble” is just stating that you have multiple transit options. Consider yourself lucky.
Next level time. The transit budget itself points to a deficit also. And there are some who would love to be subsidized by general tax increases. MTS will need to raise prices for their vision of transit everywhere. And it should be the users who pay, not some city government subsidy pushed onto everyone as a budgetary item.
I do consider myself lucky. I relied on it for years to get downtown and had this same experience as well, though not every day. This is how I learned to leave early every time. I had to go downtown the next day and availed myself of the 20-minute option. Glad I have that option! (Also that title was added by the editor, not me.)
Spot on assessment of some of the many problems of public transportation in San Diego.
This is a large part of why the buses you see are nearly empty.
To paraphrase from a Mel Brooks movie –
“It could have been worse.”
“How ?”
“It could have been raining …”
“Slow, indirect, and unpredictable” – you might have found the new MTS slogan
I rode the bus from OB to downtown and back two days week for about four months a few years ago and had the same experience. Half the time the bus would simply not show up as though it didn’t exist. It wasn’t just late.
I made it a point to call every single time to report that the bus never arrived. The explanation I received was that the bus was delayed because of traffic on the way from the bus depot to OB in the morning. I made this suggestion in response a few times: “if the bus consistently runs into traffic causing them to be late, then maybe the bus should be scheduled to leave earlier to get to its destination on time.”
Nothing ever changed, it was hit or miss whether the bus would show up. I moved on to a different job.
I feel your pain!
I think a lot of bus delays happen in all cities when a driver calls in sick. And as we all know, calling in sick is one of the great benefits of being a public employee
MTS is failing with no solutions. Electric busses breaking down. Wages and costs going up.
https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2026/01/30/california-transit-agencies-financial-crisis-task-force/