One of the advantages of public transit is the ability to mix and match separate modes and better serve an area's population. One of the best examples on the West Coast is shown here at the Old Town Transit Center in San Diego, Calif., where "Coaster" regional rail, San Diego Trolley light rail and MTS bus routes intersect.

Here, a late-afternoon "Coaster" run heads for downtown San Diego while passengers congregate on the outbound Coaster platform after debarking from the Blue Line light rail train behind them. At the time of the photo, the Blue Line operated through Old Town and into the Mission Valley, terminating at Mission San Diego.

As of July 2005, the Blue Line began operating as far as Old Town, where it connected with the Green Line up the Mission Valley. The Green Line ran all the way to La Mesa, where it merged with the Orange Line to El Cajon and Santee. The "Mission Valley East" extension included the system's first underground station, at San Diego State University.

Today the Blue Line now runs between downtown San Diego and the Mexican border at San Ysidro. The Green Line now runs south of Old Town into the downtown core, connecting with both the Blue and Orange lines.

MTS is expected to extend the Blue Line through Old Town again when it completes its Mid-Coast Extension north to the University of California San Diego campus area.

Photographed by Thomas McCann, November 10, 2003.
Added to the photo archive by Thomas McCann, November 20, 2006.
Railroad: Coaster.

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