Source:  MTS

June 18, 2023 (San Diego) - A agreement has been reached between Transdev and Teamsters Local 683 to operate MTS bus routes in South Bay and East County that had been affected by a work stoppage. All scheduled bus routes for these divisions are anticipated to operate on a normal schedule on Monday, June 19.

By Miriam Raftery

March 30, 2023 (San Diego) – Last night, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher announced that he will resign his District 4 seat at the end of his medical leave for treatment of PTSD and alcohol abuse.

The announcement comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed March 28 against Fletcher and the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) by an MTS worker who claims Fletcher harassed and sexually assaulted her on MTS property, and that she was fired by MTS as a result.

Fletcher has called the relationship “consensual’ and a “mistake” but denies harassing or assaulting the plaintiff, Grecia Figueroa, a former TV journalist and MTS spokesperson. Fletcher’s attorney, Danielle Hultenius Moore, alleges that Figueroa tried to extort Fletcher before filing a suit and that Fletcher’s team will be “pursuing our own legal response.

Innovative project first in the region to use vehicle-to-infrastructure technology

Source:  SANDAG

December 7, 2021 (San Diego) - The Bus on Shoulder pilot project hit a major milestone this week when driver training began on the I-805 and SR 94 freeway shoulders between National City and Downtown San Diego. The pilot project is a joint effort between SANDAG, MTS, and Caltrans, in partnership with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), to improve reliability and maintain travel times for the South Bay Rapid transit service (Route 225) by using select shoulders on the two freeways to bypass vehicle congestion during peak travel times.

Riders can win prizes including free transit for a year.  Ditch rush-hour traffic, save gas and take a ride!

By Miriam Raftery

September 17, 2019 (San Diego) – Metropolitan Transit Service (MTS) and the North County Transit District (NCTD) are offering offer free rides to the public on all three trolley lines and fixed line busses, as well as the Coaster and Sprinter train service on Wednesday, October 2, which is also California Clean Air Day. 

Source:  MTS

Photo IDs: (From Left to Right) Mike Wygant, Chief Operating Officer, MTS Bus; Kim Kawada, Chief Deputy Executive Director, SANDAG; Brian Riley, Superintendent of Transportation, MTS Rail; Wayne Terry, Chief Operating Officer, MTS Rail; Paul Jablonski, Chief Executive Officer, MTS; Georgette Gómez, City of San Diego Council President and Board of Directors Chair, MTS; Mona Rios, Vice Chair, MTS; Robyn Stimson, Vice President of Business Development, Siemens; Chuck Bell, Project Manager, Siemens; Nick Balfour, Engineering Project Manager, Siemens; Andy Goddard Jr., Superintendent of LRV Maintenance, MTS Rail; Ed Graham, Assistant Superintendent of Transportation, MTS Rail.

April 18, 2019 (San Diego) - As the next generation of trolley cars gears up to begin service on the UC San Diego Blue Line this Saturday, officials with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) unveiled to the public the first vehicle of the new trolley series as part of a ‘Trolley Open House’ on Wednesday. The new trolley cars will enter service as part of the 5000 vehicles series, representing the third generation of modern, low-floor vehicles, which have been in operation on MTS’ light rail network since 2005.

Photo: Iesha Booker and Mayor Bill Wells (Credit: Mary Ann Prall)

East County News Service

August 10, 2017 (El Cajon) -- On Tuesday, Iesha Booker, an MTS worker who aided a fallen police officer, was given a commendation at the El Cajon City Council meeting in front of a packed Council chamber and half a dozen news crews.   After a suspect beat the officer unconscious at a KFC restaurant, Booker used the officer’s radio to summon help, as ECM reported.

East County News Service

March 27, 2017 (San Diego) -- The Metropolitan Transit System is proposing 62 changes in trolley and bus route schedules to reflect changing demographics demands—and they’re asking for public comments.

You can view the proposed changes at sdmts.com/TOP and submit your comments no later than April 10^th. 

East County News Service

September 15, 2016 (Lemon Grove) -- At 9:20 a.m., Heartland Fire & Rescue crews were dispatched to a report of a natural gas line break in the 7700 Block of North Avenue. Upon arrival, firefighters determined that a 2” gas line had been severed by construction crews who were using an excavator to dig a trench.

East County News Service

March 1, 2016 (San Diego) - If you’ve used your credit or debit card to purchase monthly trolley or bus passes through the Metropolitan Transit System’s Compass Card fare collection system, your security may be compromised.

By Miriam Raftery

August  22, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Surveillance video of two Metropolitan Transit Service (MTS) security officers brutally beating a passenger in La Mesa has prompted suspension of the officers and a police investigation, as ECM reported.  But now an ECM investigation reveals that it may be only the tip of an iceberg.

A Facebook page titled “Stop MTS Harassment and Brutality!” with the logo shown at left was launched back on March 3, 2014 by Bertha Guttierez of Chula Vista.  Posts and links at the site reveal at least three additional excessive use of force cases involving MTS security officers, two of them also involving victims who alleged racial profiling , racial slurs and taunts by the officers.

By Miriam Raftery and Janis Mork

February 15, 2013 (La Mesa)--It’s not often that a mayor accuses a councilmember of lying in a public meeting, or that a councilmember contends the mayor is engaging in schoolyard banter.  Both happened in La Mesa this week, where Mayor Art Madrid and Councilmember Ernie Ewin engaged in a terse dispute over appointments to three regional boards plus travel expenses.

By Miriam Raftery

January 8, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – A reader asked ECM to look into why graffiti along trolley lines in El Cajon have not yet been cleaned up despite complaints spanning a year.  “Several citizens have been more than frustrated,” wrote Maryann Ostermeyer, who said that to date, neither the city nor Metropolitan Transit Service (MTS) has taken responsibility for cleanup.

“It has taken a long time, but it is due solely to MTS regs about who and how people work within their ROW (right-of-way),” City Manager Douglas Wililford wrote in an e-mail to Councilman Gary Kendrick in response to ECM’s inquiry. “We have been diligent about this and will continue to be," he wrote, then cited progress in efforts to work with MTS.

September 1, 2012 (San Diego) – Beginning September 2, all trolley lines end in the downtown area, providing single seat service to downtown from everywhere on the Trolley network. It’s all part of the Trolley Renewal project, designed to improve Blue Line and Orange Line stations and bring low-floor cars to the entire Trolley system.

Now, the Green Line will travel through Old Town and terminate at 12th & Imperial via Seaport Village, Convention Center and Gaslamp Quarter stations. Blue Line trains will travel between San Ysidro and America Plaza. Orange Line trains will travel between El Cajon and Santa Fe Depot. 

In addition to an improved Trolley network, the Metropolitan Transit System will add considerable bus services on September 2.

• Lemon Grove considers downtown rule change (UT San Diego)
• Fletcher bolts GOP as San Diego mayoral race nears (Sacramento Bee)
• Former college official, architect arraigned (UT San Diego)
• Underemployment holding back San Diego economy (KPBS)
• Candlelight vigil held for slain Iraqi woman (10 News)
• Redevelopment pigs back at the trough (San Diego Reader)
• MTS boosts benefits for boss by $20,000 (10 News)
• Records Suggest Move Against Racist Icon Tom Metzger in Bombing (SPLC)

• California Legislative Democrats balk at Jerry Brown’s proposed budget cuts (Sacramento Bee)
• California GOP lawmakers push budget plan to cut state workers’ pay, nix tax increase (Sacramento Bee)
• Gov. Jerry Brown’s solar energy campaign (Sacramento Bee)