our tour guide Dillenger was excellent. informative, funny & interactive with riders. 5 stars!!

The MTS system does not consistently DELIVER. Always running late, so hard to get anywhere ON TIME. Always going slow, with no EXPRESS of any kind. A cute little trolley with no purpose outside occasional novelty for tourists. The city needs to upgrade to a functional system PRONTO. read more

San Diego Trolley - Sad people, trolley going the wrong way - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

AFFORDABLE & HELPFUL! It's usually a fun time riding the trolley, especially during Comic Con. My family and I got a good deal on Pronto cards (tickets) for Comic Con weekend. We spent $20 per person and we got unlimited rides throughout the SDCC weekend. Some trolley stops have parking where you can leave your car parked for free and you can just hop on the trolley, however many do not. Regardless, the trolley is definitely helpful if you don't want drive and rather avoid parking fees. My favorite line is the Blue Line as it's less congested and covers a lot of DT San Diego, all the way to San Ysidro! I took the line from E street and it dropped me off at 12th and Imperial which wasn't too far from the Hilton next to the Convention Center. The Green Line was cool too but it's arguably the most popular route as it takes you directly to Old Town, the Convention Center, Seaport and other major destinations. Just be prepared to wait before you can actually board as odds are they'll be packed from door to door. read more

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I absolutely love the SD trolley. Reliable safe transportation that gets me around the city of San Diego. read more

I took the trolley from E Street Chula Vista, to El Cajon a transit Station to buy a van. I missed the first one because I had to buy a ticket. i missed the second one because I couldn't tell where it was going AND it had a weird paint job I wasn't sure I wasn't sure if it was going to 12 Th and Imperial, so I waited. I caught the 3rd one. It took me to 12 Th and Imperial where I boarded the Orange Line and rode to the to the El Cajon Transit Station. My ride was fairly quick, though not near as quick as the drive back once I bought the van. I was grateful that as a senior I rode for $1.25 one way. The ride was comfortable, with nice seats and I especially appreciated that the AC wasn't blasting cold air on me.Overall a great experience. I'm considering buying a senior pass and taking busses and trolley to save on gasoline costs. read more

San Diego Trolley - I'm at my destination. - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

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I do not recommend. Bought a ticket at Balboa park. Did not know it was a third party ticket and the San Diego trolley did not honor the free admission for residents resident with a paying customer. No help at the trolley kiosk or the phone number on the ticket. Stay away. read more

On time. Clean. Fast. I enjoyed hopping from Mall to Mall using the trolley. I can definitely recommend. read more

Fantastic ride. Our guide and driver was Goose, he was fantastic! When we were in small traffic jams, he brought out his guitar and the entire trolly sang along. My family and I had a GREAT time. I would recommend considering purchasing passes for more than one day. There are so many places to stop and enjoy for hours. It is great for kids too. Going over the Coronado bridge was out highlight. I highly, highly recommend the trolley. read more

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This is my favorite way to get around San Diego. We like to park at the hotel and then use the local trolley to get around during our stays. It is easier to sightsee and get places in my opinion. It is fast and reliable, covers the whole downtown and beyond! It is above ground, a nice way to check out the city. You can't go everywhere, but it's pretty good in my book. We used it all the way to Santee, took it to visit Old Town and it's a must in downtown: Little Italy, Seaport Village, Gaslamp, Convention Center (great for Comic Con). The trains are clean, arrive fast, reasonably priced: $2,50. I recommend the day pass for $6 is a great value if you use more in one day. My favorite way to get around San Diego, safe and makes it fun to explore the city! read more

San Diego Trolley - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

This review is for the blue line light rail trolley that takes you downtown and all the way down to the border with Tijuana . I found the trolley to be a very convenient thing as I can park my car as I did at Palm Station for up to 24 hours and take the trolley from there on. I've always taken the trolley down to the border and walked right across into Tijuana , I really like this form of transport as opposed to driving down there . I simply walk across the border into Tijuana and then walk right back into the trolley which takes me to my parked car . There are some sketchy people sometimes on the trolley but these days sketchy people are everywhere and so I won't judge the trolley system because of this. The tickets are two dollars and fifty cents each way . read more

San Diego Trolley - Palm Avenue trolley station - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

An excellent option to get around town if you have time to spare. Most trolley run on schedule. They are always clean and the AC is on full blast! I've used the Trolley to and from Petco with my son and he enjoys it. I tell him it's Thomas the Train's Cousin. He gets super excited and loves seeing people board and leave. He always asks where are they going. I'd rather wait a few minutes and ride the tram to enjoy spare time to relax than deal with traffic that doesn't move. Location, price and value- nobody comes close! With the addition of the Pronto Card and all it's promotions, it's a win win situation. Most people should give it a try. You'll thank me later. read more

San Diego Trolley - My son enjoying the views of San Diego from the trolley - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

Loved the tour around all the most popular sights with the option of getting off and riding back to your destination. Drivers were really helpful read more

San Diego Trolley - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

After getting a parking ticket, I decided to give the trolley a try to Downtown. In the daytime, a trolley was always under 10 minutes away. Certain stops have free car parking. It was nice to leave the driving to someone else and not stress about finding parking or feeding meters. You can get to many of the popular spots in the city (Old Town, Little Italy, Gaslight District, etc.). As with many urban centers the cabins could be cleaner. As a newbie, you need to purchase a pronto card. Available at stations, which you scan on the platform before boarding with free transfers (buses as well) for the next two hours. Alternatively, download the phone app and load balance via credit card. read more

San Diego Trolley - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

If you're a visitor and have two hours to spare, the trolley crosses through many areas of America's Finest City for beautiful aesthetic viewing. If you're a local, you get to learn your city and connecting buses that can be advantage while job searching. Padres or SDSU Sports Fan? Hell yes, Take the trolley and save traffic jams and parking fees. Just want to get out for the day? Take the trolley to Old Town, Harbor or Santee. Enjoy the scenery, have lunch, and head back home. How about the border or crossing to Tijuana? This is your best transportation decision. An all day pass is $8.00 and you're FORCED to buy a compass card but you can ride all day on the bus and trolley with ease of mind. Public transportation means that, so you could have different characters on your route. There are several stops where you can park your car for FREE and then take the trolley. Trolleys are clean, run every 10-15 minutes, and never break down. Bikes allowed on the trolley, and wheelchair accessible. One tip, push the button "open" the door they do not open automatically or you'll be ghosted. read more

David was my tour guy , I've been to San Diego many times but never had a tour around the area learned a lot about San Diego definitely recommend you friends and family. read more

We took the City Lights tour with San Diego Trolley Tours and had an amazing time. Since arriving in San Diego, I have seen those green trolley busses all over town. And we finally decided to hop on board and check out the experience. Our driver was a true San Diegan and provided us with a lot of wonderful history about San Diego, including the tremendous recent growth of the city. The tour has a scheduled stop in Coronado, where passengers can grab ice cream or macarons from a French patisserie. I think this is the perfect experience for a date or if you are hosting guests from out of town. read more

With the many stations that I have traveled to is there have been a great willingness for customers safety and the many stations that have shown many new things to keep riders safe with the crossing between the trains and the high-speed trains. The many stations that have had the best in safety use and the electronic sensors that can tell the train that is on approach and the arrival times that has been improved. Where you have State Parks and San Diego Transit Busses that are passing through one station you need to have a way of keeping the many riders that run for the trolley that I have seen many times that people do think it looks when its safety is looking to see what's coming. The many stations you have to look at what comes through the station with the many trains that come through and some that don't stop. The station that I am relating to is the Old Town Transit Center that has been one of the busiest with the many busses which connect to the trolleys and the many that catch the Amtrack and the Coaster trains that travel through at high speed. Old Transit Center the train platform has parts that don't have safety gates which help in safety keep people from crossing at the gate entry were the trains transit. From where you see the trains come many people have jumped through the train tracks playing aa game of catching the train in motion not seeing the don't cross. The Old Town Transit Center has been one that many connect with the busses that park at both areas of the terminal areas some coming close to getting hit by the bus and the trolleys. The trolleys are large and large in tonnage that many accidents of people that have been hit and killed by the trolley. As an avid traveler with the trolley and the many trains the sidewalk should have gates that keeps people from crossing it would cut down the many accidents and the many times that the trains would have to stop at the station. The sidewalk that goes through the train crossing. The many other stations that have train notifiers telling riders that the train is upon approach and to get the platform to clear the tracks. The two stations that have great safety measures is the UTC and the Nobel transit Center the safety system is one that operates thoroughly. With the issue of people that run out in front of the trolley and the ones that try to stop trains is not something that should be done. Being a Yelp Elite Reviewer being a customer and a rider of the train and the trolley that travel from the fashion Valley and the 12th and imperial train Station Safety at the Trolley Centers is the Safety issues should be taken seriously at the many stations. read more

San Diego Trolley - Safety Issues need to be upgraded and the need of a gate that keeps people from crossing . - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

What a cool way to go around San Diego! Even more amazing that they were offering free admission for residents in January! The tour guide/driver teach you a bit of history as you go around. As a San Diegan, I've actually seen things and learned about things I didn't know about. Very neat experience! My girl friends and I got on at the Stop by USS Midway and got off Coronado. I'm giving 3 stars because a bus took forever to get to the Stop when we were trying to get back. It took about 40-45 minutes! Not sure what that was about. We had to take a Lyft to get back to the car because we had other things we had to get to in our schedule. An unexpected expense. I was a bit disappointed we didn't get a chance to get back on and see more stops. read more

San Diego Trolley - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

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Thank you Matt - our tour expert for the 'City Lights' bus ride! We appreciate your knowledge, small town kindness, non-offensive attitude and just being unselfishly nice! We hope to run into you again! Keep on keeping on! From your Ranxho Cucamonga friends, The Mom and the daughter that got engaged at Croce's old restaurant (: read more

I've been a rider and fan of the San Diego Trolley since the 1980s, first as a tourist and later as a San Diego resident. Back then, it was a single light rail line connecting downtown San Diegovto the International Border at San Ysidro. This past week, my wife and I enjoyed our first ride on the UCSD Blue Line -- a round trip from the Nobel Station to Barrio Logan including a stop for dinner in Little Italy. The San Diego Trolley is efficient, smooth and on-time. It's very convenient for going to Petco Park or the Convention Center, saving on parking and travel hassle by parking away from downtown and taking the Trolley. A one-way fare is $2.50, $1.25 for seniors, disabled and students. The cars and ride are comparable to the best light rail in European cities. read more

Selective politics! The training department is knowledgeable about the do's and don't of operating an LRV on the mainline, due to experience, and time in the train cockpit! Anyone going through the program will have to learn how the train operates from learning the operating verbiage, all signals, crossing gates, speed transitions, rules and operating procedures! My warning to anybody thinking about pursuing a career, take into consideration, the training department has been afforded too much power, over who gets through the program, and who doesn't! On top of that; they want you to give up your life, and fk what you may have going on in your personal life. The day I was let go from the program, I was dealing with some personal issues, and this company, moreso, the training department didn't give a fk, but I also think, because of my leadership qualities a d the great reviews, I was getting from my operating instructors became a problem for the people who are in charge of training! To be clear, had the chance, I would have out operated all of them! And my ability to deal with the public we served would have spoken for itself! Some racial bias there as well! I sat with seasoned operates, been there for years and all the commentary was negative, so thank u Ellen for removing me from the program! I don't think it would have been in my best interest anyway, after working 32 years for the City of San Diego! I pray for Irene and the person who lost they life today!!! read more

We have tried these in other large cities. They are always an interesting ride as they talk about different topics as you pass through the stops. The San Diego team did not disappoint. We learned history, hot spots or recommendations for each stop we hopped on and off of. The day we choose happened to be the same as three cruise ships were in port. This crew was ready for the challenge. They had extra trolley's and people on the ground at ever location. We only had a short wait at one stop. This team has it going on and every driver we had was really fun. We only held one star as it was a wee higher in cost. If it wasn't for the entertainment from the drivers, we may have hired a ride share. The drivers make it worth hopping on. read more

San Diego Trolley - My favorite advertisement on the trolley. - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

Catching up on Yelp reviews. Alex (aka The Homie) and I bought day passes to use the San Diego Trolley on 7/21/18 to visit a relative down in Imperial Beach and also to get to Little Italy. There was an easy visual, color coded map and used the ticket kiosks proximate to East Village and the Convention Center during the San Diego ComicCon. Reminded me of the street cars in downtown Seattle. Make sure you do have commuter passes, day passes or some form of transportation payment - they do have transit police who check onboard! Again, this came in handy since we didn't have a rental car and also didn't want our relative having to deal with all the traffic and road restrictions due to the convention. It was better for us to get to her and later extended our return by wandering Little Italy again. Very convenient and great value for visitors to get around! read more

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If you're new to the area, or visiting for the first time, and want to see multiple neighborhoods before deciding where to visit, then this may be a good option. But the tour is very gimmicky, pickup times are not solid, and the tour can be well over an hour, meaning if you've figured out where you want to go, it may be quicker to get off the trolly and take public transit ($6 max per day) to get where you want to go. Also, we were using a Go City Explorer pass (3 activities around San Diego within 60 days), and at Old Town, the Trolly worker accidentally validated for both the Trolly and the Whaley House. We didn't go to the Whaley House. This meant one of our three activities was taken when we didn't actually use it. We had to talk to two employees, and a manager thought she had resolved it. Later we figured out she didn't. We went to another employee at the end of the tour, and he gave me a pamphlet and said I'd have to call a different day. We only had one day left, and it was Thanksgiving when their office was closed, so I lost one of my three Go City activities. read more

Lack of security,Its increasingly becoming unsafe to ride trolley,I've reported incidents on trolley,and it's goes on deaf ears.Security is never around when you need them. read more

We were here four years ago and this area is still as beautiful and clean as it was then. The trains run often and consistently all day. Very reasonable transportation read more

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We had an amazing tour all over San Diego , we got off at Coronado hotel , it was so beautiful. And the Driver Mike was amazing he had a song for a lot of the places he pointed out. Even on a movie that Tom Cruze was in Tom Gun. He was so amazing. Thank you Mike for making my sister in laws 80th birthday the best ever. read more

San Diego Trolley - Sybil Poiset and Debra Bond in front of the Coronado Christmas tree inside. - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

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Everything needs improving. But I have to ride it till I get a car. I hate the crazy people on it all the time, not enough security and they are pretty much useless because there's only so much they can or will do. A drunk guy on the other day, pissed all over the seat and got off, a lady gets on the next stop and nobody told her and she sat in it! Wtf! smh. I didn't see her sit down until I was getting off. So I told her. No GAF anymore about anything. It's sad. read more

Super fun! Tons of great info, every guide we rode with was awesome, easy on and off, great overview of the area. Totally recommend it

I like seeing how things are made and how they work. When I was a kid I liked watching construction projects and taking stuff apart. Back in the old days most things were held together by screws so the world was mine after I found where our screwdrivers were kept. The key was remembering how to put stuff back together in the exact sequence it was taken apart. It was with great surprise when they started building the trolley extension to UCSD this year. I voted for Transnet back in 1987 to fund the trolley to UCSD. One of the first things they did is block off the road and start digging a huge hole in the ground. They also block off a parking lot as a staging area where they prep steel reinforcement. A crane lifts the steel into the hole and concrete is poured into place. Next metal panels surround the steel. Concrete is poured into the mold formed by the metal panels. This week they have been building the base of the track with steel girders. read more

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Every so often my husband and I like to purchase a day pass (cost $5) for the San Diego Trolley services. We spend the day traveling from the Orange Line to Blue Line to the Green Line and back again. We have never had any problems and the trolley stations are clean and well supervised with helpful, handsome Security Guards. At the 12th and Imperial Trolley stop you can connect to all three trolley lines (Blue, Orange, and Green). On our excursion today we made stops at the Gaslamp Quarters, Old Town and Mission Valley on the Green Line and we took the Blue Line down to San Ysidro. Some of the trolleys got pretty crowded with school children and working folks but since we were sitting it was a comfortable ride. read more

San Diego Trolley - Public Transportation Near Me - San Diego, California

Very informative, lots of fun and a great way to get around San Diego if you don't have a car. And even if you have a car you don't have to worry about finding parking by taking the trolley.They stop at all the favorite tourist spots and you can get on and off all day until 430 at most stops. The drivers give the history of San Diego throughout the tour. Our favorite stop was Seaport Village. Love this. Would do again. read more

Great way to see San Diego when you don't have much time in the city - in two hours you see the highlights. Best part is you can ride free all day. read more

Oh beautiful San Diego... your downtown public transportation service is so great!! The trolley service took us just about everywhere we needed to go and was basically very easy to understand (once we knew where we were headed exactly). Each ride I noticed that they were clean and bright and everyone seemed very respectful aboard. Even security was friendly. On one instance security came across a man who hadn't bought a ticket and was obviously trying to get a "free ride" so they quietly just told him to exit at the next stop; no scene, no bullying, no raised voices. It was a bit confusing at first when trying to figure out which trolley and where we actually needed to be headed when arriving in San Diego, but once we figured all of that out it was awesome! You can buy 4-Day passes for, I think, about $15 and a 1-day pass was $5. We walked quite a bit and only used the trolley a handful of times during our stay so we just decided to pay the 1-Way price of $2.50 each time. We probably could have saved some money by doing one of the passes but it still saved our feet and was easy on the wallet... BONUS! I knocked it down a star only because it is a bit confusing to figure out and the people helping you aren't really all that helpful (I think they assume you know more than you know). Basically the Green Line takes you around one side of downtown, the Orange Line takes you deeper inside and around the other way and the Blue Line heads you off towards Tijuana. Even with the knocked off star it was overall a great experience and I will always take full advantage of using the MTS on any and all future visits (and I'm planning a lot more, I've missed you San Diego!!) CHEERS!!! read more

Fantastic way to see the sights and be able to hop on and off. Tour guide Benjamin is knowledgeable and great sense of humor. We enjoyed the tour very much. read more

Fantastic Tour!! It was a little over 2 hours and we hit all the major spots in San Diego. Our tour guide was jack and her shared the typical area information but he also shared some very personal trivia that he alone researched. I would highly recommend these tour buses!! read more

Even though the cost to extend the Trolley to UTC was Excessive, I was excited try the trolley for the Elton John Concert at Petco Park. Unfortunately, I nightmare. Many homeless use the various stations to live (since the SD Council has not addressed their housing nor support). Then, I our way home - the Trolley ended "out of service" at America Plaza (downtown). The conductor told us to get off and go across the track for next trolley to UTC. After 15 mins, we asked & were informed NO More Trolleys toward PB or UTC - take an Uber. After another 15 mins & many Uber cancelling - we were told many need Uber due to no trolley nor public transport. Finally, we flagged a taxi to Balboa Center near PB ($60 ride)/ Never take the Trolley at Night, a Nightmare. read more

Decided I would do my part for the environment and take the trolley from la mesa to jury duty downtown. What a mistake! 5-6 riders per trip not wearing masks at all. 4-5 homeless people sleeping, snoring, and farting. 2-3 people drinking alcohol while riding. The worst part is I felt as if it was some hunger games challenge to be thrown on a car and the winner would be the passenger that survives and makes it to their stop. I never once over a week saw security or even an mts employee. As a native san diegan I am embarrassed how the trolley system represents San Diego. I wouldn't let my children ride the trolley for fear of their safety. So sad San Diego! read more

Piece of crap they don't call the stops so if you are from out of town it's very easy to miss your stop. Then to catch the trolley back it's a 30 minute wait. Save yourself time and aggravation especially if you are on schedule and skip what is one of THE worst public transit. read more

The rating for the trolley very much depends on the point of reference and the way of using the trolley (this review only covers the Blue line). When compared to a Coaster toy train, this is very much an improvement, to the point of actually being somewhat usable. When compared to the public transit standards of most first-world countries (and many third-world), this service needs some serious improvements. First, the good sides: the trains are reasonably frequent (each 15 minutes on the Blue line) and not filled to capacity (at 7AM-8AM the cars going to downtown from UCSD were practically empty, see the photo). The speed is also reasonable. It takes about 1-2 minutes to reach the train platform from the drop-off points in the suburbs. Now, the problems: * in some cars the very hard seats are extremely uncomfortable, worse than anything I've seen anywhere on the public transit (other cars are OK). There are no tables to put a laptop on (this is a 30-minute ride!). * technology is either non-existent (Wi-Fi, anyone? - this is the year 2022!) or does not work (occasionally no text indicators for the stops). While I was waiting for a train, the station display went from (incorrect) 20 minutes to wait to NOW to (correct) 2 minutes to NOW in no time at all (the actual train arrived on schedule). There is no easy way to follow the train progress from the Pronto app. Hint: find your train in Pronto and do not change the screen afterwards, otherwise you will have to repeat the search. * In the downtown you will naturally meet less than savory types, both on the train and off it. I was forced to inhale the secondhand cannabis smoke (see photo) and navigate narrow passages on the sidewalk between homeless encampments (see photo) . The level of this nuisance depends on your circumstances: I did not care much, but a small-frame female might have a different opinion. There are things that are easy to improve: install Wi-Fi, fix and improve the text indicators for the ride progress, add a button to follow the train to the Pronto app. There are things that are expensive to fix: replace the hard seats with a better, softer designs present in some cars. Most important, there are things that require political will, but the city shall clean up the downtown; it is currently in a disastrous shape. A street encampment on one of the main streets and just a couple blocks away from the central courthouse is not only a challenge to the law and order, it makes the public transit option impractical for most taxpayers (see the one-star reviews here). There are couple of tents pitched across the street from the court, right next to police cars that are supposed to be the battleships of order. If taking the homeless and cannabis smokers off the trains and away from the stations requires to put the security guards at the downtown stops, then do it - otherwise the Blue line will see very few riders (I did see a guard checking the train in the afternoon). read more

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