. please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . july 2015 mts rapid parent metropolitan transit system founded 2014 locale san diego county california service area escondido to downtown san diego rancho bernardo to ucsd downtown san diego to sdsu service type mixed brt routes 5 215 235 237 280 290 stops 14 stations 9 fleet 29 new flyer industries 60 foot xcelsior cng bus fuel type compressed natural gas operator veolia transport under contract to mts website mtsrapid.com mts rapid is a mixed bus rapid transit system in san diego county california united states operating between escondido and downtown san diego via the interstate 15 high occupancy toll lanes . there are three services on the corridor . line 235 operates all day serving all stations along the corridor from escondido to san diego and then to downtown san diego ending at the santa fe depot . service operates every 15 minutes during peak hours and every 30 minutes at all other times . the rapid express service operates from selected bus stations to downtown san diego bypassing city heights and kearny mesa . line 280 serves the two northernmost stations escondido and del lago while line 290 serves the rancho bernardo and sabre springs pe asquitos stations . route 237 serves sabre springs san diego and then to ucsd via the miramar college transit station and mira mesa blvd. route 215 is the mid city line providing service to downtown through sdsu . the new route saves up to 45 minutes from local mts line 20 which continues to operate along the corridor to serve locations not served by line 235 . it also eliminates a transfer at del lago transit center between line 20 and breeze rapid to central escondido . 1 rapid express service is rebranded premium express service which formerly operated along the corridor although it now omits local stops . the cost for the service is approximately 238 million consisting primarily of transit centers at city heights del lago escondido and rancho bernardo ; parking structures at miramar college and sabre springs ; and new 60 foot buses . the buses include padded seats but do not include wi fi nor power plugs . this is in addition to the investment in the i 15 hot lane project which cost approximately 1 billion for four new lanes and direct access ramps . while an extension of the san diego trolley was studied low ridership hilly terrain and high cost estimates stopped the rail idea from proceeding . taxpayer advocates have supported the rapid due to its lower cost compared to rail extensions . 2 free rides were offered on the first day of service june 8 2014 . 3 in summer 2014 the mid city rapid line 215 service commenced operations from san diego state university to downtown san diego via balboa park north park normal heights and city heights . also a peak hour rapid route line 237 has also comeneced operation from the uc san diego area to rancho bernardo via san diego and the i 15 hot lanes . these routes have been described as diet trolleys but critics claim that the limited amount of spending on brt compared to highway spending shows sandag s emphasis on highway and automobile based transportation . 4 the mts rapid service is provided by veolia transportation under contract to mts . future services edit in 2016 the south bay rapid will operate between downtown san diego chula vista and the otay mesa port of entry . this route has been controversial due to its bisection of the otay ranch section of chula vista through a median which was reserved and signed for future transit use . 5 references edit new rapid 235 bus line launches . nbc 7 san diego . chris nichols 4 june 2014 . new mts rapid bus service to launch on sunday connecting north county with downtown san diego . sandiegouniontribune.com . the san diego union tribune . new rapid bus service opens sunday on i 15 corridor times of san diego . times of san diego . meet mid city s new diet trolley speak city heights . chris nichols 25 july 2013 . south county bus project that sparked outrage up for vote . the san diego union tribune . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mts rapid & oldid 743945829 categories bus transportation in californiabus rapid transit in californiapublic transportation in san diego county californiatransportation in san diegohidden categories wikipedia articles in need of updating from july 2015all wikipedia articles in need of updating navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 12 october 2016 at 04 46 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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