East County residents are bracing for some major changes to trolley service this fall when three stations between Santee and El Cajon might be removed from the normal trolley network and become part of a new Copper Line.
Critics say the changes are another example of East County getting the short end of the stick when it comes to transit and public resources, but community leaders say the positives outweigh the negatives.
The changes, which the Metropolitan Transit System board must approve this summer, would force Santee residents traveling to Mission Valley, San Diego State or other popular destinations to take two trains instead of one.
They would take the four-station Copper Line from Santee to the El Cajon Transit Center and transfer there to either the Green or Orange Line. The same transfer would be required for riders using the Gillespie Field and Arnele Avenue stations.
MTS officials say the changes would significantly benefit the overall transit system by sharply improving the Green Line’s on-time performance, which would make transfers to buses and other trolley lines more reliable.
The Green Line, which travels from downtown to Santee mostly along Interstates 5 and 8, connects to more than 50 different bus lines. It also connects to the Blue Line connecting San Ysidro to La Jolla and Southeastern San Diego’s orange line.
The Green Line has the worst on-time performance of the three lines partly because it has only one track along Cuyamaca Street between Gillespie Field and Santee.
The rest of the entire trolley system is double-tracked, allowing trains heading in opposite directions to each other.
With single-tracking, trains heading east and west on the Green Line must take turns and wait for each other.
MTS officials say that causes delays and prompts behind-schedule trolley operators to occasionally turn around before reaching Santee so they can get back on schedule. That happens roughly 20 times a month, officials said.
Under the proposed changes, those delays would be restricted to the Copper Line and not affect the Green Line.
MTS officials say the changes would have a negative impact on only 8 percent of Green Line s, including roughly 2,000 people who travel from Santee to locations west of El Cajon.
The changes would negatively impact just 6 percent of orange line s, which would have to transfer to reach Arnele Avenue. And the changes would negatively impact only 3 percent of overall trolley riders, MTS says.
But online surveys in recent months have consistently shown about a quarter of transit s oppose the proposed changes, with roughly half of riders ing them and another quarter neutral.
Leaders in Santee and El Cajon say the overall benefits to the system outweigh the relatively minor hassle and inconvenience of the extra transfers.
The proposal comes at a time when local officials are trying to strengthen the transit system and boost ridership as the region becomes more densely populated.
Critic Mary Davis said the proposal seems like MTS doubling down on its initial mistake to use single tracking in East County.
“You underinvested in East County by not originally double tracking, and now you want to underinvest there again,” she told the MTS board Thursday.
“East County is yet again getting the short end of a policy-making stick,” she said. “We have historically and now continue to be treated far differently than other regions of the county.”
MTS officials did not discuss the potential costs or hurdles to possibly adding a second track to the eastern portion of the Green Line.
Instead, they touted the proposed Copper Line as a solution with far more benefits than drawbacks.
The change is projected to save about $1 million a year because MTS will only run one-car trains on the Copper Line instead of the typical three-car trains of the Green Line, shrinking electricity and maintenance costs.
Santee and El Cajon officials said they want a significant portion of that savings to be spent on additional security, especially after dark, when their residents will be transferring trains in El Cajon.
“This does introduce a new condition of a person being anxious about their surroundings, especially after dark,” said El Cajon City Councilmember Steve Goble, a member of the MTS board.
Goble said he also wants MTS to go beyond federal and state safety requirements to prevent people crossing tracks from getting hit by trains. He noted that a female rider was killed last month at the El Cajon Station.
“We have seen people tragically suffer injury and worse as the result of crossing tracks,” he said.
Ronn Hall, a Santee City councilmember who sits on the MTS board, said the overall benefits to the trolley system outweigh the inconveniences.
“The idea here is protecting the system — we want better service overall,” he said. “It’s going to be a little inconvenient for people. It’s going to be a little troublesome to get off and get on, but I think we can handle that.”
Hall said he hopes the Copper Line’s one-car trains can become two or three cars if ridership increases in future years.
He also echoed Goble’s concerns about additional security.
“We’re doing our part, we would like some help there.”
MTS plans to provide faster and longer Sunday service on the Copper Line than is now available on the Green Line.
The MTS board held a public hearing on the Copper Line proposal Thursday, but they were prevented from approving it because a federally required service equity analysis must be re-done.
The initial analysis found that the proposed Copper Line would not adversely affect low-income residents and people of color. But MTS officials said Thursday that more analysis is needed.
