Skip to main content

Transit hub promised in San Diego area

San Diego North County’s Interstate 15 corridor is best known for its flood of freeway traffic, not its mass transit stations. This is due to change next year, when the Sabre Springs/Penasquitos transit station, just east of I-15 on Sabre Springs Parkway, is set to undergo a US$12.2 million face-lift that will include a four-storey parking garage, electric vehicle charging stations, electronic next bus signs and even some smart parking spaces. “This will be our flagship station,” said Frank Owsiany, who ov
January 18, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
San Diego North County’s Interstate 15 corridor is best known for its flood of freeway traffic, not its mass transit stations.  This is due to change next year, when the Sabre Springs/Penasquitos transit station, just east of I-15 on Sabre Springs Parkway, is set to undergo a US$12.2 million face-lift that will include a four-storey parking garage, electric vehicle charging stations, electronic next bus signs and even some smart parking spaces.

 “This will be our flagship station,” said Frank Owsiany, who oversees station improvements along the inland corridor for the 1789 San Diego Association of Governments, the region’s transportation planning agency.

Construction on what is said to be the ultimate I-15 transit hub, is expected to begin by late February or early March and should last about a year, Owsiany said.

The project is timed to be ready for the early 2014 launch of an expanded rapid bus service along I-15. That service promises to increase the frequency and shorten the routes of express buses that ferry passengers from stations in Escondido, Rancho Bernardo and other points south along the I-15 Express Lanes to job centers in Sorrento Valley and downtown San Diego.

The Sabre Springs project will require the closure of the station’s 150 parking spaces, which will be temporarily replaced at three park and rides along Sabre Springs Parkway. Owsiany said the station ramps that connect drivers to the freeway’s express lanes will remain open during construction.

Once complete, the parking garage will offer 537 spaces to go along with 93 additional surface lot spaces. Solar panels will be added on top of the structure, providing shade for cars on the top level, as well as providing a power source, he said.

Owsiany added that drivers will be able to call and reserve smart parking spots inside the station, where stalls will be lighted either green or red to show whether they have been reserved.

Related Content

  • April 16, 2013
    NY to get EV charging stations
    As part of an initiative to create 3,000 public and workplace stations over the next five years and to put 40,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road in the state, New York is to have more than 360 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations installed throughout the state to help reduce fossil fuel use. Announcing the project, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “Building this network of innovative charging stations will encourage New Yorkers to use fuel-efficient alternatives like electric vehicles as well as grow the
  • January 25, 2012
    Anywhere card delivers prepaid contactless ticketing
    David Crawford investigates a far reaching initiative in integrated travel. The Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), an operator of high speed commuter rail in the north eastern US, is not one of the world's best known transit providers. Its 13 stations along a single east-west route (three of them interchanges with other regional commuter lines) handle 40,000 passengers a day, travelling to and from Philadelphia, the US' fifth most populous city.
  • January 22, 2019
    BART launches multi-modal trip planner app in San Francisco
    Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has launched a trip planner app in San Francisco to provide commuters with access to various transportation modes and information on service disruptions. The BART Trip Planner was developed in collaboration with HaCon – whose software processes transit data from more than 30 operators including buses, trains, ferries and cable cars. BART says the app takes walking, cycling and car routes and the state of traffic into account to give users a realistic comparison of their commu
  • March 29, 2023
    What are AVs doing in rural Ohio?
    Autonomous vehicle pilots so far have been typically sighted in urban areas. But researchers in rural regions of Ohio are now trying to find out exactly what benefits they could bring to the countryside