City leaders, supporters and sponsors of Coronado’s Free Summer Shuttle will gather on Friday, May 25, to officially kick off service of the popular program that helps keep residents and visitors out of their cars during Coronado’s busiest season.
The event, held on the first day of service, will begin at 10 a.m. at Coronado Rotary Plaza. Four brightly wrapped buses will be in service. After the kick-off ceremony, the community is invited to take a ride. Refreshments will be served.
WHO: City leaders, supporters, sponsors
WHAT: Free Summer Shuttle Kick-off Event
WHEN: 10 a.m.
WHERE: Coronado Rotary Plaza
(Orange and Isabella avenues)
The Free Summer Shuttle program, offering courtesy rides along Coronado’s commercial corridor, is in its sixth season and will run from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The City contracts with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System to operate the Free Summer Shuttle for Village bus service at 15-minute intervals along the existing MTS 904 route. The service offers free rides to passengers from Coronado’s civic center to the Hotel del Coronado, through the downtown, a drop off near the beach, the Coronado Public Library, and Spreckels Park. Service continues to the bayfront shopping and dining area to the Coronado Ferry Landing and the Marriott Coronado Island Resort and back. Buses will run from 8:58 a.m. to 9:43 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and one hour later Friday and Saturday.
The City also will contract with MTS to provide special free bus service on the Fourth of July for Cays residents. Cays service on July 4 will operate from 7:40 a.m. to 11 p.m. in 30-minute intervals from the bus stop across from the Cays Fire Station to the turnaround at the Community Center. As parking is at a premium on the Fourth of July, this will provide a convenient alternative to driving for Cays residents. For Village residents, the Free Summer Shuttle operating hours will be expanded on the Fourth of July by one hour on each end of the schedule, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., to accommodate the large crowds and traffic congestion related to the parade and fireworks show.
Discover Coronado has once again graciously agreed to pay to wrap the four buses. Big crowds are expected to use the City’s Free Summer Shuttle service. The first year of operation resulted in a 506 percent increase from the regular MTS 904 service. Every year since, ridership has increased on average 36 percent. The Summer Shuttle in Coronado is the MTS’s highest performing route in terms of passengers carried per hour of operation.
