The San Diego trolley’s Blue Line from San Ysidro to Old Town will become the “UC San Diego Blue Line” under a naming rights agreement announced Thursday.
The Metropolitan Transit System will receive an annual fee beginning at $675,000 and increasing as the trolley line is extended to the UC San Diego campus over the next four years.
Paul Viviano, chief executive officer of UC San Diego Health, said the partnership “represents a new, smart and sustainable way for San Diegans to visit, learn and access the diverse services we offer.” The health system said all funding for the sponsorship is from non-state sources.
“UC San Diego and MTS have been partners since 1969, working to encourage the use of public transportation,” said Paul Jablonski, MTS chief executive officer. “The renaming of the Blue Line to the UC San Diego Blue Line takes our partnership to a new level.
“The UC San Diego Blue Line extension will not only provide a great new way to travel to campus, but UC San Diego Health will realize exceptional opportunities to increase awareness of its world-class medical facilities via the naming rights for 30 miles of light-rail service,” Jablonski added.
MTS is currently working in conjunction with the San Diego Association of Governments, the California Department of Transportation, elected officials and other stakeholders to develop and complete the 11-mile Blue Line extension from Old Town to University Town Center by 2019.
The 30-year agreement includes naming rights to three stations on the line: the existing station at Old Town, to be renamed Old Town UC San Diego Health South, and planned stations at the UC San Diego main campus and at the health campus in La Jolla, which includes UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center, slated to open in 2016.
MTS spokesman Rob Schupp said there are ongoing discussions for other naming rights opportunities.
