City College students and commuters who drive to school and work every day often get caught in heavy traffic. San Diego Association of Governments (Sandag) is building a trolley line that runs between San Ysidro and University City. It will be a welcome alternative from taking a car, which will save gas money, avoid congestion on the freeway, and help reduce smog.

Construction extends rail from Old Town to University City, according to David Hicks, Sandag Communications Manager.

The project, which began in Fall 2016, is expected to be done by 2021 and is being directed by the Sandag.

The expanded blue line will serve as a connection for large employment centers downtown and University City. San Ysidro is the busiest land border crossing in the world where more than 10,000 people board the trolley every day, says Mark Olson, Public Relations for MTS. This rail will provide transportation for commuters and students who travel across the border to City College and beyond.

Passengers will have the option to ride the trolley straight from San Ysidro to University City in one trip. Nine new stations will be added to the existing ones. Mark Olson tells City Times that MTS is working to make transfers between bus and trolley as easy as possible.

The cost of this project is approximately $2.1 billion, half of which comes from a sales tax fund known as TransNet. The other half comes from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program.