BajaNomad

TRAIN TO SAN DIEGO AND TROLLEY TO THE SAN YSIDRO BORDER/WALK ACROSS

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 9-25-2017 at 05:50 PM

Hola,

i need directions getting to san diego on a train ( my son said take the blue line ) and then to the trolley to the border for me to walk across and then, just the reverse to get back to los angeles when i complete my travel south the same day.

i would like to cross at the closest entry point as i have trouble walking long distances.

i do have handicap and will take my paperwork and i.d. is there a preferential area for handicap people ? a few years ago when i walked back through going north at the tj crossing, i did notice handicap signs near the border patrol building.

i'm guessing they do have a handicap area for crossing north ?

i haven't taken public transportation for over 50 years so i need explicit directions. AND, i am navigationally impaired as well.

i thank you in advance,

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

woody with a view - 9-25-2017 at 06:02 PM

Get off the train inSD. Go across the street to the trolley and head south. Fromthere its a decent walk so that might suck. Google is your friend!

BajaNomad - 9-25-2017 at 09:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  
Get off the train inSD. Go across the street to the trolley and head south. Fromthere its a decent walk so that might suck. Google is your friend!


End of the line for Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner is the Santa Fe Station in Downtown San Diego. The trolley station across the street from there is called "American Plaza". The blue line is the trolley that takes you to the border at San Ysidro.

gsbotanico - 9-27-2017 at 01:50 PM

Unfortunately there is not an easy way to walk across the border at San Ysidro that doesn't involve a fair amount walking. From the last trolley stop to Mexican Customs is 50-75 yards. Mexico now requires a visa which means standing in line up to an hour if busy. From there it's about 100 yards to get a taxi. Stairs have been eliminated, replaced by a ramp.

On return taxis will drop you off a distance from US Customs. This means waiting in line again and walking 100 yards or more. I'm not exactly sure where the taxi drop off point is now. The whole area has been redone. Leaving US Customs will put you at the last trolley stop.

The trolley now requires buying a Compass card and then the trolley ticket. The machine has instructions, It's $5 for an all day trolley ticket and I believe $4 for the Compass card. Have one and five dollars bills for the machine. Unless you're spending the night in Mexico, don't buy a one-way ticket. Ask someone for help if you have problems. There is no senior rate for an all-day ticket.

Most important is to time your crossings at midday and not on the weekend. Early morning and late afternoon are busier. As far as I know there is no special treatment of handicapped people. Only Passport Cards or Sentri/Global Entry will get to into special faster lines to cross north.

SFandH - 9-27-2017 at 02:03 PM

I know at the San Ysidro east side pedestrian crossing going north handicapped people can walk to the front of the line on the outside of the building and an official there will direct you to the immigration booth normally used only for bus passengers. Unless there is a busload clearing customs, there will be no line inside the building.

BUT, it has been a year since I walked across.

Anybody have more recent info?

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 9-27-2017 at 04:48 PM

hola,

my thanks for your responses.

being my first time in over 50 years to take any trains or buses, i think i have the info that i need.

hopefully, it doesn't take a long time to get my visa as my train back to los angeles leaves at 3:58 p.m. and if i miss that, i'm out of luck and they will put me on a bus to l.a. which leaves san diego at 9:45 p.m. and arrives in l.a. at 1:30 a.m.

i'll have about 3 - 4 hours to take care of my business so i hopefully will be alright.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT



wilderone - 9-27-2017 at 06:50 PM

Trolley fare is $1.25 OW for senors/disabled. You can't get a RT fare for senior/disabled - you'll have to pay for return trip at that time. You don't have to buy a pass or a Compass card - trolley and bus take cash. If you have to take a bus, senior fare is $1.10.
Bus fareboxes and Trolley Ticket Vending Machines accept:
•Coins ◦Pennies (bus only), Nickels, Dimes, Quarters, Half-dollars, Dollar Coins (all except Eisenhower Dollars)

•Bills ◦$1, $2, $5, $10, $20

•Credit/Debit is accepted at Trolley Ticket Vending Machines ONLY

BajaBlanca - 9-27-2017 at 07:25 PM

getting the visa will be very quick!

I took the trolley once and it took me 1.5 hours from the border to downtown....boy it was super slow. Not sure if it is always like that.

Coming back from Mexico, YES you can go to the front of the line. Nowhere does it say so but I saw folks doing it and my mom and I did it once not too long ago as well (she being the senior citizen they gave preference to).

wilderone, great info you gave!

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 9-28-2017 at 02:22 AM

Hola,

MIL GRACIAS

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

gsbotanico - 9-29-2017 at 06:23 PM

Quote: Originally posted by wilderone  
Trolley fare is $1.25 OW for senors/disabled. You can't get a RT fare for senior/disabled - you'll have to pay for return trip at that time. You don't have to buy a pass or a Compass card - trolley and bus take cash. If you have to take a bus, senior fare is $1.10.
Bus fareboxes and Trolley Ticket Vending Machines accept:
•Coins ◦Pennies (bus only), Nickels, Dimes, Quarters, Half-dollars, Dollar Coins (all except Eisenhower Dollars)

•Bills ◦$1, $2, $5, $10, $20

•Credit/Debit is accepted at Trolley Ticket Vending Machines ONLY

As far as I know, and I just checked the San Diego Trolley website, all fares are put on the Compass card. The machines no longer dispense tickets. There are no live agents to sell a single ticket. You will need a Compass card to buy a one-way ticket in San Ysidro. There are only machines there. That's why I suggested buying a round-trip ticket. The machines can be fussy. They sometimes spit out the paper bills. Best to have new crisp bills. If you're on a tight schedule, you don't want to be delayed by the ticket machine.

I rode the trolley to San Ysidro less than a month ago. I had purchased a Compass card previously. The trolley stops I'm familiar with only have machines. The first question the machine asks is if you have a Compass card. If No, it directs you to buy one. If Yes, it's necessary to tap the card on a spot below the screen. If you don't have the card, you can't proceed to buy a ticket. After buying the card you start the purchase of a ticket again and load the purchase on the card. This is your ticket.

wilderone - 9-29-2017 at 06:47 PM

Just today I passed by the Broadway City College trolley station. The machine has the same choices as it always has: a menu to choose what type of fare, and then requests the amount of payment. A screen pops up to show that it accepts 4 types of payment - including cash - an actual picture. There is a place to insert coins and bills. That's my experience today. Just sayin.

Alm - 9-29-2017 at 07:10 PM

Compass card is not necessary for trolley. Just pay Seniors fare at the machine.

Southbound: during 5pm rush hour the trolley can get full, it's better getting in at the terminus station Americas Plaza. Takes less than 50 minutes to the border, unless there is some problem.

Southbound: there is NO shortcut for disabled from San Ysidro station to the border, it's a 5 minutes walk mostly uphill, not too steep. And then some, inside Mex customs and outside to the cabs.

Northbound: new Ped West is much farther away from the trolley than the old crossing, so you need the old one - the same where you would cross South.

Northbound: there is NO shortcut for seniors/disabled at Ped East, which is the old crossing. Probably few hundred feet to half a mile walk from drop-off, depends where the drop-off is now with all this construction.

Northbound: there are significant time savings if you carry Sentri card.
With this construction I don't know how Sentri line goes now (at the old East crossing), but last time it merged with the regular line way before the US customs. Since both lines merged before the customs, even with Sentri there was still about 10 minutes waiting in the "joint line" from there. Unless senior is in a really bad shape, I doubt they would let him to the very front of the line before everybody else. Arrive there before 8 am, and there won't be more than 30 minutes wait even in a regular line. Arrive at 10am and there could be 1.5-2.0 hours waiting.

Southbound - if you really hate walking and have 20-30 bucks to spare, there are sometimes mexo-american smugglers with cars looking for Southbound pedestrians that are frail or cagey (too many bags and boxes to show at customs), to whisk them across. I saw them hanging around near Jack in the Box at the corner of the last cross-street before the Ped catwalk. They will drop you off wherever you want, within a reason.

Edit - PS:
"i need directions getting to san diego on a train ( my son said take the blue line ) and then to the trolley to the border" - this is confusing. Blue Line is the trolley. If you need directions for train to SD and then to trolley, - there are few kinds of "train" in this area. Need to specify where from.

Btw, there is a Greyhound bus from SD downtown to TJ (also from LA and from Oceanside and whole bunch of other places). $15-20, no walking, except for a very short walk through Mex customs. It goes to Otay Camionera in Tijuana.

[Edited on 9-30-2017 by Alm]

tjsue - 9-30-2017 at 09:27 AM

It's not necessary to buy a compass card unless you plan to take public transportation often.

All fares don't have to be put on a compass card, and the vending machines still dispense tickets, but they're one way only, and buying a compass card costs $2.00.

Alm - 9-30-2017 at 12:58 PM

My preference:

Southbound: Greyhound bus from SD or wherever you are traveling from. No walking, no waiting in line. It will stop at Mex customs, very short walk, no crowds of pedestrians there - it's a different crossing, buses only. INM guy is sitting right there to stamp your FMM that you will have pre-paid and pre-printed online https://www.inm.gob.mx/fmme/publico/en/solicitud.html.

Northbound: drop-off near the old (east) Ped crossing, walk across and take trolley or Uber. Be there by 8am if you don't have Sentri card. Don't count on people letting you through to the front of the line. As the line grows longer later in the day, patience and friendliness of people drop proportionally.
Yes, you will see people going to the front of the line all the time - THEY HAVE SENTRI. (And they will still have to wait in Sentri line in front of you, though much shorter).

If this sounds too scary, take Greyhound again. Bus passengers are unloaded at the end of the Sentri line, so the waiting/walking will be minimal. The bus will pick you up again on the other side.