North County Transit District

North County Transit District
Overview
LocaleNorthern San Diego County, California
Transit typeBuses, commuter rail, light rail, paratransit
Number of lines
  • 34 bus routes
  • 1 light rail line
  • 1 commuter rail line
Number of stations15 light rail stations
8 commuter rail stations
Daily ridership26,600 (weekdays, Q3 2024)[1]
Annual ridership6,997,000 (2023)[2]
Websitegonctd.com
Operation
Began operationSeptember 30, 1975; 49 years ago (1975-09-30)[3]
Operator(s)MV Transportation

The North County Transit District (NCTD) is the agency responsible for public transportation in Northern San Diego County, California. The agency manages the COASTER commuter rail service between Oceanside and San Diego, the SPRINTER hybrid rail service between Escondido and Oceanside, the BREEZE transit bus service, LIFT paratransit service, and FLEX on-demand and point-deviation service.

NCTD owns 62 miles (100 km) of mainline railroad track (the Surf Line) from the Orange County/San Diego County line to Santa Fe Depot (used by COASTER, Metrolink, and Pacific Surfliner passenger trains along with BNSF Railway freight trains) along with the 22-mile (35 km)[4] Escondido Subdivision (used by the SPRINTER and BNSF freight trains).

NCTD works closely with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) which operates public transit services in Southern San Diego County, and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), which plans, develops, and constructs transit projects for both NCTD and MTS. NCTD’s rail services are directly operated by the agency, while bus services are operated under contract by MV Transportation.

As of 2023, NCTD provides 6,997,000 passenger trips per year, or about 26,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. NCTD's geographic area is approximately 1,020 square miles (2,600 km2) with an approximate population of 842,000 people.[5]

  1. ^ "Transit Ridership Report Third Quarter 2024" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  3. ^ "NCTD Overview – Who We Are". North County Transit District. 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference SPRINTER-FactSheet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "NCTD Fact Sheet" (PDF). North County Transit District. February 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.