With thousands of people expected to attend the two Women's Marches in San Diego on Saturday, the first challenge is likely to be how to get there on time. It may be a good time to use public transit.
Those attending the march in downtown San Diego are advised that parking may be impossible to find in the neighborhood of Harbor Drive where the march kicks off.
Take the trolley
One strategy will be to park at Qualcomm Stadium and catch the trolley. The Metropolitan Transit System will start running the trolley's green line every seven and a half minutes instead of every 15 minutes, beginning at 8 a.m. The closest stop on the green line to the Waterfront Park, where the march begins, is the Little Italy station, about a 10-minute walk.
No Coaster
Coming from North County by public transit will be tricky. The north/south train line from Oceanside to downtown will be closed on Saturday for long-scheduled maintenance. In the long-term, the work to build a second track up the coast will benefit riders, but this Saturday the best way to get downtown will be by either by bus or car.
North County Transit District will add a limited nonstop bus service from stations in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Sorrento Valley. They all leave at 8 a.m. and seats will be limited. The buses will take marchers as far as the Old Town station where they can take a trolley to the Santa Fe Depot, about a 10-minute walk from the start of the march.
NCTD encourages people to buy bus tickets via the NCTD mobile app, Compass Cloud or at the Coaster station. To return home, it's important to be at the Old Town station to catch the bus by 2:30 p.m
North County Women's March
Getting to the North County Women’s March from cities along the east/west Sprinter line should be easier. NCTD will add four trains to its normal Saturday service, two from Escondido and two from Oceanside. Starting at 8:03 a.m. in Escondido and 8:33 a.m. in Oceanside, there will be Sprinter trains every half hour to drop passengers off across the road from Palomar College where the march begins and ends.
The march will head down West Mission Road to San Marcos Middle School, led by Japanese drummers, and return to Palomar College for speakers and music at 12:45 p.m.
There is also parking at Palomar College.
The events in downtown and North County start at 10 a.m., the marches at 11 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. And both are about the same length: about 1.2 miles.
Last year, twice as many people showed up than was projected in both locations.
For anyone planning to participate, the best advice is to start the journey early, take water, a hat and good walking shoes – and allow plenty of time to return home.
