The trolley's blue line is coming to UC San Diego and the university bought the naming rights to it.
The Metropolitan Transit System's board of directors unanimously voted to enter into a 30-year agreement giving UCSD naming rights to two on-campus trolley stops, the Old Town station and the unfinished blue line.
The money is coming from the UC San Diego Health marketing budget, however, it is a cooperative effort with the university.
The transportation agency will get $675,000 a year from UC San Diego Health until the blue line is extended to the university. The price will then increase to $945,000 a year. The agreement also includes annual adjustments for inflation based on the Local Consumer Price Index.
Kim Kennedy, executive director of marketing and communications for UC San Diego Health, said both the university and hospital need more exposure.
“We compete with the region's hospital systems. We have to use advertising and partnerships to raise our brand awareness,” Kennedy said.
UC San Diego gets a lot of bang for the buck when they enter into deals like this one, Kennedy said .
“I have felt that it’s a better spend for our advertising dollars to do that through community partners and with partners like MTS,” Kennedy said.
