A new limited-stop Rapid bus route will begin shuttling commuters between Rancho Bernardo and UC San Diego Monday, and transportation officials will mark the occasion by offering free rides.
The Metropolitan Transit System's Rapid 237 will run every 15 minutes during peak hours of 5:30 to 10:30 a.m. and 2 to 7 p.m. The fare for an adult rider is $2.50 each way, but that will be waived all day Monday, according to MTS.
Rapid 237's route has 10 stops including Rancho Bernardo, Sabre Springs, multiple locations along Mira Mesa Boulevard, La Jolla Village Drive at Westfield UTC mall and the Gilman Transit Center at UC San Diego, according to MTS. It will also stop at the Miramar College Transit Station, which opened on Sunday.
Transportation officials said the new route would take advantage of direct access ramps and express lanes that were added along Interstate 15 and in Mira Mesa.
The latest rapid route will join two others already available to the public — Rapid 235, which began service from Escondido to downtown San Diego in June, and Rapid 215, which started running between San Diego State University and downtown San Diego on Sunday.
A similar project for the South Bay is scheduled to get underway next year, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
