The pilot project, “Bus on Shoulder” will launch Tuesday along Interstate 805 and State Route 94 during peak travel times.
During heavy traffic congestion, South Bay Rapid buses will operate on selected freeway shoulders between Downtown San Diego and National City, helping bus drivers to bypass slow traffic. As a part of the part-time Transit Only Lane Demonstration Project, buses on Route 225 will operate on weekdays only during the morning and in the late afternoon.
The route will run northbound on I-805 and westbound on SR 95 from 5 a.m. through 9 a.m, during morning rush hours. The Bus On Shoulder will operate for the second half of the day from 3 p.m. through 7 p.m when it will run eastbound on SR 94 and Southbound I-805 connector.
According to TransNet, the three-year pilot project includes the San Diego region’s first use of transit vehicle-to-infrastructure technology. Buses can only enter the shoulder if travel lanes are operating under 35 miles per hour and will not exceed a maximum speed of 35 mph on the shoulder.
Transportation officials say the shoulder lanes will always remain available for law enforcement, emergencies, and incident management. TrasNet reported that highway construction improvements for the project began in mid-2020, and were completed in mid-2022.
After the program’s three-year demonstration period, the freeway shoulders will be restored to their prior condition. The nearly $30.9 million projects utilize sensors embedded on these buses to provide audio and visual alerts to the drivers regarding lane position and potential conflicts with other vehicles or obstructions along the corridor and shoulder.
The Bus On Shoulder Program is an effort between the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, and Caltrans. The project is funded by the Federal Transit Administration and TransNet, the regional half-cent sales tax for transportation administered by SANDAG.
