Tag: bus

Cool, historical Sarao jeepney in San Diego!

This was the coolest thing I saw all day! An old Sarao jeepney, displayed at the International Cottages in Balboa Park during the House of the Philippines lawn program!

Take a look at these photos!

The super fun jeepneys are slowly disappearing in the Philippines. This particular one was built in 1964 and awaits restoration. Incidentally, you can help with its restoration. Check out its dedicated website here.

Jeepneys started as abandoned World War II jeeps that were converted into mini-buses. The unique vehicles feature all sorts of bright, colorful decoration, and can be considered objects of folk art. Sarao Motors created jeepneys with metal horses standing atop the hood!

This jeepney has a complex history, including being part of a museum exhibit. A sign that was posted nearby details a campaign to restore this beauty, in anticipation of it being used in parades and festivals, or as a tourist attraction, or as an open air shuttle or party bus rental.

Enlarge my photograph of the sign to find an email address.

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Football player scores at City Heights bus stop!

Score!

A football player has run through the shelter at a City Heights bus stop for a touchdown! Now he simply must leap over a trashcan!

This unexpected sculpture stands at the eastbound bus stop on University Avenue near 45th Street.

I asked someone who works on the same block about the strange sight. He indicated the football player statue was placed here by the nearby taco stand. A few weeks ago there was a moose on the sidewalk!

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Improving public transit near Santa Fe Depot.

Long construction fences along Kettner Boulevard in downtown San Diego protect workers who are implementing a public transit upgrade. The work is being undertaken by the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS).

As this webpage explains: MTS has embarked on the America Plaza/Santa Fe Depot Pedestrian Enhancement Project to improve the pedestrian experience in and around this important transit hub.

Today, while walking past Santa Fe Depot’s old baggage terminal building, I noticed how the sidewalk is being widened and made more attractive. Several bus routes have stops in the vicinity.

(Years ago the historic baggage terminal was the downtown location of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. In the future, the roomy building will be part of a new UC San Diego arts campus, referred to as “The Depot.”)

MTS will be making different improvements in the neighborhood of the Santa Fe Depot and America Plaza, and I’ll continue to follow the progress!

UPDATE!

Three months later, I saw how the different bus routes will have their own loading spaces, as is the case at other transit centers…

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Archaic Passage at the Old Town Transit Center.

Travelers at the Old Town Transit Center might find themselves walking through an underground passageway. The tunnel safely crosses beneath the San Diego Trolley and train tracks. In this shadowy place curious eyes will encounter public art titled Archaic Passage.

Not in a hurry to catch your bus or other transportation? There are plaques on either end of the passageway that you can read. They provide information about this unique art…

“ARCHAIC PASSAGE”

COMMISSIONED BY SAN DIEGO METROPOLITAN TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT BOARD JUNE 1996

DESIGNED BY SAN DIEGO ARTIST PAUL HOBSON, “ARCHAIC PASSAGE” CELEBRATES THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF OLD TOWN, FROM NATIVE AMERICAN TO CONTEMPORARY TIMES. ART MATERIALS USED–CARRIZO CANE, WOOD, STUCCO, ADOBE, BRICK, CLAY ROOF AND DECORATIVE TILES–REPRESENT BUILDING MATERIALS USED TO BUILD OLD TOWN. EACH GEOLOGICAL STRATA-LIKE WAVE REFLECTS A SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTURAL STYLE.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Assassins on a trolley! Gorilla on a bus!

If you plan to take public transportation in San Diego during Comic-Con 2025, take care! Because you might be joined by assassins on a trolley, or a gorilla on a bus!

A very cool new trolley wrap has appeared in San Diego that promotes Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming espionage series Butterfly. The spy-thriller will debut on August 13, 2025. It looks pretty cool. Here’s the show’s press release.

As far as a rampaging gorilla? His name is Donkey Kong! The bus wraps–I’ve noticed three different designs on the airport route going up and down Broadway–promote Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza game on the new Switch 2.

Comic-Con is really coming to life in downtown San Diego! Stay tuned for much more!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Inspiration at West Otay Mesa bus stop!

Inspiration has been painted on a fence near a bus stop in San Diego’s southern West Otay Mesa neighborhood.

A beautiful mural containing a butterfly, flowers and words of wisdom can be found above the bus bench on Del Sol Boulevard directly across from the Del Sol Market. It was painted by @msrosi619.

You can’t change your situation, the only thing you can change is how you choose to Deal with it!!!

Stand together and love one another.

Spread your wings and dare to fly!!!

Just in case you have forgotten today– You matter, You are loved, You are worthy, You are magical.

Be the change you want to to see in the world. Smile always. Love, MS. ROSI

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Art and history at the Boulevard Transit Plaza.

Those walking through or waiting for a bus at the Boulevard Transit Plaza in City Heights might feel inclined to pause for a moment. This landmark bus station on El Cajon Boulevard over Interstate 15 features colorful public art and a collection of historical photographs.

The large transit plaza is split in two, divided by El Cajon Boulevard. Opposite sides serve east and west bound buses. Stairs and elevators also descend to Interstate 15 below where passengers can catch Route 235 rapid buses.

Public art and photographs are found on both sides of the split plaza. On either end of each platform, a post is decorated with colorful mosaics and dedicated to an adjacent community. The four communities served by the Boulevard Transit Center are Normal Heights, Kensington, Corridor and Teralta West.

I recently got off a Route 215 rapid bus at this stop to walk around the plaza. The artwork I’ve photographed here was installed in the past year or two–if you know more about the project, please leave a comment!

(There’s additional public art on the freeway level platforms–both here and at the nearby City Heights Transit Center–that I’ll document at some future time.)

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

Big smiles at MTS Free Ride Day!

Passengers on buses and trolleys in San Diego have a lot to smile about today. Because it’s October 2, 2024, otherwise known as MTS Free Ride Day!

Those getting off the Green Line trolley at the Gaslamp Station before the Padres’ big Postseason Game had another reason to smile. Free bottled water for the game! A fun chance to take a photograph looking through the windows of a tiny trolley car . . . right next to a smiling Yu, Tatis and Manny!

Yeah!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Cool new murals at Grossmont trolley station!

Two very cool new murals were recently painted at the Grossmont Transit Center in La Mesa. One mural, titled Float On, faces the trolley tracks, and the other, titled Succession, can be found on the opposite side of the same wall, facing nearby bus stops.

Check out these photos!

Both murals were created by San Diego graffiti artist Maxx Moses. He has already painted colorful art at several other trolley stations along the Orange Line: the Encanto station, 47th Street, Euclid Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue.

These two new murals at the Grossmont Transit Center are the latest additions to the Color the Corridor project of Metropolitan Transit System (MTS).

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Student art brightens San Diego bus stops!

Bus stop shelters around the city now feature art created by students from throughout the San Diego Unified School District. I’ve noticed a few of these displays in the past couple weeks, and I discovered another fun example today at the SDSU Transit Center.

The digital doodles in these photographs were created by students from Encanto Elementary and Hardy Elementary. The kids were given two themes: What makes San Diego your home? and How do you connect with San Diego?

According to the shelter poster, over 12 schools and hundreds of students participated in the “I am San Diego” project. The project was launched by Far South Border North, a City of San Diego-led regional collaborative that supports artists and cultural practitioners working in service of the health and well-being of communities in San Diego and Imperial counties.

Next time you find yourself walking down the sidewalk near an MTS public bus shelter, take a closer look!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.