The three-year I-805/SR 94 Part-Time Transit-Only Lanes Pilot Demonstration project (previously referred to as “Bus on Shoulder” allows South Bay Rapid buses to use select road shoulders between National City and Downtown San Diego during peak travel times. It is designed to ensure service reliability and maintain transit schedules. This project is the San Diego region’s first use of transit vehicle-to-infrastructure technology.
Safety is our first priority. Only specially trained MTS drivers on South Bay Rapid buses equipped with driver assistance technology are permitted to operate in the freeway shoulder. Bus drivers will only use shoulders when travel lanes are operating under 35 miles per hour and will never exceed 35 miles per hour in the shoulder. Freeway drivers should remain alert and never follow behind the bus into the shoulder. The shoulders will always be available for law enforcement and emergencies.
South Bay Rapid buses can operate on these freeway shoulders during heavy traffic congestion.
Sensors embedded on these buses monitor the lanes and provide audio and visual alerts to the bus drivers to help avoid potential conflicts between the buses, other vehicles, or obstructions along the corridor and shoulder.
Lane Departure Warning: Sensors will notify the bus driver when they are moving toward the edge of the lane.
Forward Collision Warning: A sensor that will notify the bus driver when they are at risk of a front collision.
Blind Spot Warning: On-bus technology will alert the bus driver when a vehicle is in the blind spot area.
Ramp Metering Transit Priority System: A system on the bus that communicates with the ramp metering system to give the bus priority over the cars entering the roadway from a metered on-ramp.
