North County Transit District

North County Transit District
Overview
Locale	Northern San Diego County, California
Transit type	Buses, commuter rail, light rail, paratransit
Number of lines	34 bus routes 1 light rail line 1 commuter rail line
Number of stations	15 light rail stations 8 commuter rail stations
Daily ridership	23,500 (weekdays, Q1 2024)[1]
Annual ridership	6,997,000 (2023)[2]
Website	gonctd.com
Operation
Began operation	September 30, 1975; 48 years ago (1975-09-30)[3]
Operator(s)	MV Transportation

The North County Transit District (NCTD) is the agency responsible for public transportation in Northern San Diego County, California. The agency manages the COASTER commuter rail service between Oceanside and San Diego, the SPRINTER hybrid rail service between Escondido and Oceanside, the BREEZE transit bus service, LIFT paratransit service, and FLEX on-demand and point-deviation service.

NCTD owns 62 miles (100 km) of mainline railroad track (the Surf Line) from the Orange County/San Diego County line to the San Diego Santa Fe Depot (used by COASTER, Metrolink, and Pacific Surfliner passenger trains along with BNSF Railway freight trains) along with the 22-mile (35 km)^[4] Escondido Branch (used by the SPRINTER and BNSF freight trains).

NCTD also works closely with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) which operates public transit services in Southern San Diego County, and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) which plans, develops, and constructs transit projects for both the NCTD and MTS. NCTD’s rail services are directly operated by the agency, while bus services are operated under contract by MV Transportation.

As of 2023, NCTD provides 6,997,000 passenger trips per year, or about 23,500 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024. NCTD's geographic area is approximately 1,020 square miles (2,600 km²) with an approximate population of 842,000 people.^[5]