Oceanside, CA – The North County Transit District (NCTD) is providing the 2020 holiday service schedule and the Amtrak Rail-2-Rail (R2R) program blackout dates so that customers can proactively plan holiday travel. Additionally, NCTD is announcing that BREEZE buses will return to front door boarding and will once again accept cash fares beginning Saturday, January 2, 2021 now that safety barriers have been installed which will provide protection for drivers and customers.
The NCTD holiday service schedules will be in effect for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, as follows:
- Christmas Eve (Thursday, December 24, 2020): All services will offer a normal service schedule
- Christmas Day (Friday, December 25, 2020): All services will offer a Sunday service schedule
- New Year’s Eve (Thursday, December 31, 2020): All services will offer a normal service schedule
- New Year’s Day (Friday, January 1, 2021): All services will offer a Sunday service schedule
The Amtrak R2R partnership with NCTD, which allows COASTER customers to travel on Amtrak trains in the San Diego area, will be blacked out between Wednesday, December 23 – Monday, December 28, 2020. During this time, all Amtrak Pacific Surfliner customers will be required to show a valid Amtrak fare and no COASTER passes will be accepted.
Immediately following the holidays, NCTD will ring in the new year with the return of front door boarding on all BREEZE buses. Rear door boarding was implemented at the start of the pandemic in Spring 2020 to increase safety by implementing physical distancing between drivers and customers.
NCTD is pleased to announce that safety barriers have been installed on all fixed-route BREEZE bus vehicles in the fleet. In addition, all new buses will be delivered with driver safety barriers installed. NCTD is currently expecting that 20 new buses will be placed into revenue service by the end of February 2021. It is anticipated that beginning January 2, 2021 all passengers will be expected to board through the front door of the bus and cash fare collection will resume.
Riders are encouraged to check the NCTD website or Rider’s Guide for accurate scheduling information during the holidays. For trip planning assistance, customers can contact NCTD’s Customer Service Department at 760-966-6500 or visit GoNCTD.com. To find out more about NCTD’s commitment to keep the public safe during COVID-19, visit GoNCTD.com/Coronavirus.
