By: Jonathan Horn | 10News.Com

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Hundreds of people gathered at Chula Vista’s E Street transit center Saturday to celebrate four decades of the trolley.

But the coming years are going to be even bigger.

This fall, the trolley will begin service to the north end of San Diego, which is undergoing a building boom. The trolley will add nine stops along 5 North, including near Clairemont, Pacific Beach, on the UC San Diego campus and at the Westfield UTC mall.

“With every track that we put down, with every car we put into service is another chance for an opportunity for a young person in this city to make it,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said at the celebration, hosted by MTS.

The trolley is now an integral part of the region’s push to fight climate change and lower the cost of living, by building new homes near trolley stops.

“Expanding the trolley and to make sure that more communities are well served by transit addresses the traffic and infrastructure concerns that many neighborhoods have when you talk about new housing,” Gloria said.

The expansion is a $2.1 billion project that began in 2016.

MTS says service has now been restored to near pre-covid levels. Face coverings are still required at all times, and physical distancing when possible is encouraged.