It’s hard to believe, but the San Diego Trolley will be turning 30 next year. Maybe that explains the new TV commercial for the Metropolitan Transit System that features the trolley and an accompanying jingle sung through a voice synthesizer. You know, the vocoder that Kraftwerk “pioneered” back in the early '70s. Is the trolley trying to hold onto its youth before it hits the big three-oh?

The trolley is turning 30.

^{Courtesy photo}

A little history: The San Diego Trolley began service in July 1981, traveling a “South Line” from downtown to San Ysidro. All those reading this online who rode that first trolley line, raise your hands.

Born and bred San Diegan that I am, I learned to drive on the freeways and have made them my home away from home ever since I got my license. Public transportation was something for people back East, where the weather’s too nasty to drive and, in the case of cities like New York, too hard to park, even if you do drive.

But over the years, I’ve made a friend of the San Diego Trolley, particularly its expanded service that includes the San Diego State area. How can you not appreciate something that reduces the stress of being one of 33,000 Aztecs all in search of one of 250 parking spaces? OK, it’s not really that bad, but trolley service to the Montezuma Mesa campus does relieve headaches for commuting undergrads.

And another thing. Normally, I cringe at overly visible advertising, like the kind you see plastered on NASCAR vehicles or preceding the names of college football bowl games. But the occasional trolley cars painted something other than red, even if they are stumping for a product, give the rail system more pizzazz. I think it’s cool when a red trolley car is directly hooked up to one painted sea-green. Makes me think Christmastime is still here. I get all sentimental and misty-eyed.

If you haven’t ridden the trolley lately, you’re missing out on an invaluable study in human nature. It’s a clanging, rolling bastion of democracy, people. On a morning train, you’re likely to see all social classes represented, from the necktied to the guy with “Stan” sewn into the pocket of his work shirt. No longer is the trolley the transporter of merely the disenfranchised (I don’t know that this was ever true). Folks with serious incomes, and I wish I were one of them, have discovered that you can leave your car at home and save money. What a concept.

Then there are Padres and Chargers games, which have become a snap to travel to, thanks to the little red (and sometimes sea-green) trolley. Is there anything more annoying than trying to get out of Qualcomm Stadium after a Bolts playoff choke job? Relax! Take the trolley, and share your frustration with others.

If I’m sounding like my own commercial for the San Diego Trolley, remember this: I’m single, and I still drive two cars, one of them a sports car that gets about 10 miles to the gallon. So I’m not as conscientious as you may think. That said, I do believe the trolley deserves more credit in our town. Unlike most of your friends, too, it won’t be over the hill when it turns 30.