Countywide

The Metropolitan Transit Development Board on Monday officially assumed control of San Diego’s buses as part of a move to create a unified regional transportation authority for San Diego County.

Flanked by a bus on one side and a trolley on the other, board members held a ceremony in the middle of C Street downtown to celebrate the formal transfer of authority over the San Diego Transit Corp. to the MTDB from the City of San Diego. The MTDB already runs the San Diego Trolley system.

City Councilman Ed Struiksma told the audience, mostly bus and trolley companies’ employees, that the board’s ownership of both systems will allow it to plan routes more effectively.

“We simply cannot build enough roads to accommodate our future needs,” said Struiksma, who serves on the MTDB. “Our action today is the first step toward the development of a transit system that will meet the needs of the future.”

Jim Mills, a former state senator who sponsored the 1975 legislation that led to the transit reorganization, said the change would not affect fares except to make discounts uniform between trolleys and buses. Mills, chairman of the new MTDB board, said most riders would see no changes for at least six months.

There also will be few internal changes. Employees of the bus system will keep their jobs. The San Diego Transit Board will continue to directly oversee the bus system, though its members will be appointed by the MTDB instead of the San Diego City Council.