San Diego County residents got to ride the trolley, bus and commuter rail for free Wednesday, as part of an initiative from local transportation agencies to promote public transit and reduce emissions. Free Ride Day offered no-cost commutes on all Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District services, from buses and trolleys to the Coaster, Sprinter and NCTD+ on-demand rides. Fares typically start at $2.50 one-way. This year’s promotion fell on the second day of the Padres’ wild-card series at Petco Park, and transit officials expected that would bring an even bigger jump from typical ridership numbers than the annual event typically draws. Early Wednesday evening, minutes before the first pitch, hundreds of fans flooded off the Blue Line trolley downtown and headed to Petco Park. Service was expanded before and after Wednesday’s game, with trolleys running every 15 minutes on all three lines. This year’s Free Ride Day also coincided with California Clean Air Day, which encourages people to take steps to address air pollution. “We want to continue doing our part to reduce emissions,” San Diego City Councilmember and MTS board Chair Stephen Whitburn said in a statement. The annual event is one of several efforts by the local transit agencies to expand access to and enthusiasm for public transit. This summer, they introduced a contactless fare payment option, letting commuters bypass the Pronto card or app. And MTS is working to improve bus bicycle racks and transit-stop shade and lighting, as well as add art to transit centers. But Free Ride Day also comes just two days after the deadline for riders who get a reduced or free fare — including youth, seniors and people with disabilities — to verify their accounts. If they haven’t, they risk losing their discount, which could hamper access for those most reliant on transit. Riders coming off the bus along the Old Town Transit Center in Old Town on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) This year marks the fourth Free Ride Day since 2018. In 2021, the agencies offered a free ride month for riders who switched to the new Pronto payment system. Officials say that each year, they have seen a jump in ridership on the day of the event. Last year, MTS recorded 281,206 trips on Free Ride Day, up 10.4% from the previous week’s daily average. It was also nearly 6% higher than ridership on Free Ride Day in 2022. NCTD has also seen higher numbers on the day of the promotion. More than 30,000 rides were recorded that day last year, up 24% from the roughly 24,500 weekday average and up 4% from a year earlier. The agencies were expecting Wednesday ridership to total more than 250,000 — which MTS spokesperson Hector Zermeño called a conservative estimate. MTS alone typically sees about 250,000 rides each day, and he expects Wednesday’s numbers to reach closer to 300,000. Those figures account for the number of fares the agency expects commuters to pay. The actual number of people riding could be higher, as MTS confronts a problem of fare-beating that it believes costs it $1 million a month. Riders along the Old Town Transit Center in Old Town on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Early Wednesday evening, Oceanside residents Nicole and Eric Anderson were among the Padres fans headed to the stadium by public transit — they hadn’t known it was Free Ride Day and were surprised by the number of people when they boarded the trolley. “It seemed like a poorly planned free day,” Nicole explained, since so many riders would be taking public transit to the game anyway. “But people should take the trolley.” Bay Park residents Mike Petersen and Debbie Horner also didn’t realize it was a free day and scanned their Pronto cards when they hopped on. They always take the trolley to the games, mostly to avoid the hassle of parking. While the typical fare isn’t a problem for them, Petersen said public transit should be free all the time. “$2.50 is nothing to the people that have the money; it’s everything to the people that need it,” he said.