You walk to your mailbox and BEHOLD…..da da da da……JURY DUTY. It’s that Jury Summons that everyone gets once a year. You won’t see people jumping up and down. You’ll hear rantings and large sighs and the infamous “CRAP!” But its something that we gotta do and here are a couple pieces of good advice to make jury duty more bearable (mostly about parking in San Diego)
If you live north of Old Town, this is for you:
Jury Duty reporting usually is pretty standard and it starts at 7:45 A.M. Factor in possible traffic so I gave myself an hour to play with. You are better off trying to find free parking, unless you like paying $15 or more at the standard parking lots like ACE or AMCO. It can get pricey. I parked at AMCO on the first day downtown located across the Westin and paid $15 for the early bird special. That’s a lunch folks! That would be a 1/2 sandwich, tropical iced tea, a little dollop of potato salad and a cup of soup a the Cottage in La Jolla!
PARK FREE: So by 7:15 A.M. I arrived at the Old Town Trolley Center. If there is something big going on in San Diego, you can bet that the spaces will be filled. But on a Friday at 7:15 A.M. I can honestly say that there were about 100 spaces open. The early commuters had already come for their spots. I wasn’t sure what parking would be like, so I arrived a LOT EARLIER. Make sure you lock up your car and don’t leave anything valuable in the car or leave anything that looks enticing. I’ve heard people getting their cars broken into around Old Town. From Old Town to American Plaza, it takes about 11 minutes. The Time Table for the Trolley to San Ysidro (Blue Line) has all the times for the week. The Blue Line to San Ysidro is the trolley to take and it appeared to run about every 15 minutes.
When you check in for Jury Duty on your first day, make sure you listen for the moment where they pass out the free MTS bus/trolley card, also known as a Compass Card. The Compass Card that gets handed to you in the Jury Waiting Lounge will be titled “Juror”. I used this Compass Card today. You must look for the small “Tap & Ride” stands located close to the pay machine for the Trolley. You literally place the Compass Card on the Compass Circle and on the left, it will tell you “activated”. Make sure it says “activated”, otherwise if you ride on the trolley and they audit, you might have a hefty fine. Was super easy to use & convenient.
Source: www.sdmts.com/
Picture of American Plaza
Source: http://www.jurewitz.com
Make sure you get off at American Plaza. Walk on Broadway towards the Hall of Justice. About a 7-8 minute walk. Flash your Juror Badge and “You’re in!” Hope this saves a few people some $. Have fun at Jury Duty!
The information is below.
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Station
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Lines
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Location
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Parking
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| Old Town Transit Center |  Blue Green Special Event |
4009 Taylor St. | 412 free spaces + 350 overflow spaces (additional parking at CalTrans at 4050 Taylor St.) |
Travel 4 the Soul 