SAN DIEGO - About 31,000 San Diego State University students are heading back to class Thursday for spring semester.

The start of the new semester is expected to bring traffic congestion around campus area.

The university has offered a number of tips to help commuters navigate around the area.

--Commuters are encouraged to take public transportation such as the Trolley and Metropolitan Transit Service buses. Trolley schedules and prices are available at www.sdcommute.com. The university campus is served by bus routes 11, 15, 115, 856, 936 and 955. More on bus schedules here: http://www.sdmts.com/

--The following are alternate traffic routes during the peak hours of 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. for the College Avenue exit off of Interstate 8.  From I-8, take the 70th Street exit south of El Cajon Boulevard, turn right into El Cajon Boulevard, right into Montezuma Road to parking structures. Use state Route 94 and exit at College Avenue. From I-8, exit off of Fairmount Avenue.

--Commuters are also encouraged to bike.

--A sewer line construction project throughout the spring semester may affect evening traffic along Canyon Crest Drive on the northern edge of campus. The two-lane road will be reduced to one lane. Both lanes will be open by 5 a.m. each day.

More tips here: Top 10 traffic and parking tips