Residents, activists to hold press conference rejecting SANDAG transportation plan


Sustainable San Diego Press Conference to Reject SANDAG Transportation Plan

When: Monday Oct 17, 2011
Time: 9:00AM
Where: Boulevard Transit Plaza,
I-15 and El Cajon Boulevard, City Heights

Makes the McTrolley station look like a good idea
San Diego Auto Traffic. Flickr/ryangs

This coming Monday, October 17, Representatives from Sustainable San Diego and residents from San Diego’s many communities will voice their concerns and speak out against the flaws and oversights in SANDAG’s Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy. On September 21, California  Attorney General Kamala Harris issued strong criticism of the San Diego region’s draft transportation plan. SANDAG has failed to adequately address impacts to public health and communities already burdened with pollution.

On October 28, 2011 the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDGAG) is slated to adopt the Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy for the period 2012 to 2050.  The transportation plan spells out how the region’s transportation networks and systems will be planned and implemented during that time, based upon assumptions about population growth and land use patterns in local jurisdictions.

Trolley crosses freeway
San Diego Freeway. Flickr/Allan Ferguson

SANDAG has been required under state law (SB 375) to include a Sustainable Communities Strategy as part of the transportation plan which illustrates how specific required reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will be achieved through the year 2035 based upon better linkages between land use and transportation planning.

The San Diego region is forecast to gain at least another 1.38 million in population between 2011 and 2050.  Today, nearly one-third of San Diego County households do not earn enough to live self-sufficiently; children’s asthma rates in our predominantly poor and minority communities can be more than three times the county average; average highway miles driven per day in our region are higher than San Francisco, Orange and even components of Los Angeles counties.

According to the Draft Regional Transportation Plan slated for adoption, the required reductions in Greenhouse gas emissions will barely be achieved, and the bulk of transit investments are put off years and decades, while road capacity and improvements remain the primary focus of the plan. Also according to the plan, overall transit ridership in the San Diego region will remain fairly constant over the full life of the plan, with improvements only seen during peak traffic hours, and the amount of vehicle miles traveled per capita actually increase.

SANDAG received nearly 4,000 public comments on the draft plan many calling on the agency to re-evaluate transit priorities and create a more transit and active transportation oriented plan.

Sustainable San Diego is a collaboration of numerous organizations dedicated to the support of policies and practices which enhance regional sustainability.  SSD believes regional sustainability is achieved when our region’s human activities are carried out in a way which can permanently endure, sustain a healthy environment, and maintain the presence of opportunity, justice and equity.

Sustainable San Diego is a collaboration of the following organizations:
Andy Hamilton,  SD County Air Pollution Control District
Barry Schultz Esq.,  Stutz Artiano Shinoff and Holtz and Former Planning Commission Chair Betsy Morris, EM Advisors, Retired CEO, San Diego Housing Commission
Cheryl Moder, San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative
Corrine Wilson, Center on Policy Initiatives
Dave Gatzke, Community HousingWorks
Doris Payne-Camp, San Diego Housing Federation
Carleen Stoskopf, San Diego State University School of Public Health
Elyse Lowe, MOVE San Diego
Erin Steva, CALPIRG
Frank X. Riley, Regional Director HUD
Greg Konar, Konar Design
Georgette Gomez, Environmental Health Coalition
Hannah Cohen, Project Manager
Harry Watkins, Pt. Loma Nazarene University
Jennifer Vanica, Jacobs Family Foundation
John Nash, San Diego Housing Commission
Kathleen Ferrier, Health Equity by Design
Kathy Keenan, San Diego Bicycle Coalition
Kerry Sheldon, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Ken Grimes, WALK San Diego
Lindsey Lupo, Point Loma Nazarene University
Mariano Diaz, LISC
Mary Lydon, Executive Director, Urban Land Institute San Diego
Michael Nagy, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
Mike Stepner, New School of Architecture
Mirle Bussell, UCSD Urban Studies
Myles Pomeroy retired City of San Diego planner
Nancy Lytle, SEDC
Nico Calavita, Professor Emeritus, San Diego State University, Urban Planning
Nina Smart, Jacobs Family Foundation
Norma Chavez-Peterson, Justice Overcoming Boundaries
Ryan Wiggins, Transportation for America
Sara Steinhoffer, Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties
Susan Riggs Tinsky, Citizens Coordinate Century lll
Tom Scott, San Diego Housing Federation
Tracy Delaney, County of San Diego Public Health