Keep San Diego moving

By: LORI HOLT PFEILER AND JEROME STOCKS - for the North County Times | Saturday, November 24, 2007 8:23 PM PST ∞

Rush hour traffic congestion is one of the region's biggest challenges, but with a new Regional Transportation Plan, the San Diego Association of Governments is prepared to move the transportation system into the 21st century. The Regional Transportation Plan builds out North County highways to their maximum capacity, takes advantage of new technology, launches more advanced transit options, and improves rush hour commute times. The RTP includes $57 billion of investments with nearly 24 percent being allocated to North County projects.

In the RTP, more than $6 billion is directed at North County highway improvements and $4 billion is allocated specifically for North County transit capital improvements. And we estimate the North County share for local streets and roads to be about $4.2 billion during the next two decades.

At the heart of the RTP is the goal to provide more opportunities to avoid rush hour traffic congestion and better choices for commuters to leave their cars at home. The RTP shifts our focus from simply trying to build our way out of congestion with endless freeways to providing viable travel options during peak travel times when most of our congestion occurs. The plan also acknowledges that the majority of people still will travel by car.

No doubt you have seen the incredible construction project under way on Interstate 15. In 2008, six more miles of Managed Lanes between State Route 56 and Centre City Parkway in Escondido will open for North County commuters. Managed Lanes are a new approach that goes beyond traditional highway planning. They are dedicated to Bus Rapid Transit, car pools, van pools and solo drivers who are willing to pay a fee. This takes pressure off the general purpose lanes and makes rapid travel a reality for buses. The BRT vehicle is like a trolley ---- a trolley on wheels, that is ---- providing more frequent service and providing maximum operating flexibility in the corridor. The entire construction project will be fully completed in 2012.

The Managed Lanes along Interstate 15 are also reversible to provide additional capacity when and where it's needed. Bus Rapid Transit, car pools and van pools can enter the Managed Lanes, which are located in the middle of the freeway, from Direct Access Ramps in four locations to further reduce congestion on freeway onramps. All these changes are expected to improve car pool travel time along Interstate 15 by 23 percent in 2015. Even with the addition of one million more people in the county, overall travel time for all vehicle trips improves eight percent.

The RTP also provides for improvements on Interstate 5, which includes adding four Managed Lanes similar to the I-15. The Managed Lanes along the I-5 will run from State Route 78 south to the Interstate 805 merge and provide congestion relief along an often clogged stretch of highway. With the improvements, it's estimated that car-pool travel time will improve 28 percent between 2006 and 2030. Without the improvements, carpoolers would see an increase of 19 percent to their travel time.

You might be thinking, great, I will have a shorter commute once I get on I-5 or I-15, but transitioning from Highway 78 is difficult at best. Well, there's relief in sight for these interchanges too. The RTP calls for improvements to the I-5/SR 78 interchange, as well as the I-15/SR 78 interchange.

The North County east-west corridor is about to get a shot in the arm. The SPRINTER, which will provide light rail service between Oceanside and Escondido, is scheduled to open in December. This service will offer an immediate option to traveling Highway 78, which in the future will add two High Occupancy Vehicle lanes between I-5 and I-15. The RTP also completes the widening of Highway 76 to I-15.

But as we said earlier, simply limiting ourselves to building more highways will not provide the congestion relief we all desire. We must take a balanced, diverse approach. Today, more than one million people call North County their home. During the next 25 years, this area will grow by more than 280,000 people, 85,000 housing units, and 150,000 jobs. Historically, our growth largely has come from people moving here. In the future, most of our growth will come from natural increase ---- more births than deaths in the region. The foundation of the RTP lies in smarter land use development that focuses investments in urban/suburban areas, conserves resources and creates additional transportation and housing choices for all San Diego region residents.

The RTP is the result of extensive coordination and collaboration among SANDAG, local jurisdictions, the region's two transit districts, Caltrans and the public. The planned networks, capital improvements and funding strategies have been developed with the input of planning and engineering professionals along with participation from representatives of community, business, economic and environmental organizations. The public policies, strategies and investments in the RTP will have positive, tangible impacts on the regional transportation system as well as the region's quality of life.

The RTP is the best approach for improving and expanding our transportation system. But as your North County elected leaders, we can do more to support these major infrastructure investments with our local decisions. We must continue the effort to implement smart growth development in our cities, work with developers to mitigate traffic impacts and make the best policy decisions to maximize our infrastructure investments.

We believe the RTP balances the needs of 19 jurisdictions and three million residents while preserving resources and open space. What we have before us is a plan which takes the best technology we have now and gives us the flexibility to provide pathways for the future. For more information, visit www.sandag.org/2030rtp.

Lori Holt Pfeiler is mayor of Escondido and SANDAG's 1st vice chair; Jerome Stocks is deputy mayor of Encinitas and SANDAG's 2nd vice chair.

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LAWSON............ wrote on Nov 25, 2007 10:23 AM:The prospects for making major infrastructure progress will be greater now because we have established SANDAG'S 2030 plan....it's good mix between public transit and badly needed widening of of Highways 78 and 76....Mayors Pfeiler and Stocks deserve a medal for making for a better quality of life!!

George wrote on Nov 25, 2007 11:54 AM:One of the big reasons we have congestion is the effort to implement "Smart Growth", since high density means cramming people together in towering structures along with insufficient supporting infrastructure. Dump the "Smart Growth" plan and use a superior technique known as "sprawl" which provides a proper balance between people and the environment.

George wrote on Nov 25, 2007 12:09 PM:It would appear that Ms. Pfeiler and Mr. Stocks have not had a chance to view the comments by SANDAG staffers on the Regional Transportation Plan. Fortunately, there's a nice overview in "Reject The Regional Transportation Plan" at http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/20/opinion/commentary/19_38_0911_19_07.txt

qualityoflife wrote on Nov 25, 2007 1:47 PM:Uh, boy, Pfeiler's got her hand in this? We're in big trouble now! If you love what she's done to Esco, you're bound to love what she's doing for the entire county. She's the only Mayor I've ever heard of who believed in dragging the middle class population in her town down to meet the n'er do wells and underclass instead of the other way around. Why she's been allowed to get away with it here (and what's in it for her) is really beyond my comprehension, but I will say it was a hard thing to stop once she drove the middle class out and imported in all the bums. (IMO, she deserves recognition and credit for making Temecula what it is today.) Now she's determined to make everybody public transit users, the middle be damned. I repeat, if you love what she's done to Esco, you'll be thrilled with her plans for our transportation choices.

Lori is lost wrote on Nov 25, 2007 3:21 PM:You are in left field again, Lori. Look at what voters were told when they voted for the increased taxes which are used to fund your wasteful schemes. How dare you elitist politicos usurp these funds for your own pet prejudices? Simply do what you promised. Is that too much to ask?

Smokes and Mirrors wrote on Nov 26, 2007 8:25 AM:So the mayors want RTP 2007 to take credit for I-15 corridor improvements - while the majority of the funds were in place LONG ago. And don't let her project descriptions fool you (and the investment in North County). 5/78, 78 HOV's and most other North County projects are not included in the "revenue constrained" plan. Of the "$6 Billion" the mayor describes, less than 15% of those funds are in the revenue constrained plan. And NOTHING was built, not listed in that plan, in the original Transnet measure. The only way 78 gets widened, or 5/78 gets improved is if money falls out of the sky. Transportation financing is unbelievably complex, but the reality is ALL funding sources are shrinking while constructionn costs are skyrocketing.

Fed up wrote on Nov 26, 2007 10:23 PM:These know-nothings get to misallocate our taxes because they get a few thousand votes in their local elections to their part-time city councils. What kind of system would give authority to make decisions about how to build our infrastructure to a friggin' insurance agent? Why are they so proud of wasting billions to take away freeway lanes from most of us to build those absurd "carpool" lanes? Their plan would squander billions more for empty trains and destroy what's left of our wetlands in the process. Take away their checkbook! VOTE NO ON ALL FUTURE "TRANSNET" TAXES from these amateurs.

exhausted wrote on Nov 27, 2007 4:57 AM:280,000 more people in 25 years primarily due to a "natural increase". Well I guess RTP figured out what commuters will be doing with their extra minutes. How about the 'illegal' increase. Oh wait! That must be the reference to the 8% improvement in travel time should there be an increase of one-million people. So let's spend $4.2 Billion to save 7 minutes of time on a 90-minute North County commute. What happens when the highways reach 'maximum capacity'? Will we stop people from entering?

Walt wrote on Nov 27, 2007 12:31 PM:Hand picked favorable numbers for a minor number of travelers are misleading. When the total region is included RTP 2007 itself shows an 11% INCREASE in the most critical average work trip travel time, and a 5% INCREASE in overall average travel time. Indeed the 10.8 % now in carpools would experience an 11% increase in travel speed and buck the nation trend by increasing their mode share to 13.3%. But the 81.1% vast majority now traveling in autos would suffer a 15% REDUCTION in speed and reduction to 77.8% in numbers. A more complete mobility measure, miles traveled in an hour by all in proportionate shares for autos, carpools transit would DECREASE 8%. About 95 lane-miles would remain in the most congested Level of Service F, no improvement over current. Is this the congestion relief promised when Prop A was promoted heavily in 2004? Why aren’t we seeing the whole picture on why SANDAG believes RTP 2007 will arrest San Diego’s slide to the worst congestion rating for 25 large cities as published by Texas Transportation Institute? Or why the “balanced” approach attracting fewer than two percent to mass transit after 20 years will suddenly become meaningful? If “We cannot build our way out of congestion” why does RTP 2007 continue to try by building transit fewer than 2% want? If "The RTP is the best approach----“ why no public disclosure of other options including recent proof a $ 10 billion increment for roads instead of transit would increase work trip speeds 13% and reduce travel in freeway congestion 41%? Choices SANDAG promotes are legitimate when alternatives are near equal performance. San Diego and the nation rejected the non-competitive mass transit choice decades ago. There is overwhelming evidence freeways without HOT/Managed Lanes provide superior flow. Statements supporting the RTP 2007 centerpiece Toll Managed Lanes are incomplete and misleading. San Diego may keep moving, but at a slower pace if RTP 2007 is adopted.

Reason wrote on Nov 27, 2007 4:46 PM:Thank goodness for the reasonable leadership at SANDAG from our local elected officials. What's proposed appears to be a balanced approach.

Fed up wrote on Nov 27, 2007 5:07 PM:Walt clearly knows this subject, and those of us who share his despair know that the only solution is to radically reform SANDAG. When we populate its board with a bunch of part time amateur city councilmembers (you can be a board member from Del Mar by getting a mere 900 or so votes in that community), we get amateur results. The railroad projects are so wasteful as to be immoral: they've had dozens of years to get people to use the thing, but fully 99.9 percent of the County chooses the faster and better alternative, nearly always driving instead. Yet their plan proposes to squander additional billions on a failed "strategy", as if the way to fill the mostly empty trains is to provide...more empty trains! They already give away the tickets (relative to cost of service), but there are no takers. Enough already. Reform SANDAG now: create a professional governance structure and throw out the wannabe small town politico know nothings.

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