Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

More criticism of county transportation plan

Again, SANDAG projections considered at odds with reality

New criticism of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) plan to manage transportation in the coming decades has arisen as the group prepares to consider a revised transit plan this week.

The Cleveland National Forest Foundation, which mounted a successful legal challenge to SANDAG's original plan three years ago, joins other local climate action groups in lamenting the revised plan's shortcomings.

Sponsored
Sponsored

More Roads, Always More Roads

The crux of the foundation's complaint is that, despite an unexpected leveling-off in total vehicle miles traveled since the initial SANDAG plan was released in 2007, no changes have been made to the total proposed amount of new road construction, largely composed of freeway expansion that includes expansion of bus and carpool lanes.

"The 2015 Draft Regional Transportation Plan (DRTP) has partially responded to these changes by Forecasting much lower growth in VMT [vehicle miles traveled] in the future. In fact, the 2015 DRTP forecasts that 2050 VMT will be lower than the VMT that was forecast for today only 8 years ago," reads a Smart Mobility, Inc., report commissioned by the foundation. "Nevertheless, the DRTP keeps all of the road projects that were in the 2007 and 2011 RTPs."

What has changed, however, is the cost of building new roadways — according to the report, projected costs have soared by 27 percent, and the funding shortfall is to be made up by reducing investment in mass-transit projects, a part of the plan critics argue was already being short-changed.

Emissions Goal Fail

"This [plan and accompanying environmental report] documents that this road-heavy plan will fail to meet California’s 2050 goals for reducing CO2 emissions from cars and trucks," continues the report.

State law enacted in 2008 calls for overall reductions in air pollution with benchmarks to be met by 2020, 2035, and 2050. None of the goals are expected to be met under the existing plan, which anticipates that population growth and increased reliance on personal vehicles will result in greater overall emissions in the future rather than a reduction from current pollution rates.

Drastic Reshaping

Instead of planning for more roads, the foundation says, SANDAG needs to instead focus its attention on a "transit first" strategy, pushing investment in bus and light rail systems, as well as pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly improvements, to the early stages of the transit plan.

"To meet [emissions] goals SANDAG needs to drastically reshape the DRTP by removing all projects that increase roadway capacity" and instead develop a "world class transit system."

SANDAG officials are set to consider the latest transportation plan update later this week.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

New criticism of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) plan to manage transportation in the coming decades has arisen as the group prepares to consider a revised transit plan this week.

The Cleveland National Forest Foundation, which mounted a successful legal challenge to SANDAG's original plan three years ago, joins other local climate action groups in lamenting the revised plan's shortcomings.

Sponsored
Sponsored

More Roads, Always More Roads

The crux of the foundation's complaint is that, despite an unexpected leveling-off in total vehicle miles traveled since the initial SANDAG plan was released in 2007, no changes have been made to the total proposed amount of new road construction, largely composed of freeway expansion that includes expansion of bus and carpool lanes.

"The 2015 Draft Regional Transportation Plan (DRTP) has partially responded to these changes by Forecasting much lower growth in VMT [vehicle miles traveled] in the future. In fact, the 2015 DRTP forecasts that 2050 VMT will be lower than the VMT that was forecast for today only 8 years ago," reads a Smart Mobility, Inc., report commissioned by the foundation. "Nevertheless, the DRTP keeps all of the road projects that were in the 2007 and 2011 RTPs."

What has changed, however, is the cost of building new roadways — according to the report, projected costs have soared by 27 percent, and the funding shortfall is to be made up by reducing investment in mass-transit projects, a part of the plan critics argue was already being short-changed.

Emissions Goal Fail

"This [plan and accompanying environmental report] documents that this road-heavy plan will fail to meet California’s 2050 goals for reducing CO2 emissions from cars and trucks," continues the report.

State law enacted in 2008 calls for overall reductions in air pollution with benchmarks to be met by 2020, 2035, and 2050. None of the goals are expected to be met under the existing plan, which anticipates that population growth and increased reliance on personal vehicles will result in greater overall emissions in the future rather than a reduction from current pollution rates.

Drastic Reshaping

Instead of planning for more roads, the foundation says, SANDAG needs to instead focus its attention on a "transit first" strategy, pushing investment in bus and light rail systems, as well as pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly improvements, to the early stages of the transit plan.

"To meet [emissions] goals SANDAG needs to drastically reshape the DRTP by removing all projects that increase roadway capacity" and instead develop a "world class transit system."

SANDAG officials are set to consider the latest transportation plan update later this week.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.