It’s frustrating being stuck in traffic. It’s tough waiting at a bus stop in the pouring rain. It can be uncomfortable bouncing up and down on a beach cruiser along city streets dimpled with potholes.
To help get past some of these problems community leaders are working to usher Downtown San Diego into the future of mass transit.
To help the discussion along, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of informed citizens interested in local and regional planning issues, held a breakfast meeting titled “Downtown Transit Infrastructure: New Innovations” on April 26 at the Holiday Inn Embarcadero.
A panel of speakers made up of representatives from downtown’s Centre City Development Corp., The Mission Group homebuilder, Metropolitan Transit System and Save Our Forest and Ranchlands addressed concerned residents to discuss the challenges and possible solutions for the future of transportation in Downtown.
The panelists presented possible plans to deal with the expected influx of people to the Downtown area.
Panelist Nancy Graham, president of the Centre City Development Corporation, wants to make the streets in Downtown more accessible for pedestrians, the trolley and other vehicles, especially on C Street.
Graham is aware that working with existing conditions is going to be a challenge for improving what has become a main thoroughfare for Downtown.
The street has deteriorated over the years and has been targeted for redevelopment with the goal of taking a “holistic” approach to accommodating additional travelers in the future, Graham said.
Although nothing has been finalized, CCDC is developing a C Street master plan to help improve traffic flow.
One possible suggestion calls for moving some of the trolley stations along C Street in order to improve pedestrian safety.
The Metropolitan Transit System wants to replace existing passenger C Street cars with low-floor cars, which provide easier access for the elderly and disabled riders, Graham said.
The low-floor trolley cars are approximately 10 feet longer than the current ones, which, according to Graham, presents a problem.
The longer cars would be difficult to fit on the short blocks in Downtown and could leave the ends of the trolley cars blocking intersections, she said.
“There is no perfect solution because, again, we’re doing this in an existing environment,” Graham said.
While organizations like the CCDC want to make Downtown more accessible for commuters ” most of whom have cars “Duncan McFetridge, founding member of Save Our Forest and Ranchland, hopes to take cars out of the picture.
McFetridge disagrees with plans that include bringing more cars into Downtown.
“For us, the Downtown plan represents a real opportunity for change in this region,” he said.
According to McFetridge, if the nation doesn’t take city building seriously, there will never be a chance to make an impact on global warming, on reliance on foreign oil or on environmental degradation.
While these are national issues, McFetridge assures they each have a local component. Fixing the transit system in the Downtown area would be a necessary start for tackling the bigger problems, he said.
McFetridge, a self-proclaimed “mad activist,” blames “predatory politicians” for favoring road building over the last 40 years, which, he feels has led to the “functional meltdown” of the city’s current transportation system.
McFetridge suggests that the region build transit-based communities to meet the needs of the influx of 1 million people by the year 2030 into San Diego.
If the future of Downtown, businesses and residents must be connected through a transit based community, as McFetridge suggests, what would these communities look like?
Transit specialist Allan Hoffman of The Mission Group looks to Brisbane, Australia as a model city for state-of-the-art regional transportation.
Hoffman works with Move San Diego, a nonprofit organization formed to improve transportation in San Diego County, as part of an international team that has conducted an Independent Transit Study called FAST (Financially Achievable, Saves Time) Plan.
The plan would make certain commutes faster than driving, less expensive to operate and improve mobility, Hoffman said.
He also suggested creating a grand system of transit that people would feel good about using and “not feel like a jerk” for taking the bus, he said.
According to Hoffman, in the last three years Brisbane has increased transit use by 40 percent, which is unheard of for any First World city.
The Brisbane model uses big, sleek-looking buses traveling on a grade separation system where transit vehicles can ride nonstop.
The Brisbane model already moves six times more people the San Diego trolleys during peak travel time, Hoffman said.
The networked system would connect previously disconnected regions in San Diego so travelers can get to their destinations quickly, he said.
The FAST Plan would include a bus line tailored for tourism that would connect popular tourist destinations, like the beaches and Balboa Park.
FAST Plan would cost $5.8 billion. According to Hoffman there is an estimated $16.1 billion budgeted for spending on a regional transportation plan.
“The point is, it is possible to create a truly regional rapid transit system designed so that most of the people in this room would find it a useful addition to their daily lives,” Hoffman said.
For more information on Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 visit www.c3sandiego.org.