Pacific Beach planners were told by City officials in April that the PB Shuttle Pilot designed to escort visitors from Balboa Avenue Transit Station to the business district and beaches is good to go and on schedule for a summer opening.

“I’m really excited to share a lot of great progress that we’ve had on the planning and forthcoming deployment of the Pacific Beach shuttle,” said Krystal Ayala, program manager for Curb and Parking, City of San Diego’s Department of Sustainability. “We’re working toward a launch date in June.”

There is a direct tie-in between PB’s shuttle and the pilot parking meter zone on Garnet Avenue approved last year. Parking meters are planned for installation in two-hour spaces within the business district along the densest part of Garnet Avenue and surrounding streets sometime later this year.

Ayala talked about a major goal in launching PB’s parking pilot program. “We (City) want to make sure we improve access from the transit station, exploring how the shuttle can expand opportunities to use the trolley station, as well as to help us reduce demand for parking,” she said.

PB’s parking pilot is a key initiative of the PB Community Parking District said Ayala noting: “The City is also partnering with SANDAG in launching this project. SANDAG is providing matching funding allowing us to be able to jump-start the shuttle and bring these new and innovative technologies to our communities.”

The San Diego Association of Governments is San Diego County’s transportation planning agency governed by a board of elected officials from the region’s 18 city councils and the County Board of Supervisors,

The City is proposing the deployment of a small, low-speed all-electric shuttle vehicle in PB ideal for short trips to and from its Balboa Avenue Trolley Station. “They’re already operating in downtown San Diego,” noted Ayala about the new electric shuttles.” She added, “There is a lot of momentum around how these smaller electric vehicles can really integrate the existing mobility system. One of the key goals of this is providing a service that is responsible to the community’s needs.”

Ayala pointed out that wait times and cost are important factors being considered in designing a new shuttle service that is “really going to encourage people to perhaps leave the car at home – or try a shuttle to commute.”

It is also hoped the new PB Shuttle Pilot will also facilitate PB’s new metered parking district on Garnet when it goes into effect. A year-long pilot parking meter program was approved by the City on a portion of Garnet Avenue in 2022. An election was held last Oct. 11 for board members of the Pacific Beach Community Parking District to administer that parking meter pilot.

PBCPD will serve as the advisory board to the community’s Parking Management District and will function as the place to discuss and implement parking programs. Discover Pacific Beach, the community’s business improvement district, will provide administrative support, financial management, logistics, office space, staff support, and other services as needed by PBCPD.

Approved unanimously by the City Council on July 20, 2021, the PB parking pilot proposes putting 321 high-tech metered, two-hour-or-less-time-limited parking spaces on Garnet Avenue. That City Council action capped a years-long quest by some merchants, local residents, and community planners in PB, who contend paid parking is a management solution and tool that will help solve traffic problems. Supporters claim paid parking will provide a continuing revenue stream for Pacific Beach that stays in the community and can be used to fund community-improvement projects.

However, concerns remain among some community residents who fear the paid-parking pilot could displace parking for residents, negatively impact their quality of life and be self-perpetuating and sustaining.