Move SD Newsletter – Summer 2009
(Click here to download a PDF of this newsletter)

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Interview:
Marcela Escobar-Eck, Board Chair

Marcela is the former Director of the Development Services Department and worked as a planner for the City of San Diego for 20 years. She was also Planning Director for the City of Carlsbad and is now in private practice.

Q. What motivates you to volunteer for MoveSD?

A. Public transit is near and dear to my heart because it’s so important to great cities. I was born in Colombia, raised in New York City and in the Bay Area and didn’t have a car until I went to college. When I worked for the City of San Diego, I would take the Coaster as often as I could.

Q. Do you think San Diego can ever catch up with their public transit system?

A. Absolutely! It’s really required for us to achieve smart growth. We were leaders in transit when, in 1981, we were the first City in North America to implement a light rail line. Twenty-five years later, we are well positioned to be leaders again by applying current global best practices in transit to our region. Yes it will take great changes, but that’s why MoveSD is so important and so worth supporting.

Q. What are the greatest impediments to transit improvements?

A. Of course we love our cars! And our region was built-out around cars – so that’s a challenge. But market research shows that San Diegans will take transit if it meets their needs. It must be fast, reliable and connect more key employment centers with existing density. MoveSD research shows that we can create a high-service regional transit infrastructure that’s worth the investment.

Q. Transit has been severely cut, aren’t you concerned that it’s irrelevant politically?

A. Yes it has been a target for cuts, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still important to cities. We cannot sustain the quality of life we expect and demand without smart transit. Looking globally, in high population areas, cities without decent transit suffer from high pollution and traffic congestion. Healthy cities will require better performing transit. It is also going to be key to reducing climate change emissions being required by both state law and sound science.

Remember, this is also an important issue for economic growth – especially for hi-tech and clean-tech workers. Businesses will not want to locate – and existing businesses face recruitment challenges when they can’t show potential key employees that there is an alternative to being stuck in traffic every day. MoveSD is working with the Regional Economic Development Corporation and other businesses and community members to educate decision-makers about the strategic importance of transit – and we’d like everyone who has ever been stuck in traffic to join us!

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Scott Peters: Dear San Diego Transit-Wishers
San Diego News Network, April 24, 2009

With state and local tax revenues plummeting, there is no way to avoid cuts to government programs, including transit subsidies. That means fewer bus lines, spottier service and higher fares, which… is not much of a marketing strategy.

Unfortunately, many advocates for transit are really just interested in helping the poor. That’s honorable, but it misses the point. A subpar system won’t get better for the poor if it doesn’t work as transportation for everyone. The service won’t be better and the fares won’t be lower.

And by the way, Advocates for the Poor, if we accept the status quo transit mindset, transit is just another way that the poor are separated from everyone else. It doesn’t have to be that way – look at DC. Georgetown squawked at planners’ notion of a metro stop – “not our kind of people” – and they stopped it. Now their merchants have realized (oops) that the riders who can’t get to Georgetown on the metro have briefcases and wallets. The briefcases and wallets choose the metro because it’s better than the car, even though poor people are also secretly riding on it.

But you gotta wonder about the long term viability of any outfit that is so dependent on annual subsidies for operations. And it doesn’t make sense – as many have suggested – to take money for future capital investments and spend it on today’s operations. I know we want to protect those who only have transit to get around – “life-line” transit riders – but when the capital investment money runs out, we are back to where we started or worse. There won’t be any life-line transit if there’s no transit at all.

To summarize, as my wise friend Pam says, “transit s**ks because no one uses it, and no one uses it because it s**ks.” But do not despair, transit-wisher; there is yet hope.

Budget crises can bring planning opportunities. In the next year, SANDAG is reviewing its Regional Transportation Plan, giving us all an opportunity to push our transit system to be more competitive. Maybe now is a time for a new look, to plan for a system that works better, whether the model is Portland, Denver, Brisbane Australia or anywhere in the world with a world-class system.

Also, gas prices will increase again as the economy recovers. That’s going to put a lot more consumer eyes on our trains and buses, impelling more voters to become riders.

And California has passed two groundbreaking environmental laws that could support transit. AB 32 will require our region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; SB 375 will require our local governments to plan future land uses that reduce “vehicle miles traveled.” These laws may help us learn just how much the environment loves transit and hates cities built for cars instead of people.

So with a little public engagement, constructive thought, economic trending and legal compulsion, here’s hoping we might make some improvements.

Scott Peters is a commissioner for the San Diego Unified Port District, a former council president for the city of San Diego and is member of the Move San Diego Board of Directors.

See Scott’s complete commentary on the San Diego News Network website, www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-04-24/news/politics-city-county-government/scott-peters-dear-transit-wishers