This Month
SANDAG newsletter
provides information
on key projects & services
SANDAG year in review, 2009
Does your commuter program sparkle? Apply for a Diamond Award.
Updated employer starter
kits now available
SR 76 widening begins
FasTrak customer survey
under way
Enter to win a free Trolley
pass to 2010 Chargers home games!
January Board of Directors meeting actions
In spite of the tough economic times that have affected revenues, SANDAG and the region overall managed to achieve many successes in 2009 – ranging from the opening of the latest piece of Interstate 15 Express Lanes, to low crime rates, to the launch of the region’s new transit smart card.
Just as every public agency in the county, SANDAG spent time addressing issues related to the economy. While the Board addressed decreases in local and state revenues, it also had the opportunity to distribute federal stimulus funds.
Other accomplishments during the year included projects started and others completed; the expansion and rebranding of the SANDAG transportation demand management program; and significant progress on several regional rapid bus systems.
Here are some of the highlights of a very busy 2009 for SANDAG and the region:
One of the big accomplishments early in the year was the opening of a new section of Express Lanes on I-15. In March, 3.5 miles of new, four-lane expressway within the freeway were opened to traffic, extending them north from Rancho Bernardo Road to Centre City Parkway in Escondido. That completed the eight-mile Middle Segment of the lanes – the first 4.5 miles opened in September of 2008. When finished in 2012, the entire 20-mile project will stretch from SR 163 all the way to SR 78.
Early in the year, the SANDAG Board adopted a spending plan for federal stimulus funds made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The plan funded two major highway projects (State Route 76 expansion and the I-805 and Carroll Canyon Road widening project), as well as a long list of local road improvements throughout the region. The plan’s goal was to pump money into the local economy and create an estimated 1,500 jobs, while at the same time spreading funds throughout the county so the entire region benefited from the federal stimulus program.
Just around the new year, SANDAG released its annual Regional Comprehensive Plan 2008 Annual Performance Monitoring Report. The report tracks progress toward implementing the Regional Comprehensive Plan, a long-term planning framework for San Diego County that defines a vision and lays out goals, key issues, and needed actions. Data showed that traffic delays and crime had dropped in the region, but there still was a shortage of affordable housing and per capita energy use had continued to grow.
Statistics for 2008 – released in early 2009 – showed that the rates of both violent crime and property crime dropped in the San Diego region, with both hitting 25-year lows, according to the Twenty-Five Years of Crime in the San Diego Region: 1984 through 2008. There were 4.09 violent crimes per 1,000 residents in the county during 2008, a 7 percent decrease from the year before and less than half the 25-year high of 9.76 reached in 1992. There were 26.79 property crimes per 1,000 residents, down 8 percent from the previous year.
In February, the SANDAG 511 program celebrated its second anniversary. Launched by SANDAG and its partners in February 2007, the region’s 511 service provides real-time reports on traffic conditions and incidents, driving times, roadside assistance, public transit schedules, and route and fare information, as well as carpool and vanpool referrals, and bicycling information. In its first two years of operation, 1.4 million people called the free service. Another 700,000 visitors accessed information on the Web site at www.511sd.com.
Ribbon cuttings took place on a pair of SANDAG projects this year:
- A scenic new 1.1 mile addition to the Bayshore Bikeway along south San Diego Bay opened in April. Plans call for the Bayshore Bikeway to eventually stretch 24 miles all the way around the bay. The new section – which is entirely in the City of San Diego – begins at 13th Street on the border with Imperial Beach. It runs along an old railroad right of way through the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge toward the South Bay Salt Works. The $5.2 million stretch, which features two bridges, was paid for by SANDAG with TransNet funds.
- Officials dedicated the first phase of a two-part soundwall project on State Route 94 in September. The 16-foot-high wall stretches approximately 1,600 feet along the westbound side of SR 94 between Massachusetts Avenue and Waite Drive. SANDAG paid for the $3 million project as part of its Highway Noise Barrier program. Caltrans built the wall in partnership with SANDAG and the City of La Mesa.
In May, SANDAG and the region’s transit agencies – the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and the North County Transit District – began the rollout of Compass Card, a high-tech transit smart card that will replace paper passes. A reusable, reloadable transit pass, the Compass Card provides a host of new benefits for riders, including the ability to register the card for balance protection, automatic reloading, and monthly and 30-day passes. Validators permanently placed on buses and at rail stations read the Compass Card electronically when riders “tap” their card. The rollout of the system (to approximately 90,000 pass holders in the region) continued throughout the year, and will be completed during 2010.
Also in May, the SANDAG Board awarded $9.4 million in TransNet Smart Growth Incentive Program grants to municipalities to help pay for smart growth initiatives – improvements that support compact, transit-oriented developments that also create interesting places within communities.
SANDAG, MTS, and NCTD made major progress on regional rapid bus projects during the year, including:
- High-tech hybrid buses began circulating through University City in June on the SuperLoop, a new high-frequency service carrying passengers to UCSD, major business and shopping centers, and hospitals in the highly congested community.
- In November, construction began on the Escondido Rapid Bus project, another of the new wave of bus services coming to the region. Construction of the first phase will be complete by May of 2010. The project will upgrade NCTD’s existing route 350, which runs six miles through the City of Escondido.
- Environmental work and public outreach ramped up on the South Bay Bus Rapid Transit project, a rapid bus system that will connect the Otay Mesa Port of Entry (at the international border) with downtown San Diego via eastern Chula Vista. Construction is expected to begin in 2011, with operation in 2012 or early 2013.
In October – in conjunction with Rideshare Week – SANDAG relaunched its commuter program, changing its name from Ridelink to iCommute. The new iCommute Web site – www.iCommuteSD.com – offers a wide array of free tools to help commuters get out of solo vehicles and into alternative commutes. The RideMatcher tool is an online program that will help people find carpool, vanpool, SchoolPool, or cycling partners. TripTracker adds up a commuter’s savings – in cash, and greenhouse gases. The Guaranteed Ride Home program ensures alternative commuters don’t get stranded. Other tools help plan trips on transit, calculate the cost of your commute, and provide incentives for ridesharing.
Other important accomplishments for the year included:
- In July, the SANDAG Board allocated $70 million in TransNet funds to begin final design work on a set of major projects – with the goal of putting the agency in a position to quickly pursue any federal or state funding that becomes available to pay for the actual construction of the infrastructure. The money will pay for design work on the coastal rail corridor, HOV lanes on I-5 in North County, and South Bay Bus Rapid Transit.
- SANDAG, the County of San Diego, and The Conservation Fund teamed up to buy and preserve a large tract of sensitive habitat in the Elfin Forest area that had previously been slated for development. The $11 million purchase of Sage Hill, finalized in February, consists of 234 pristine acres north of Elfin Forest Road.
- Residents, students, community planning group and business leaders, employers, and other stakeholders were invited to form the Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project Working Group. The group provides input on the Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project. The project proposes to extend transit service from the Old Town Transit Center to University City, University Towne Centre, UC San Diego, and downtown San Diego.
Stay tuned to rEgion for the latest information on how SANDAG and its member agencies are working to improve the quality of life for San Diego region residents.
Project Manager
Anne Steinberger, Acting Communications Director
Phone: (619) 699-1937, E-mail: ast@sandag.org