In partnership with the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), SANDAG released a Request for Qualifications for Prospective Broadband Partnerships and executed a cooperative agreement among the 20 firms that responded.
In February, SANDAG launched the Regional Digital Infrastructure Taskforce to talk about barriers to rapid deployment of broadband infrastructure, share best practices, and foster collaboration between local, regional, and state agencies. The group is now working on developing regional permitting standards that will expedite broadband infrastructure deployment in unserved and underserved communities.
As part of the Housing Acceleration Program, SANDAG kicked off its Housing Policy Forum series with a legislative digest and, in collaboration with SCAG, hosted three virtual housing forums.
SANDAG created a Housing Task Force and Regional Equitable Housing Subcommittee to explore potential regional housing financing models.
We celebrated ribbon cuttings on Fourth & Fifth Avenue Bikeways, Georgia – Meade Bikeway, Landis Bikeway—SANDAG’s first on-street bikeway projects—and the El Portal undercrossing project.
SANDAG created a Local Jurisdiction Technical Assistance program, the Housing Policy and Leadership Academy, the Housing Policy and Planning Tool, and worked on an Anti-Displacement Strategy.
The SANDAG Open Data Portal launched. It makes available a variety of data, including highway traffic volumes, regional crime data mapping, and population estimates.
Supplementing original information with big data, we created economic data analyses to understand short- and long-term effects on the region.
Six environmental mitigation projects were completed, including three by the Chaparral Lands Conservancy (Otay Mesa Rare Plants, Proctor Valley Vernal Pools and Uplands, Rarest Plants 2), one by Nature Collective (North County Dunes 2), and one by Mission Resource Conservation District (Invasive Species Management).
Following a Del Mar Bluffs collapse in February 2021, SANDAG partnered with NCTD and the City of Del Mar to complete emergency repairs within 15 months.
The Youth Opportunity Pass Pilot Program launched in partnership with MTS, NCTD, and the County of San Diego in May. More than 21,000 free transit passes were distributed to riders 18 and under.
SANDAG released its first call for Housing Acceleration Grant Program projects and awarded $1.9 million to seven local jurisdictions.
With the help of Congressman Mike Levin, SANDAG secured $27 million in federal funding to replace the 100-year-old single-track San Luis Rey River Bridge, which will add more than ten miles of double track to the LOSSAN Corridor in Oceanside.
The California Coastal Commission approved the Del Mar Bluffs stabilization project for Federal Coastal Consistency Certification. SANDAG completed project design in November and began finalizing construction arrangements.
We completed the first phase of the North Coast Corridor program, opening the new San Elijo Lagoon bridge and suspended bike and pedestrian bridge under the I-5, nine miles of new carpool lanes on the I-5, and double-tracking projects to improve the LOSSAN Rail Corridor.
The San Diego Audubon Society performed ReWild Mission Bay, a habitat restoration and monitoring program which restored coastal dune habitat for the endangered California Least tern and endangered Nuttall’s Acmispon through techniques including invasive plant removal, volunteer events, educational signage, seed collection, surveying, and fence repairs.
SANDAG launched the Get Connected Campaign in partnership with the County of San Diego, the City of San Diego, and 211 San Diego to increase awareness of resources that help people connect to the internet.
In July, SANDAG released a call for projects for the Specialized Transportation Grant Program, making approximately $7.9 million available for specialized transportation grants.
We opened the southbound State Route 125 to westbound State Route 905 connector ramp in Otay Mesa.
In July, the Board adopted a resolution to create a Vision Zero Action Plan to guide regional transportation safety efforts.
In August, SANDAG celebrated the historic groundbreaking of the Otay Mesa East project.
SANDAG opened a record-breaking 11 miles of new bikeways and broke ground on nearly five more miles between the Pershing Bikeway and Barrio Logan segment of the Bayshore Bikeway.
Three submissions were chosen to advance to the second phase of the Request for Innovative Concepts process, including Beep, Inc. (mobility hubs to create a network of autonomous electric shuttles providing first- and last-mile connections), Cordoba Corporation (extending the Blue Line Trolley one mile into Tijuana and otherwise improving border crossing processes), and Cavnue (a state-of-the-art managed lanes network).
Thanks to the leadership of California Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, SANDAG received $300 million in the state budget for the LOSSAN Rail Realignment project in Del Mar.
In September, SANDAG, in partnership with Caltrans, was awarded $150 million from the federal INFRA grant program to help fund the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry project.
Central Mobility Hub project staff began a concept study to analyze several airport transit connection alternatives.
Between December 2021 and September 2022, the Blue Line carried an estimated 16.7 million passengers—as compared to 9.6 million in all of 2021.
SANDAG hosted its inaugural Community Fair showcasing over 50 projects, highlighting dozens of partnerships, and reaching thousands of community members.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the Del Mar Bluffs and LOSSAN Corridor, emphasizing its importance as a key segment of the national rail system.
California and Mexico signed a binational Toll Revenue Sharing Agreement for the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry project in October.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited the Otay Mesa East site in November to highlight the importance of the project for the entire country.
Highway construction improvements for I-805/SR 94 Bus on Shoulder Demonstration Project were completed in June and a three-year demonstration project is underway.
The Youth Opportunity Pass spurred a 92% increase in youth transit rides and a 175% increase in youth riders as compared to April before the pilot program launch.
Twelve Active Transportation Program and Smart Growth Incentive Program projects were completed and many more that received funding in past years moved forward with planning and construction.
SANDAG partnered with state agencies, local jurisdictions, community-based organizations, and affordable housing developers and identified ways to bring more funding to the region through the Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities program.
To ensure safety and accessibility, the Bike Network team implemented dramatic and innovative traffic calming solutions, including constructing 18 new traffic circles.
Our team collected original data which is used to better understand travel patterns around the region and will be used in the creation of the 2025 Regional Plan.
TransNet provided more than $300,000 toward the completion of four projects in 2022 and more than $50 million more toward other projects in progress.
The SANDAG Board of Directors awarded $2.4 million in funding to 19 environmental mitigation projects in 2022.
Solana Beach completed its Lomas Santa Fe Corridor Active Transportation Improvement design project.
The City of San Diego completed four community planning projects for the Active Transportation Program and Smart Growth Incentive Program.
National City completed the Roosevelt Avenue Corridor Smart Growth Revitalization Project.
Funding through the Housing Acceleration Grant Program assisted local jurisdictions with housing feasibility studies, housing production assistance, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis for multifamily housing sites.
SANDAG began work on the next funding Housing Acceleration Grant Program cycle, which includes both planning and capital components.
SANDAG submitted its application to the state to receive over $43 million dollars in formula funding to support housing-related projects and programs.
SANDAG partnered with schools and community organizations to distribute Youth Opportunity Passes, assist youth with smartphones in acquiring virtual passes, and disseminate program information in 14 languages.
On November 21, 2022, SANDAG celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Mid-Coast Trolley Extension, the largest completed infrastructure project in the history of the San Diego region.
Approximately 8,000 people benefitted from Specialized Transportation Grant Program-funded transportation services, providing nearly 300,000 one-way passenger trips.