Photo by Seth Combs
Man bleeds on street after crashing scooter
Over the last three issues, I used this space to discuss and preview some of the issues that the city council and mayor will (hopefully) address in the New Year. So far, I’ve addressed the city budget, affordable housing, the mayor’s convention center expansion, homelessness and short-term vacation rentals. I was all set to discuss public transit and infrastructure in the last issue, but the State Auditor’s report on the hepatitis A outbreak obviously took precedent. This week, I wanted to devote the entire editorial to public transit since there have been a number of recent developments. I will devote the final column in the series to infrastructure.
Public transit
Over the past month, a few things have happened that have brought the issue of public transit back to the forefront. First, many city officials—as well as most of the members of the San Diego Association of Governments and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority—seem keen on the idea of a “San Diego Grand Central.” That is, a public transit hub that that would connect all public transit and provide a much-needed transit line to and from the airport. Secondly, construction has finally begun in downtown on the multi-phase, multi-neighborhood bike (and scooter) lanes that include barriers that protect riders from automobiles. Finally, December ended with two horrific electric scooter accidents, one of which resulted in the death of a rider.
Prediction: Just when everyone thought the scooter hullabaloo was dying down, the NIMBYs are again shouting about the evils of electric scooters (quick humblebrag: I actually predicted this would happen back in September if the city didn’t get serious about scooter safety). It’s all just yelling at clouds because (news flash!) the scooters are here to stay or, at least, they should be. No one on the city council is actively opposed to them, nor is the mayor, and despite misleading headlines from the U-T on the matter, the scooters are not the problem. Rather, they’re emblematic of a larger issue with the way residents view public transit and how the city is dragging its feet when it comes to providing safe bike and scooter lanes.
Think of it this way: If someone gets hit by a car while riding their bike, no one ever starts demanding “let’s get rid of the bikes!” No, we ask ourselves what we can do to make riders safer. The same logic should extend to scooters. The long-delayed, protected bike lanes connecting Downtown, Little Italy, Bankers Hill and Balboa Park—as well as the announcement of the bike/scooter-friendly Normal Street promenade in Hillcrest—are a great start, but San Diego remains severely behind other cities when it comes to safe, reliable and functional ways of getting around the city without a car.
The City Council has said they plan to address scooters in 2019, but with more injuries forthcoming and a new statewide law that makes helmets optional (I mean, not that anyone was using them anyway) kicking in on Jan. 1, the council may have to address the issue and implement new regulations sooner rather than later. Expect the fist-pumping scooter haters to be particularly loud during the public comments portion of that meeting, but also expect the representatives from Bird, Lime, etc. to be even louder.
Speaking of being severely behind, here’s some food for thought: San Diego will soon be the only major city that doesn’t have a functional, terminal-adjacent mass transit option at the airport. The only major city. Let that sink in.
There has been a lot of chatter recently about how to effectively implement a public transit option at the airport, and with City Council President Georgette Gomez also serving as the Board Chair of the MTS, this is an issue that could be addressed in some capacity in an upcoming council session. The mayor and council’s roles are limited when it comes to the airport and MTS’s overall operations, but there are city budget actions that can be taken. And with the city lagging on its Climate Action Campaign goals, I’m hopeful that the more progressive city council, as well as a more amenable mayor, will finally deliver on their promises of a transportation master plan.
Recent developments and changes at MTS (lowering fares for students, bus-only lanes on the interstate and switching to electric busses) are encouraging, but the mayor and council should start getting serious when it comes to having a public transit system that residents are not only proud of, but proud to ride as well.