A future of transportation for San Diego County

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The future of transportation is bright with innovations that will improve our quality of life, reduce traffic congestion and reduce emissions. We need to invest and plan for that future so our region is at the forefront of more efficient means of transportation, whether through transit when feasible, or through the last mile solutions that are ready to go online in a not too distant future.  We can't just default to last century's solutions, like widening freeways, when there is a better way. Some transportation innovations are even coming from North County-based startups.

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We need to modernize our freeways versus widening them. Studies consistently show that as soon as freeways are widened, traffic increases to result in the same level of congestion. The next generation of vehicles (before we get to the self driving era) will be hybrid vehicles with smart cruise control that taps into the highway directly and the surrounding vehicles. Freeway capacity will be increased through the ability of vehicles to drive closer together. The Tesla semi truck already incorporated this “virtual train” technology, thus economizing on power consumption by multiple vehicles drafting closely together. 

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There are only two ways we will be able to reduce congestion on our freeways:

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• • Locate housing where it belongs, according to the General Plan, instead of far flung places;

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• • Convince some of the current drivers to choose to stop driving. 

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The latter can only be accomplished with better public transit that is convenient, reliable, and affordable, so riders experience an increase in quality of life vs. being stuck in freeway traffic. The goal is a transit system where both white collar corporate types and blue collar workers both choose to use public transportation because it is more convenient and more pleasant than driving – the situation that exists in the majority of world-class regions of our size, including to/from the exurbs located an hour or so from work centers.

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Financing of large transit systems also needs to be approached with a more global point of view: throughout the world metro lines and light rail systems are being built by private/public partnerships where semi-private companies undertake the building of the infrastructure, but also the operation and management of the resulting lines. We have to look at all potential solutions to our traffic problems before simply capitulating that the only solution is to accept freeway gridlock as a price for growth. 

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The “final mile” problem of getting people from homes to the nearest transit or to local destinations can also be addressed through technology like the E-cabs in Austin, but also via innovative transportation options such as electric shuttle services, using data analytics to minimize wait time.