The, people of San Diego have spoken. They do not want to be taxed another dime for an unreliable, unwanted government transportation system. The current system is running a massive deficit. San Diego is a tourist town—and tourists either drive their own cars or rent a car—almost none use government busses or trains to get around. This system is a vanity system, meant to make the government feel good, the rich richer and jobs for special interests and unions—not a transportation system that is wanted.
“Transit systems like Toronto’s excel because they understand that a handful of excellent lines attract far more ridership than numerous mediocre lines. Toronto’s Subway and Chicago’s L both serve areas with comparable population and density. But by placing quality before quantity, Toronto’s subway achieved a 2023 ridership over double the Chicago L’s despite having only half as many stations.
Superior frequency was key to Toronto’s superior ridership. During weekdays, each Toronto subway line ran every 2-6 minutes, compared to 5-10 minutes on Chicago’s L, and 15 minutes on most San Diego Trolley lines. Higher trolley frequencies here would reduce wait times, thus massively boosting safety, since 86% of serious crimes on the system happen at stations, not on vehicles.
In that light, Measure G should have more generously funded transit operations. With MTS facing $50M deficits annually, it’s already challenging to increase frequencies on existing routes, much less operate new routes.
They are already LOSING $50 million a year. Create more trains and the deficit goes up. Will they cut cops, firefighters, libraries, just to say they have lots of trains running? If these folks are so sure about this system, make it privately owned and funded—otherwise they are admitting this is a scam to finance friends and donors.
Opinion: Measure G Failed, But San Diego Still Needs to Invest in Mass Transit
by Alex Wong, Times of San Diego, 1/4/25 https://timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2025/01/04/opinion-measure-g-failed-but-san-diego-still-needs-to-invest-in-mass-transit/
Despite Measure G’s recent failure, San Diego needs to invest in transit more than ever.
Trolley ridership is projected to exceed pre-pandemic records this year and continue to skyrocket along with rapid densification in University City and Mission Valley. Therefore, San Diego needs to not only increase transit funding but also prioritize transit quality before transit quantity.
First, maximize funding towards increasing existing transit frequency. Yes, building new transit lines is crucial. But first, ensure there’s enough money to optimize existing transit lines.
Transit systems like Toronto’s excel because they understand that a handful of excellent lines attract far more ridership than numerous mediocre lines. Toronto’s Subway and Chicago’s L both serve areas with comparable population and density. But by placing quality before quantity, Toronto’s subway achieved a 2023 ridership over double the Chicago L’s despite having only half as many stations.
Superior frequency was key to Toronto’s superior ridership. During weekdays, each Toronto subway line ran every 2-6 minutes, compared to 5-10 minutes on Chicago’s L, and 15 minutes on most San Diego Trolley lines. Higher trolley frequencies here would reduce wait times, thus massively boosting safety, since 86% of serious crimes on the system happen at stations, not on vehicles.
In that light, Measure G should have more generously funded transit operations. With MTS facing $50M deficits annually, it’s already challenging to increase frequencies on existing routes, much less operate new routes.
Yes, cutting the 27% dedicated towards road projects to increase transit operations would have made Measure G unpopular among voters, who mostly do not ride transit. But even without decreasing road funding, Measure G could have reduced the transit capital funding percentage from 50% to 38% and increased transit operations from 12% to 24% — the same proportion that even car-centric Transnet allocated towards transit operations.
An extra 12% of Measure G’s projected $350 million annual revenues would have yielded $42 million. Considering it would cost only $3.7 million annually to increase Mid-Coast Trolley peak frequencies from 15 to 7.5 minutes, $42 million could have increased Trolley frequencies systemwide to 7.5 minutes all day.
In addition to increasing operations funding, we should stretch every operating dollar by optimizing our bus network, which in 2022 suffered widespread frequency cuts due to driver shortages. MTS and NCTD concentrated service cuts among frequent routes, believing that canceling one bus per hour would be less impactful on routes with 15 minute frequencies than on routes with 30 minute frequencies.
Unfortunately, because frequent routes have the highest ridership, the agencies’ approach actually maximized impacts, especially to dense, low-income communities. Therefore, when service cuts are inevitable, they should be concentrated among low-ridership routes to preserve frequency on high-ridership routes.
That’s what Miami’s bus network redesign accomplished. Miami’s resilience plan prioritizes preserving frequency on the busiest corridors even if budget crises force Miami to cut transit service by 35%. With steady funding, network redesigns can yield even better results. Atlanta’s redesign will increase the number of jobs and low-income residents near 15-minute bus service by 103% and 202%, respectively–without budget increases.
Finally, enhancing bike and bus connections to trolley stations in our densest neighborhoods could economically turbocharge ridership. New bike/pedestrian bridges over the San Diego River would connect Mission Valley Center and Hazard Center stations with more jobs and residents for under $1 million apiece. A new Direct Access Ramp at SDSU Mission Valley would directly connect the 235 Rapid bus to the Green Line, allowing passengers from Escondido to City Heights to quickly access Fashion Valley, Snapdragon Stadium, SDSU, and La Mesa. And at only $53.6 million, the ramp would be far cheaper than either the $154 million I-5 to I-8 interchange expansion or a $1.59 billion streetcar surrounding Balboa Park.
I voted yes on Measure G, because any new sales taxes I’d pay would be dwarfed by the savings in car maintenance, fuel, and parking I’d enjoy when Measure G speeds up transit, enabling me to ditch driving and take transit instead. I’d vote again for a similar pro-transit measure.
But let’s prioritize improving existing transit. It’s the fastest and most cost-effective path to ridership growth that will convince San Diegans to vote for more transit.
Alex Wong is a data researcher with RideSD, a nonprofit that promotes mas transit in San Diego.
