Contact: Colin Parent
Cell: (858) 442-7374
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Circulate San Diego Publishes TransNet Today Report
SAN DIEGO (July 15, 2015) -- Today, Circulate San Diego released a groundbreaking report titled TransNet Today, which details the significant funding flexibility that SANDAG has to advance public transportation construction in the San Diego region.
TransNet Today is attached to this release and can be viewed online at http://circulatesd.nationbuilder.com/transnettoday.
Until today, SANDAG’s claim that it is prevented from accelerating transit projects by TransNet, a tax measure approved by the San Diego voters in 2004, has gone undisputed. While the TransNet Ordinance does require SANDAG to build a specific list of transit and highway projects through 2048, TransNet Today shows that the TransNet Ordinance does not specify any specific time frame for building new highways.
“SANDAG could choose to build the highways required by TransNet later in the future, freeing up matching state and federal resources to construct transit today,” said Colin Parent, co-author of TransNet Today, and Policy Counsel at Circulate San Diego.
SANDAG is currently updating its Regional Plan, a document that outlines the future of transportation construction in San Diego. By their own admission, SANDAG’s draft plan will not meet state goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (KPBS, July 13, 2015, http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/jul/13/sandags-role-cutting-greenhouse-gas-emissions-disp).
TransNet Today identifies the tools that SANDAG can use to implement the TransNet Ordinance, and leverage other state and federal funding sources to develop a regional transportation network that will help San Diego meet its long-term climate goals while improving the transit experience for more than 95 million passenger trips per year.
Along with TransNet Today, Circulate San Diego is simultaneously releasing two formal letters responding to SANDAG’s draft Regional Plan.
1. DEIR Comment Letter: Circulate San Diego’s DEIR comment letter explains why SANDAG’s environmental analysis for their Regional Plan fails to analyze feasible alternatives that are consistent with SANDAG’s flexibility to implement TransNet, as outlined in Transnet Today. http://circulatesd.nationbuilder.com/comments_sandag_2015_regional_plan_eir
2. Regional Plan Comment Letter: Circulate San Diego’s letter regarding the Regional Plan requests that SANDAG advance transit and active transportation projects, without amending TransNet, as TransNet Today explains can be done. http://circulatesd.nationbuilder.com/2015_regional_plan_comments
Circulate San Diego is a regional organization whose work focuses on creating great mobility choices, more walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, and land uses that promote sustainable growth. For more information, please visit www.circulatesd.org.
Attachment – PDF copy of “TransNet Today: Keeping faith with the voters while achieving the region’s transportation goals”
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