San Diego sets 40-year transport plan

Metropolitan San Diego has released a 40-year regional transportation development plan which emphasizes light rail expansion, continuing the area’s growing commitment to LRT since it became the first U.S. city to implement a new system in 1981.

A draft-version of a 663-page document has been delivered to the San Diego Association of Governments board of directors for approval. The "2050 Regional Transportation Plan" identifies roughly $196 billion worth of highway, transit, and other projects seen desirable to improving and maintaining San Diego’s mobility.

The plan at present forecasts no new highways in the future, but it does see the expansion of existing ones, including a controversial plan to expand Interstate 5 from La Jolla to Oceanside, Calif.

Citing the need for “sustainable communities,” the plan says, in part: “The path toward living more sustainably is clear: focus housing and job growth in urbanized areas where there is existing transportation infrastructure, protect sensitive habitat and open space, invest in a transportation network that provides residents and workers with transportation options that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and implement the Plan through incentives and collaboration.”