Expanding Mass Transit Is The Best Way to Limit Gas Price Pain and Respond to the Climate Emergency

Carolina Martinez

Originally published October 21, 2022 in The San Diego Union-Tribune

After gas prices reached $6 per gallon in May, many of us started considering alternative ways to get around. Public transit is the obvious choice, but San Diego’s transit system leaves much to be desired. Led by the San Diego Transportation Equity Working Group, residents at the front lines of the climate crisis in Barrio Logan, City Heights and National Cit, identified 10 priority actions that will deliver the transit system we need—10 “Transit Lifelines.” The San Diego Transportation Equity Working Group was established in 2018 by the nonprofit organizations City Heights Community Development Corp., Environmental Health Coalition, Mid-City CAN and San Diego 350 to elevate transportation and environmental justice in South San Diego.

One member of our group, Roddy Jerome, echoed a common sentiment when he said, “I’ve always been a bus rider and it takes a long time to get anywhere.” At one point, Jerome spent four hours a day commuting from his home in San Ysidro to his job in Ocean Beach, where he worked 12-hour shifts.

Jerome is not alone. Seventy percent of jobs in the country’s large metropolitan areas, like San Diego, are unreachable by any form of public transportation. For people like Jerome, who depend on buses to get around, the toll is obvious: long days and missed opportunities.

It’s less obvious that the lack of reliable transit hurts all of us—even those who don’t ride the bus. Lacking convenient alternatives, San Diegans depend on cars for most trips. The result? A climate crisis, air pollution and congested streets and freeways. The costs—in lives, health and resources—are real.

Our transportation system is a major contributor to climate change. Here in California, the transportation sector accounts for more than 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Today, we are seeing the effects, in the deadly heat waves smothering the West, the ongoing and historic drought, a record number of wildfires and the ever-present threat of rolling blackouts.

Our car-centric transportation system is a drag on the economy. The health costs of climate change already top $800 billion per year in the U.S. Then there is the growing cost of destruction from weather and climate-related disasters—wildfires, drought, floods—which hit $95 billion nationally in 2020. These costs are borne by all of us.

The lack of transit is a drain on family finances as well. Even before the current spike in gas prices, San Diego-area households spent almost 14 percent of their budgets on transportation, and more than 90 percent of that goes to buying and maintaining private vehicles. The American Public Transportation Association estimates that families in our area could save about $930 a month—$11,200 per year—by using transit instead. Those savings could go a long way toward helping struggling families and securing a better future for our kids.

But people will not use transit if it is not reliable, convenient and safe. As long as most jobs remain inaccessible by public transportation, we will continue to rely on cars—at great personal, social, health and environmental cost.

With record high gas prices hurting our wallets and the state’s economy, now is the time to make real change and ramp up our investment in clean, affordable, efficient public transit.

Investments in transit pays off—in consumer savings, economic activity, reduced pollution and more. For example, a 2019 analysis found that every dollar spent on the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System yielded $2.82 in economic value.

We must spend our investment wisely. Identified by South Bay residents in the San Diego Transportation Equity Working Group, the 10

Transit Lifelines reflect a vision to advance affordable and frequent transit solutions that will benefit all San Diegans.

They are:

1. Prioritize environmental justice.

2. Provide bus service every 10 minutes around the clock on the busiest routes.

3. Offer permanent no-cost transit for all youth, ages 24 and under.

4. Ensure a 24-hour Express Blue Line.

5. Guarantee 24-hour transit service.

6. Fund and construct the South Bay to Sorrento Valley trolley line.

7. Mandate an all-electric bus fleet by 2030.

8. Protect low-income communities from gentrification.

9. Supply public restrooms at all major transit stations.

10. Ensure the transit system is ready to evacuate residents to safety during emergencies.

In this time of soaring gas and food prices, public transit is a lifeline. It can protect our pocketbook and the planet. By investing in convenient, reliable transit, we can insure a healthy, prosperous future for us all.