With your help, we’ve been calling for SANDAG to create a #transportationjustice plan for our communities for years. Transportation justice means all neighborhoods have equal access to public transit, bicycling and walking opportunities and no one is overburdened with the pollution from cars on neighborhood streets or freeways.

Finally in September 2014, SANDAG agreed to look into the costs and benefits of such a plan. Now in January 2015, they released a potential plan but it still lacks the needs identified by the community.

• The proposed plan wants to build more freeways that continue to pollute our air and don’t ease traffic congestion.
• The proposed plan ignores state law requiring us to lower the air pollution contributing to climate change.
• The proposed plan allocate money to freeway projects instead of improving bike paths and sidewalks as much as we need. 

So transportation justice advocates ask that:

• SANDAG create a plan that deprioritizes freeway expansion projects to prioritize and invest in public transit, bicycling and walking instead. This leads to greater transportation access and significantly reduces air pollution in communities already overburdened from the air quality impacts of freeways in their neighborhoods.
• Once this plan is developed, SANDAG treat it as a legitimate option by putting it through the same environmental review process as the freeway-centered plan. Without this review process, our #transportationjustice plan doesn’t stand an equal chance.

What are they saying?

• SANDAG claims there is not enough funding to support operations and maintenance for more public transit, bicycling and walking paths. But the truth remains that SANDAG doesn’t have enough funds to support operation and maintenance for freeway infrastructure, yet they still vote to expand freeways. This makes it clear that if there is a will for funding there is a way, SANDAG just has it’s priorities wrong.

We need you to help them focus on what really matters: Accessible and affordable public transit. Safe infrastructure for bicycling and walking. Less freeways, cars and trucks. Cleaner air. Lower asthma rates. Healthier San Diego. Sustainable future.

Here are two things you can do to make your voice heard:

• Attend the SANDAG hearing

SANDAG is discussing the plan publicly on January 29 and we need your voice to be heard and your presence to be felt. To get involved in demanding transportation justice, please contact Monique Lopez today: 619-474-0220 x 130 or email her at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo..

• Tell SANDAG that we demand transportation justice.

Right now, you can tell five of the SANDAG board members who will be evaluating the transportation plan. You can start with the message below, feel free to alter the content to make it meaningful to your own neighborhood.

City of San Diego
Todd Gloria, Council Member
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City of Chula Vista
Hon. Mary Salas
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City of Encinitas
Hon. Lisa Shaffer, Councilmember 
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City of Santee
Hon. Jack Dale, Councilmember 
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City of Solana Beach
Hon. Lesa Heebner, Mayor
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Email template:

Dear _______,

My name is _______. I am deeply concerned by the transportation scenarios proposed by SANDAG.

The freeway-heavy plan is unjust and doesn't meet the community's needs for transportation justice.

Transportation justice means all neighborhoods have equal access to public transit, bicycling and walking opportunities and no one is overburdened with the pollution from cars on neighborhood streets or freeways.

The plan builds more freeways that will continue to pollute our air, raise the rate of childhood asthma, and will not ease traffic congestion. I ask you to advocate for a plan that deprioritizes freeway expansion projects and invest in public transit, bicycling and walking instead and treat it as a legitimate option by putting it through the same environmental review process as the freeway-centered plan.

Thank you for representing the people’s demands for transportation justice.