Freeways can wait! Our communities and our environment cannot. EHC says "no" to SANDAG's Regional Transportation Plan. The Plan expands freeways that make it harder for residents to get to work on transit. Community members have continually said "no" to expanding four major freeways running through the South Bay, including I-5, I-805, I-15, SR-94. These freeways cut through communities and elevate levels of air pollution, asthma and the effects of climate change.

SANDAG's plan for our region's transportation future doesn't include the changes we need to see in our neighborhoods: investments in public transit, biking, and walking infrastructure before freeway expansion. EHC urges the SANDAG Board to vote no on Friday, October 9. 

Read our full letter to SANDAG Board Members.

Read policy advocate Monique López's op-ed, "The Movement for a Balanced Transportation Future."

On a sunny Saturday, we hosted our first-ever community bike ride for City Heights residents to pedal in support of the new bike infrastructure planned for City Heights. The area slated for improvements, 54th, University Avenue and Orange Avenue, is lined with schools and green space. The bike improvements offer the freedom of movement residents have advocated for since 2012. Residents were thrilled and ready to celebrate the over $17 million in dedicated funds for the North Park Mid-City Bikeways, and with the enthusiasm and dedication of organizers, sponsors and participants, the bike ride quickly transformed into something incredible.

More than 100 people attended this community bike ride in celebration and support of transportation justice. The ride raised awareness and support for bicycle and pedestrian improvements such as bike lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks and road diets to make the streets of City Heights safer. It also gave our allies a platform to share their stories and build new partnerships. Everyone was having so much fun, residents who hadn’t been on a bike in years decided to join, and many loved it so much they made plans to get back on their bikes regularly again.

The strength and enthusiasm of the ride showed SANDAG, the City of San Diego and elected officials how much we care about transportation and climate justice. The ride also highlighted the unsung heroes of climate justice who are living the goals of the Climate Action Plan in the City of San Diego by walking, biking, and taking public transit as their main mode of transportation. Most importantly, the ride became an opportunity to build a stronger community and reclaim our streets. The ride gave a face to the bicycle commuting community of City Heights.

In City Heights residents are 16 percent less likely to have access to a car than the average San Diegan and therefore, are walking, biking, and taking public transportation more. However, they’re 23 percent more likely to get hit by a car while biking and 80 percent more likely to get hit by a car while walking.

Thank you to everyone who participated, you made a difference. We’d like to give special thanks to the sponsors and organizers of the ride also.

Special thanks to DECO Bikes for bringing 25 free bikes for residents to use and toSuper Cocina for the amazing food and accommodating more than 100 hungry people. Special thanks to our community partners The Built Environment Team, City Heights Community Development Corporation, Community Leadership Association (ALC) and Bikes Del Pueblo. Also, thank you to Bridget Enderle of SANDAG for giving the residents an update on the North Park Mid-City Bikeway project.

Thank you, 

Monique López
Policy Advocate

EHC knows justice is achieved when empowered communities act together. In the last month, we've urged the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to put people before freeways when planning our region's transportation future and we've recently seen our hard work pay off.

These victories are possible because of your passionately donated time and money. Today, we ask you to support more change for our communities. Please join EHC today.

A revolutionary move for transportation justice is right around the corner.

For the past several months, the community has been asking for more bicycling and walking options and public transit accesss. In close partnership with City Heighs Community Development Corporation, we've asked for alternatives that don't grow freeways, but give us healthier transportation options and improved mobility.

Today, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) heard our voices. Instead of only moving forward with freeway-focused planning that jeopardizes the health of our neighborhoods, it recommended the incorporation of $31 million for a test project that would allow public transit to run on the shoulder/in the median along SR-94 and parts of the 805 freeway during high-traffic times.

To make public transit more accesible, SANDAG is also looking into putting a bus stop in the Sherman Heights/Golden Hill neighborhoods.

With a strong and unified voice, today the community's recommendations for a healthy transportation future have become valid and potential options as SANDAG has agreed to include them in the review process.

Policy advocate Monique Lopez says, "This starts the conversation in the region of how we do transportation planning. There's other ways that are more innovative and the community can stand behind than expanding freeways."

Working closely with City Heights Community Development Corporation, The MAAC Project and many community residents who live along the corridor, we would like to thank our elected officials who showed leadership in supporting innovative community-supported approach to improving mobility on the Martin Luther King, Jr. freeway corridor. Thank you Councilmember Alvarez, Councilmember Gloria, Councilmember Emerald, Councilmember Cole, Assemblymember Gonzalez and Assemblymember Weber. Additionally, we would like to thank SANDAG and Caltrans staff for their work on the project, for the continued open lines of communication and for being responsive to the community concerns and requests.

On Friday, July 24, SANDAG makes its final decision about transportation justice improvements in our communities. Until then, thank you for having a voice for a future of #healthyhoods and #familiesbeforefreeways. Follow us on Twitter and stay tuned.

We all need to move, and how we move influences our quality of life. Unfortunately, not all communities have the same access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation options such as public transit and biking and walking paths. That means some communities don't have access to the same quality of life just because of where they live.

Transportation justice is the equal access of all people to transportation options and in turn, an equal chance for a healthier life.

Here, a few of our community members define transportation justice in their own lives.

To get involved, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, come to our next community meeting and contact Monique López at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. (619) 474-0220 ext. 130.

When the San Onofre power plant shut down, San Diego had an opportunity to power our city with clean energy that makes our communities healthier and builds thousands of local jobs. Instead the California Public Utilities Commission voted to meet two thirds of our new energy needs with a polluting natural-gas power plant in Carlsbad, and only one third of our energy with clean sources. 

This recent decision locks San Diego into at least 40 years of air pollution, high energy bills, climate change and a minimized opportunity to create thousands of local jobs. Of the five commissioners on the California Public Utilities Commission, only Commissioner Sandoval voted against the polluting power plant. Sandoval acknowledged that there is no legal basis to support a rushed approval of a dirty gas plant at the expense of clean energy solutions. 

According to Policy Advocate Kayla Race says, “The Commission says they’re moving us toward a clean energy future, but it’s hard to believe when so many of their decisions takes us three steps backwards. This power plant locks San Diegans into higher energy bills for more pollution, which doesn’t make sense when we have cleaner options available that create local jobs and make our communities healthier.”

We need programs and policies that invest in local communities to create career-track green jobs and create a new clean energy economy. Maximizing energy efficiency and conservation, rooftop solar and other forms of local renewable energy should be California’s first priority in meeting the state’s energy needs. Only after all clean resources are exhausted should new, polluting power plants and transmission infrastructure be allowed.

Join the fight for climate justice by:

• Urging our California Legislators to increase clean energy statewide
• Demanding the City of San Diego commit to 100% clean energy, help make our homes more efficient, and put our neighborhoods first in its Climate Action Plan
• Staying up to date on Facebook, Twitter and our newsletter (sign up in the right side bar). 

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and Caltrans have proposed a plan to expand the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway (SR 94) that benefits none of the communities that it damages. Children who live in adjacent communities will likely have more asthma episodes as a result of the increased car pollution and the plan offers very minimal improvements to make biking and walking safer for people who live and work in and visit these communities. The freeway will carry a new transit line without a single bus stop in the communities it runs through.

The irony of the plan is glaring. The freeway named after one of greatest champions of equality is being expanded at the expense of lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words could not be any truer today than they once were. He said,

“Urban transit systems in most American cities, for example, have become a genuine civil rights issue – and a valid one – because the layout of rapid-transit systems determines the accessibility of jobs to the black community [and other communities of color]. If transportation systems in American cities could be laid out so as to provide an opportunity for poor people to get meaningful employment, then they could begin to move into the mainstream of American life.”

This injustice may continue if the community’s voice is not heard by SANDAG.

Better plans exist that benefit all San Diegans.

We should apply innovative community-based solutions by turning existing freeway space into transit only lanes or convert an existing general purpose lane for carpool and transit-only use.

We should improve transit options for all by having bus stops in all communities.

We should adequately invest in adjacent communities to improve safety conditions for people walking, biking and transit use.

SANDAG and Caltrans will give an update on the plan and its impacts to surrounding communities on May 20th at 2 p.m. If you believe in transportation justice and clean air for all communities, sign our letter, contact Monique at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. and attend the meeting.

Did you know: Every time you purchase a non-food item at the store, a percentage of the taxes you see on your receipt go to fund local transportation projects?

This sales tax is called "TransNet." The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), collects the tax and distributes a small amount of that funding to cities in San Diego County.

The City of San Diego gets close to 30-million dollars each year, in addition to other federal and state funds, to decide what type of improvements to local streets and sidewalks.

Start Here - Overburdened Communities Need Help Most

We recommend that the City prioritize transportation projects in communities that are:

• most impacted by air pollution due to cars and trucks on local streets and freeways;
• have greatest percentages of children with asthma; and
• have the greatest risk of being hit by car while walking or biking.

These communities include City Heights, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, Barrio Logan and San Ysidro.

Start Now - Here's How

So how can the City of San Diego use its funds for transportation justice? It can begin by transforming streets and public space into a place where it is safe for people to walk, bike, take transit and drive, or as we like to call it: "Complete Streets."

Complete Streets means streets are not just built for cars, but for all modes of transportation. When a city builds infrastructure that accommodates more than automobiles, it's been shown to increase other modes of transportation drastically.

Complete Streets have roundabouts to slow down traffic, wide sidewalks to encourage walking, protected bike lanes to separate bicyclists from traffic and streetlights to name a few.

The City needs to dedicate funding to make Complete Streets possible.

Everyone Wants Clean Air

Currently, the City of San Diego has a draft Climate Action Plan that sets goals to increase biking, walking and public transit. This is important because 55 percent of the pollution contributing to climate change comes from people driving alone in their car.

To reach our goal of more walking, biking and taking public transit, the City should at least match their transportation budget to the amount needed to build the streets and sidewalks it takes to accomplish climate goals.

Your Community, Your Voice

There are a number of projects that need to move forward in our communities to make it safer and more convenient to walk, bike, or take public transit. If you know of a transportation need, such as a dangerous intersection, missing crosswalks or bike lanes in your community, contact Monique Lopez at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo..

We must work together to ensure that our community priorities are included in the City's budget and build #healthyhoods one bike lane, sidewalk and transit stop at a time.

You may have heard the buzz about the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan, but what does it mean and why does it matter? We’ve broken it down so you can understand how our city is handling climate change and how to get involved.

The problems with climate change

Climate change hits our neighborhoods first and worst

What is a Climate Action Plan?

What does the draft Climate Action Plan leave out?

Our solution

Take action

What they’re saying

The problems with climate change

Climate change can't be seen or touched, but every day our families are affected by it and the pollution that causes it. The thick, dirty air from cars and industries harm our environment and make us sick. And climate change effects, from sea-level rise along our coast, to extreme heat waves and drought, impact our region and our lives more each day.

Learn more about the harmful effects of climate change in San Diego here.

Climate change hits our neighborhoods first and worst

All neighborhoods in San Diego are impacted by climate change, but not all neighborhoods are impacted equally. As the effects of climate change worsen, some urban neighborhoods such as Barrio Logan, City Heights, and southeastern and southern San Diego suffer significantly more.

Climate change hits hardest in the neighborhoods that:

• Have the highest rates of asthma hospitalization among children in the city;
• Breathe the most polluted air from trucks, freeways and industrial sources;
• Live in old, unhealthy homes lacking energy efficiency and solar energy needed to reduce unaffordable energy bills;
• Lack access to safe, affordable and convenient transit, bicycling and walking options to access jobs, health care, parks, and cooling centers; and,
• Face the highest rates of unemployment, underemployment and low-wage jobs.

Without immediate action in our communities, we will see more heat waves, drought, worsened air quality, increased energy bills and more freeway pollution. The time to start is now, and the place to start is here.

What is a Climate Action Plan?

The City of San Diego is developing a plan to reduce the pollution that causes climate change--which mostly comes from cars, trucks and dirty power plants—and boost our resilience in a changing climate. San Diego’s plan will reduce pollution by relying more on clean energy, increasing transit, walking and biking opportunities, increasing our urban tree coverage and reducing waste.

What does the Climate Action Plan leave out?

The current draft of the Climate Action Plan falls short in two major areas:

1. It fails to prioritize neighborhoods most impacted by climate change for transportation and energy benefits, and
2. It doesn’t do enough to reduce energy use in buildings.

Our solution: Start here, start now! Put our neighborhoods first in the Climate Action Plan!

The City of San Diego should take action on climate now, starting in the neighborhoods impacted first and worst by climate change. Sign our letter to tell the Mayor and City to strengthen and approve an enforceable and comprehensive Climate Action Plan that achieves:

• Transportation justice: Invests in transit, bicycling, and pedestrian infrastructure in our neighborhoods first, and puts people before freeways
• Energy justice: Puts solar in our neighborhoods, gives San Diegans a clean energy choice, and makes new and existing buildings energy efficient
• Good jobs: Creates good-paying jobs for local residents
• Climate change resilience: Protects our natural resources, wildlife, coastline, infrastructure, and public health from the harmful impacts of climate change
• Bold goals, state laws and the City General Plan: Achieves the draft climate plan’s goals to cut carbon in half, use alternative transit for half commutes, use 100 percent clean energy, increase our urban forests, and reduce waste

Take Action

• Sign our letter to tell your Councilmembers to start here, and start now. to tell your Councilmembers to start here, and start now.
• Donate to allow EHC to continue fighting for a Climate Action Plan that starts in our communities.
• Do your part at home and in your community to reduce pollution. Click here to find out how.

What They’re Saying

City Councilmembers join the community in demanding the City’s Climate Action Plan start here and start now, in our urban neighborhoods most impacted by climate change.

Irma Ortiz, resident of Logan Heights, said:

“Residents in my neighborhood already suffer from air quality that’s damaging to breathe, energy bills that are difficult to pay and public transit that’s hard to access. My community has needed the City to act on climate and pollution for a long time, and I hope the mayor’s plan ensures we will see action soon.” 

Councilmember David Alvarez said:

“Neighborhoods in my district and others like it have been waiting their turn for investments in solar energy, affordable and convenient public transit, bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure, efficient and healthy homes and improved air quality. We can’t afford to wait any longer. We need to act here and now to ensure our neighborhoods are resilient against climate change impacts.”

Councilmember Marti Emerald said:

“I positively support the adoption of a strong Climate Action Plan for the City of San Diego. Climate change impacts disadvantaged communities, including many in District 9, hardest. We need to make sure that the economic, transportation and public health needs of the citizens in disadvantaged neighborhoods are adequately addressed by the plan.”

Councilmember Myrtle Cole said:

"San Diego's working families must be equipped to be resilient in a changing climate and create healthy, sustainable investment and quality jobs in communities that have historically been underserved.” 

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When I speak about transportation justice to SANDAG, I keep hearing the same buzz phrase: “balanced approach”. SANDAG claims the transportation plan for our region is a “balanced approach” because some funding is going to public transit, bicycling and walking improvements.

I think we have different opinions on what it means to be “balanced”.

Let’s imagine there are two children. Let’s say I give one child two pieces of chocolate and I give the other child twenty. The child who gets two may say, “Hey, that’s not fair,” and he may be right.

To remedy the situation, I give them both twenty more.

Does that make it balanced? Does that make it equal?

No. The children still began at a place of imbalance. If I continue to give them both the same amount of chocolates, one will still have more chocolate than the other because they didn’t begin at the same place. They were imbalanced from the start.

This example isn’t so different from the transportation conversation I’m having at SANDAG.

Where do we see imbalance?

1. Neighborhoods

Just like the chocolates, when one community begins from a place of very little transportation access, poor sidewalks, dangerous bike paths, poor air quality, and more (two chocolates) and another community has plenty of transit access, wide sidewalks, paved bike paths and toxic-free air, (twenty chocolates), investing the same amount in both communities who are severely imbalanced from the start doesn’t make it balanced. Ignoring the glaring deficit of one community in comparison to another is unjust and, as the child with two chocolates may say, unfair.

2. Funding

For the past few decades, freeways have received significantly more funding than infrastructure that supports public transit, bike paths and sidewalks. We know this to be true because it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to get to certain places without a car.

3. Travel Time

When it comes to competitive travel times between modes of transportation the imbalance is obvious. In San Diego, the average commute time by car is typically 25 minutes while it can be up to two or three times longer on public transit.

4. Public Health

As a result of freeways running through or near their neighborhoods, certain communities experience elevated cases of asthma, cancer and heart disease. SANDAG may say, “But we are investing in strategies to relieve the air pollution in these communities, such as expanding freeways for carpool lanes and for transit.” But this is not a solution to toxic air pollution because we know freeway expansion only worsens air quality and the effects of climate change.

5. Safety

Sadly, residents in low-income San Diego neighborhoods are ten times more likely to be hit by a car. Walk around San Diego’s underserved communities and see the broken or nonexistent sidewalks, lack of cross walks and public transit stops or pedestrian-friendly infrastructure for yourself. You don’t have to be a city planner to know that certain neighborhoods have considerably “less candy”, so to speak.

Transportation justice means true balance.

When EHC talks about transportation justice, we’re talking about the need for true balance and we are disappointed that SANDAG proposes a plan that only perpetuates a legacy of imbalance.

If SANDAG really wants a balanced transportation plan for the region, they will:

• Build efficient transit, bike and walk infrastructure
• Prioritize transit, bike and walk projects first before freeway expansion
• Make taking transit not an inconvenient form of travel
• Apply innovative transportation solutions that improve the air quality in low-income communities
• Fund transit, bike and walk infrastructure first in overburdened communities that have been neglected for too long

We can have a balanced transportation plan in our region, but it will require a new approach to what the term balance means and recognition of communities that have been behind from the start. If one child has two candies and one child has 20, why not give the first child 18 more and implement the values of equity and justice?

Thank you for supporting transportation justice.

To get involved, please Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. today.

Monique Lopez, policy advocate