The San Diego City Council recently approved a Mobility Master Plan, spurring the city’s first comprehensive transportation planning effort.
Rather than replacing previous initiatives, such as the Climate Action Plan, Vision Zero Strategic Plan or the Bicycle Master Plan, the Mobility Master Plan works to bolster these efforts. The goal is to combine the specific needs and projects listed in other citywide and neighborhood plans to create one unified, strategic plan.
However, despite the ambitious plan of action, San Diegans won’t be seeing brand-new bike lanes being laid out right away. Currently, there is no funding from the city nor does the plan lay out an estimate of the total expenditures.
The plan to streamline mobility improvements across the city began with a draft of the Mobility Master Plan released in October 2023. After two revisions, along with community input, the final plan, set to face revisions, was approved by the council.
The plan serves as a coordinated approach to transportation infrastructure improvements, identifying 377 projects and 15 programs for the city and prioritizing citywide sustainability, equity, land use, and mobility policies.
The council vote served as the “go-ahead” to look for funding, which the plan outlines as coming exclusively from competitive grants and formula funding, a type of funding that the federal government allocates funds which are determined by a quantifiable factor like unemployment rate or population.
Out of the potential funding sources, federal grants would have the most robust short-term impact. However, considering executive orders by President Donald Trump earlier this year, eliminating funding agreements, programs and other directives that involve “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” funding through the Department of Transportation may not be available.
The plan highlights 15 programs, some of which build off of existing programs, while others implement new mobility options.
Seven of the projects are projected to cost $100,000 or less, while another seven are projected to cost between $100,000 and $1 million. The remaining project, Micromobility Charging and Services is estimated to be the most costly, ranging from $1 to $10 million, providing public charging stations for e-bikes and scooters as well as bike-share and scooter-share programs.
Ahead of the council’s vote, the only member to mention funding was Council President Joe LaCava.
“I assume there is no funding in our FY26 budget. But this will be, I assume, a good guide for you to go out and get grants as we try to implement this,” he said.
Transit Fare Subsidies is one of the programs listed that works to achieve goals centered around equity and access to public transit. Similar to the SANDAG-funded Youth Opportunity Pass Program, which began in 2022 and will continue until 2026, the subsidies program looks to expand the pilot program to vulnerable community members.
An additional existing program in the mobility plan is the implementation of way-finding signs across the city. The goal. is to install ADA-compliant, interactive kiosks around commercial, pedestrian-oriented areas Downtown.
LaCava noted a member of the public who called in to support the mobility plan and a lack of community members at the meeting who expressed qualms about the plan, as a sign of a city-wide desire for transportation improvements.
Councilmember Marni Von Wilpert shared LaCava’s sense that San Diegans desire improved mobility, which drove her disappointment due to the lack of projects in her district.
“I’m looking forward to seeing all the different mobility options that are going to happen across the city, except in District 5,” said Von Wilpert, mentioning the communities she represents, which include Black Mountain Ranch, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Miramar Ranch North, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Peñasquitos, Sabre Springs, San Pasqual, Scripps Ranch and Torrey Highlands.
She also cited a measure of traffic, Vehicle Miles Traveled, or VMT, in her argument.
“There’s not a lot in here for District 5, and it makes me very sad because we have been waiting on this plan for awhile since D-5 is the highest VMT area in the city,” she said.
Von Wilpert pointed out that of the 377 projects identified, only eight involve District 5. Five of these projects are part of SANDAG’s ‘Transit Leap: Rapid’ program, which Von Wilpert said aren’t set to be considered for many years.
She also raised the issue of vehicle charging stations, saying that in May 2024, the council voted to install hundreds of them, but a year later, they have yet to be built. This has had an impact on District 5, she said, as the district relies on EVs to fulfill its contribution to climate action goals.
In the end, the plan passed 9-0 and was released to the public. Over time, it is set to be updated and altered to address changing conditions.
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