Community focus is key to San Diego’s multimodal future

Taking a community-led, bottom-up approach will be key if US cities are to reduce dependence on cars and boost sustainable travel, says Alyssa Muto, Director of San Diego’s Sustainability and Mobility Department.

Speaking to Cities Today on the sidelines of the recent Cities Today Institute City Leadership Forum in Houston, Muto said: “We need to look at how we repurpose our neighbourhoods and communities, how we support mobility modes of all types for all ages. And we need to really elevate walking and biking, making transport more accessible and connecting all those modes together to move us towards the future of sustainability.”

San Diego has introduced a series of new initiatives over the past few years, including its ambitious Climate Action Plan which was signed into law in August 2022.

As part of its commitments, the city wants to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, and is encouraging people to shift their primary mode of transportation away from cars to walking, cycling or transit.

“Change is hard. And what we know today can’t be easily modelled for where we need to go tomorrow,” said Muto.

“We want to work with the community, to communicate what that can look like, what the opportunities are, and really what that means to their daily lives.

“That’s the piece that we really need to work carefully on while also listening to users that have more constraints in their daily lives: do they need to take transit? Can they not afford cars? Are they disabled and need support services?’.

“So really listening to folks, and understanding all the different use cases and all the different opportunities.”

Among the future actions laid out in the Climate Action Plan are an update to the city’s 2013 Bicycle Master Plan, which some campaigners have said is outdated and insufficient to attract new riders.

Implementation of the new plan, and the bike networks envisioned in the city’s various community plans, will include segregated bike lanes, which the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) says are more likely to attract new riders compared with painted bike lanes.

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