MAE 124/ESYS 103:  Week 8 Assignment

Transportation Planning for UC San Diego: Trains, Buses, or Automobiles


The week 8 assignment asks you to think about strategic planning for UC San Diego's transportation planning, in the context of transportation planning for the region.  San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) long-range transportation plan opens by stating, "Ask anyone what’s the biggest problem in San Diego, and you’ll probably hear `traffic.' However, if we have learned anything in the last decade, it’s that we can't build our way out of traffic congestion. This leaves us at a crossroads--the road less traveled may hold the key to how we commute in the future." The plan, entitled "2030 San Diego Regional Transportation Plan: Pathways for the Future" goes on to outline a broad-based "blueprint" for the San Diego transportation sytem. Among the current SANDAG transportation activities are efforts to widen I-5 (including adding carpool lanes that will bring commuters to the UCSD campus), reworking bus routes, extending the trolley north from Old Town to UCSD, and adding a Coaster station on Nobel Drive to serve the University Town Center area.

The biggest component of the regional tranportation planning that is currently in the works is the planned trolley extension to UCSD.  Although the trolley won't reach campus until 2016, its imminent arrival is already influencing transportation planning on campus.  In particular, UCSD has made a decision not to build any new parking structures (except at the medical center) since demand for parking is expected to plummet once the trolley arrives, and therefore future parking permit revenue would be insufficient to repay the $30,000 to $40,000 per space costs of building a parking structure.

Given all this regional activity, how should UCSD advance its own transportation plans? Should UCSD build more parking structures, expand shuttle buses, or increase coordination with the regional public transportation system? If you were advising Brian d'Autremont, UCSD's Director of Transportation Services (and our guest speaker), what process would you advise using to upgrade commuting options for UCSD students and staff?  There are a broad number of issues that you could consider in your response.  For example, should UCSD build more parking lots, expand shuttle buses, or increase coordination with the regional public transportation system?  Should the university try to influence where students and staff live in order to facilitate more sustainable commuting?  And what route should the campus advocate for the future trolley?  As always the answers you give are less important than the process you outline for gathering information and evaluating alternatives.  Your response should be no more than 250 words.

As you think about this, you'll want to be sure to gather good information about the options.   Here we give you a broad list of resources from which to choose.   As a starting point, you might want to attend one of the SANDAG Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project "open house" meetings.  These are intended to inform the public about the project and give people an opportunity to submit comments about proposed routings.
You should also read a minimum of 2-3 articles before you start writing.  Here's information on San Diego efforts:
Examples from elsewhere are also useful. First consider the case of Curitiba, Brazil: Second, consider the bus transit pass system adopted in the Denver area: