FY 2004-2008 REGIONAL SHORT- RANGE TRANSIT PLAN TECHNICAL APPENDIX June 2004 INTRODUCTION The SRTP is the five-year plan that balances the short-term needs of maintaining and optimizing existing services, while beginning to implement the long-term transit vision identified in MOBILITY 2030. This technical appendix supports the SRTP with additional documentation on the existing transit system, including operating data used to perform various analyses. Specifically, the technical appendix includes: Appendix A – Who We Are: Description of MTS, NCTD, and SANDAG Appendix B – Existing Transit Services and Programs: Details of existing system Appendix C – FY 2004 Performance Improvement Program (PIP): Contains program description and Performance Improvement Recommendations (PIRs) of each operator Appendix D – FY 2003 Route Operating Statistics: Route-level statistics of all MTS and NCTD routes Appendix E – Historical Operating Statistics: Annual operator-level statistics from past to present Appendix F – FY 2003 Title VI Compliance: Annual update of Title VI assessment Appendix G – Transit/Land Use Memorandum of Understanding: Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between various jurisdictions Appendix H – North County Transit District Service Implementation Plan FY2005-FY2010: Future service plans of NCTD TABLE OF CONTENTS _______________________________________________ APPENDIX A: WHO WE ARE ...................................................................................................A-1 APPENDIX B: EXISTING TRANSIT SERVICES AND PROGRAMS........................................B-1 APPENDIX C: PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM ...............................................C-1 APPENDIX D: FY2003 ROUTE STATISTICS...........................................................................D-1 APPENDIX E: HISTORICAL OPERATOR STATISTICS ......................................................... E-1 APPENDIX F: FY2003 TITLE VI ...............................................................................................F-1 APPENDIX G: TRANSIT/LAND USE AGREEMENTS............................................................. G-1 APPENDIX H: NCTD SERVICE IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM FY2005-2010 ...................H-1 APPENDIX A WHO WE ARE APPENDIX A: WHO WE ARE SAN DIEGO ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS (SANDAG) In 1966, local governments created the Comprehensive Planning Organization (CPO) under a state-authorized joint powers agreement. In 1970, the Governor designated the CPO as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to assure areawide coordination and to serve as the technical and informational resource for local governments. In 1971, the CPO was further designated as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency, Airport Land Use Commission, and Areawide Clearinghouse for federal/state grant reviews. The agency adopted the first Regional Transportation Plan in 1975, and in 1980, the CPO was renamed the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). In 1987, a majority of San Diego County residents passed Proposition A, the TransNet sales tax program, which has generated $3.3 billion for transit, highway, local streets, bicycles, and pedestrian projects throughout the region. Today, SANDAG is the regional agency as well as the technical and informational resource for the area’s 18 incorporated cities and the county government, who collectively are the “Association of Governments.” Through this Association, local governments work together to solve current problems and plan for the future. Citizens, special interest groups, and other agencies are involved in SANDAG’s planning and approval process by participating in working groups and task forces, as well as attending workshops and public hearings. SANDAG develops strategic plans, allocates resources, implements projects, and provides information on a broad range of topics pertinent to the San Diego region’s quality of life, including transportation, environmental management, housing, open space, air quality, energy, fiscal management, economic development, and criminal justice. With the historic increases in population and employment during the late 1990s came the byproducts of a healthy economy, namely, traffic congestion, increased travel demand, and the need for denser development. Even with the recent slowdown in the economy, this trend is anticipated to extend well into the future of San Diego, as one million new residents are expected in San Diego County by 2030. As such, the regional transit system is poised to play an even more integral and prominent role in providing transportation to San Diegans well into the future. Working in close cooperation with the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB), North San Diego County Transit Development Board (NCTD), and Caltrans, SANDAG approved the Regional Transit Vision (RTV) in 2001. The RTV provides a strategic vision of public transit’s role in serving the region’s future transportation and mobility needs. This vision provides a framework for SANDAG’s multimodal long-range regional transportation planning efforts, as well as short-range transit planning and implementation activities. A-1 METROPOLITAN TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT BOARD (MTDB) Early in the twentieth century, an extensive network of electric streetcars, replacing previous systems powered by horses, provided transit services. Motorbuses were gradually introduced to serve lightly traveled routes and began replacing streetcars on more popular routes as technology improved. By 1949, all transit service was being provided by buses operated by San Diego Transit System. However, due to financial difficulties, this system was acquired by the City of San Diego in 1967, and renamed San Diego Transit Corporation. At the same time, automobile usage and freeway expansion in post-World War II Southern California were booming. With environmental features such as canyons, mountains, and valleys, convenient access to and from transit stops was often a challenge. With the advent of urban sprawl, the segregated land uses and low-density development catered almost exclusively to automobile travel and increased the distances for daily trips. By the 1960s and 1970s, transit ridership decreased as automobile usage substantially increased. As the number and distance of daily trips increased, the burden on the road system resulted in ever-increasing traffic congestion. MTDB was formed in 1976 to help address these problems. Five years later, MTDB purchased the San Diego and Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) Railway, formed San Diego Trolley, Incorporated (SDTI), and opened the country’s first post-World War II light rail transit (LRT) system. In 1981, the opening of the San Diego Trolley South Line (existing Blue Line between downtown San Diego and San Ysidro), and in 1986, the Orange Line between downtown San Diego and Euclid Avenue was completed. At around the same time (1985), MTDB acquired San Diego Transit Corporation (SDTC). As part of this consolidation, MTDB created the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), with the purpose of providing a unified transit system to the public. The MTS, a federation of fixed-route and paratransit operators in the MTDB service area, includes SDTI, SDTC, MTDB Contract Services, Chula Vista Transit, and National City Transit. In 1987, voters approved the Proposition A “TransNet” Ordinance, which provided funding for future LRT extensions and bus improvements. Shortly thereafter, MTDB also assumed the taxi regulatory responsibility for the City of San Diego. From 1990 to 1997, five LRT extensions opened, including Bayside, Centre City to County Center/Little Italy, Santee on the Orange Line, Old Town, and Mission Valley West on the Blue Line. During this time, maintenance facilities were acquired, joint development projects were pursued, and compressed natural gas (CNG) buses were purchased. In 2000, further improvements were made to the administration and operations of MTS. MTS transit operators and suburban cities began consolidating their Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds to leverage other state and federal funding. The SDTI Rail Yard Expansion Project was also completed, and construction began on the Mission Valley East LRT extension, which will extend the Blue Line east via San Diego State University (SDSU) to a connection with the Orange Line in La Mesa. In 2000, SDTC and SDTI celebrated their 115th and 20th anniversaries, respectively, and, in 2002, CTS (formerly County Transit System) was consolidated into MTDB’s multimodal operations. A-2 NORTH SAN DIEGO COUNTY TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT BOARD (NCTD) The North San Diego County Transit Development Board (Board) was created by California Senate Bill No. 802 on September 30, 1975. The Board was created to plan, construct, and operate itself, or through a contractor, a public transit system in its area of jurisdiction. On July 1, 1976, the Board formed the North County Transit District (NCTD) for the purpose of providing integrated public transit services within the North San Diego County region. One of the first actions of the Board was to acquire the municipal transit systems operated by the cities of Escondido and Oceanside. The Board then set about designing a regional transit system comprised of local and regional corridor routes to serve the transportation needs of North San Diego County. In 1987, voters approved the Proposition A “TransNet” Ordinance, which provided funding for future transit projects and improvements to the existing system. Around the same time, planning began on the Coaster commuter rail service.