Free Transit Passes for Youth and Mobility Hubs
As chair of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG’s) Social Equity Working Group, I have fought for transportation equity in our new Regional Plan, and we recently had success by approving an early action plan that includes free transit passes for youth.
This has been a top priority for community organizations like Mid-City CAN and the Environmental Health Coalition for over a decade.
Also, as part of the new Regional Plan, I secured a commitment from SANDAG to make the San Ysidro Intermodal Transit Center one of the first two Mobility Hubs built by SANDAG in the county.
MTS Ridership Recovery Action Plan
The COVID-19 pandemic hit public transit especially hard. At the beginning of this year, ridership on the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) was just 39% of the pre-pandemic level.
As a Board Member of MTS, I have pushed hard for staff to create a ridership recovery action plan that was launched in September 2021. This is already bearing fruit; ridership is now up to 60% of the pre-pandemic level and still growing.
The Trolly Blue Line
Also, I continue to advocate for improvements to the Blue Line, the backbone of our public transit system connecting the San Ysidro Border Crossing, with Downtown, and now all the way up to UCSD.
