Introducing the Quickway Proposal - A Vision for a World-Class Transit System for San Diego

San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning 1© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning.
INTRODUCING THE
Quickway
Proposal
A CITIZEN-BASED INITIATIVE FOR A
FASTER & MORE EFFECTIVE RAPID
TRANSIT SYSTEM FOR SAN DIEGO
for the Scripps Ranch/Miramar Ranch North
Traffic Reduction Project
Produced by Alan Hoffman at:
urbanvisioning@outlook.com
+1 (619) 232-1776
UPDATED 24 APRIL 2017

San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning 2
What’s the problem?
Abandon
Hope

1. The Trolley is not attracting large
numbers of people from their cars.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
City
Bus
(25%)
0% 1995 2003
% of Trolley Riders Who “Had an Auto Available” for Their Trip
2009
Source: SANDAG
Why?
1. Trolley trips still take too long.
2. Stations are often not conveniently located.
3. The overall customer experience is lacking.
Despite four new segments added to our Trolley system,
it still doesn’t attract a larger share of “choice” riders.

2. The Trolley is not attracting
the middle-income market.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Below
$15k
$15k -
<$25k
$25k -
<$50k
$50k -
<$75k
$75k -
<$100k
$100k
and Up
MTS
Bus
Trolley
Commuter
Rail
Freeway
Bus
Source:
SANDAG, “Results of the 2009
Onboard Transit Passenger
Survey for the San Diego
Region,” (February, 2011).
The San Diego
Trolley (light rail)
attracts the
identical low-
income market of
the MTS Bus.
Household
Income
The Trolley attracts the
same demographic as
the MTS bus. Only
20% of riders come
from households
earning over $50k/yr.

3. Too many land uses are not well-served.
¼ Mile Radius
around Trolley
Station
Office
Employment
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is one of
the region’s largest
office markets… yet
most office jobs aren’t
within walking distance
of a Trolley station!

4. The RTP fails to meet the City’s Climate Action
Plan targets…or the Governor’s 2050 targets
Our Regional
Transportation Plan
fails to reduce
Greenhouse Gas
Emissions enough to
meet 2050 targets.

7San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning
If we’re serious about:
Climate change (greenhouse gas impacts)
Traffic congestion
Quality of life
Better managing and directing growth & development
Then we need a transit system that’s:
Significantly faster
Better located
More direct
With a better customer experience

What’s the solution?
Better located
& configured
stations
A regional
Quickway
infrastructure
A regional
MetroXpress
network

An effective transit system doesn’t begin
with extending trolley or bus lines.

It begins with locating stations—the
points around which we will grow
and develop as a region.

We want to minimize the number of
people waiting by the side of the road…

Station
Station
…and maximize the number that live within walking
distance of a true rapid transit station…

2-Mile
Radius
…or within a short drive of a suburban park-and-ride station.
Source: 2010 US Census
population distribution

What should stations be like? We want
better protection from the elements...

...whether it’s the occasional rain…

SHADE
...the hot sun…

...or the wind.

And if you’re with small children, you
shouldn’t have to worry about them running
or falling into the path of a vehicle.

So we like stations that feel like real stations, with live information announcing
arrivals, full overhead protection from sun and rain, and sliding glass doors that
match up to the doors on the transit vehicle. Regardless of mode—rail or bus—you
should have the same consistent experience. Mode shouldn’t matter.
1 2 3 4
Waiting for vehicle

1 2 3 4
Vehicle arrives

1 2 3 4
Board vehicle

1 2 3 4
Vehicle departs

Johannesburg, South Africa
Transit stations around the world
protect people from sun, wind,
rain, and moving vehicles.

Caen, France

Bogotá, Colombia

San Diego Quickway Proposal 26© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning
Proposed Rapid Transit Stations
Stations belong
at the hearts of
our
neighborhoods.
So that’s where
we located
them.

Regional Commuting Patterns
Downtown Greater Golden Triangle Palomar Airport Rd
How should these stations be
linked up? We tried to match
origins with likely destinations.

Ideal Transit Network…
Needless to say, a spaghetti web of
connections is difficult to operate...

…but we were able to condense these down so that they
took advantage of a manageable set of corridors.

But we still had two key
problems left to solve.

How can we make transit faster? People don’t want to stop at every stop
between their homes and their destinations—that can take forever.
“All Stops”
Express
Travel Time: “All Stops” vs. Express Service

“Rapid” Bus?
MTS #1 Bus: 30 mins.
Rapid Bus: 26 mins.
Time Savings: 4 mins. (13%)
Distance: 5.2 miles
Source: Google Maps Transit Trip Planner,
In-vehicle time only for 8 am departure
on Thursday, March 26, 2015
DEPART
COLLEGE &
EL CAJON
BLVDARRIVE PARK
BLVD AT
UNIVERSITY
AVE
And much as we appreciate the new Rapid Bus lines, their
average arterial speed of just 15 mph—or, for this stretch, 12
mph—isn’t really rapid. We need faster… a lot faster.

Every
5 minutes
saved in a
one-way
commute
One full
work week
40 hours
of time
every year!
In fact, every 5 minutes we can shave off a person’s
one-way commute saves them one full work-week of
their time every year—time they could better spend
working, relaxing, or parenting their kids. This, by the
way, is an environmental justice issue.

San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning 34San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2015 by Alan Hoffman
Our solution was to overlay an express
network on top of an “all-stops” network.

San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning 35San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2015 by Alan Hoffman
And by having these express routes crisscross at a
strategically located set of “SuperStations”…

Leapfrogging the Region
…you can now
leapfrog from most
likely origins to most
likely destinations with
a single station-based
transfer.

The “Last Mile” Challenge
San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2015 by Alan Hoffman
1/4 Mile (5 min. walk):
Effective walking distance from home.
1/2 Mile (10 min. walk):
Outer bound for walking.
1 Mile (20 min. walk):
The great challenge.
TRANSIT STATION
The second key
problem was how to
extend transit the
“last mile” for many
more people.

Mission Valley
¼ Mile Radius
around Trolley
Station
Take Mission Valley, our second
largest office market, for
example, where most offices
are beyond a 5-minute walk of
a trolley station.
Office
Employment

We came up with two
solutions to the “last
mile” problem.

Last Mile: “Jumping the Tracks”
STATION
STATION
First, we could take our express
network and have these vehicles
“jump the track,” as it were, to
travel down major arterials not
directly served by a station. By
doing that, we vastly extended
the reach of rapid transit.

Streetcars
We also propose an extensive
network of streetcar lines
targeting dense, active corridors
in highly urbanized core zones,
well-integrated with our proposed
station network.

“Total Transit”
Second, we came up with the
concept of “Total Transit,” a set of
additional services customers could
add to their monthly transit pass.

The “Total Transit” Concept
2. Guaranteed
Parking Space
at Local Transit
Center
1. Neighborhood Car
3. Full Use of Transit
4. Insurance on Car
For a fixed monthly price, riders would receive a small Neighborhood Electric
Vehicle which would be theirs alone to use. They could take care of their local
needs like shopping in addition to accessing and using the transit network.

It’s worth noting
that the diminutive
vehicle size means
that we could
provide structured
parking for these
vehicles at a cost
comparable to
surface parking for
normal-sized cars.

The point is, we want to make it so that a person or
family could meet a wide range of needs entirely
through their transit pass, so that families don’t
need to buy that 3rd or 4th car.

Notice that up to now we haven’t said much about
mode. That’s because we believe the choice of
mode should be driven by the kind of network you
need to deploy to meet your strategic goals.

All-Stops “Trolley-Like” Service
Regional Express Service
One Infrastructure = Lower Cost!
San Diego Quickway Proposal© 2015 by Alan Hoffman
In the case of San Diego, if our strategic objective is to create a full
network within twenty years, with both all-stops and express routes
on the same transit infrastructure…

…then we need to begin with a rubber-
tired but trolley-like system at its core.

Brisbane:
The Quickway Model
“Brisbane is now at the leading edge in
urban mass transit… the new busway… will attract
international attention for the level of
quality and customer focus that [has been]
incorporated.”
— Hans Rat, Secretary General
International Public
Transport Association (IUTP)
We hired the planners
behind Brisbane,
Australia’s, highly
successful Quickway
system, an example of
Global Best Practices in a
city not unlike San Diego.

Brisbane pioneered the Quickway
concept—grade-separated
busways that allow both All-Stops
and Express services to share the
same infrastructure.

Grade separation means no cross
traffic, leading to faster and more
reliable travel times. Tunnels and
flyovers let transit avoid
congestion and place stations in
optimal locations.

Quickways feature true rapid
transit stations with passing
lanes for express routes.

Quickways make express transit
economically viable by radically reducing
travel time—a point missed even by other
transit planning experts.

Brisbane’s first
Quickway, the
Southeast
Busway, now
routinely moves
over 20,000
passengers at
the peak hour
in the peak
location in the
peak direction—
about 7 ½
times the
volume moved
by our Trolley
system at its
busiest point.
Peak Ridership
Southeast Busway
(2-lane)
SD
Trolley
20,000+ 2,700
at the Busiest Spot
during the Busiest Hour
in the Peak Direction
Peak Hour
Peak Location
Peak Direction

140%
120%
160%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
2003 2009
+ 60%
Brisbane: Ridership Growth
2008 Ridership:
Rail: 60 million
Busway: 50 million
2010 Ridership:
Busway: 72 million
Even with a robust electrified commuter
rail system, Brisbane’s 13 miles of
Quickways produced a 60% increase in
transit ridership in just six-years.

Future-Proofing
And Quickways can be designed
for conversion to rail when
demand warrants, such as this
example from Seattle.

Our point isn’t to sing the praises of Quickways, or to denigrate
other modes; rather, it is to say that by supporting a far faster
express network fully integrated into the rest of the transit
system, Quickways can shape our future growth in a way that
would be cost-prohibitive with other modes.

Long-Term Evolution
Quickway segment & station
(Underground)
Quickway segment & station
(Underground)
With Quickways, you build pieces where you need them, connect them over time,
and then upconvert them to rail or some similar automated, self-guided technology.

Uncongested roadwayQuickway segment & station Quickway segment & station
Long-Term Evolution

Quickway segment & station Quickway segment & station
Long-Term Evolution

What are we proposing?

Regional Quickway System
Quickway
(Grade-Separated
Transitway)
Heavy Rail
Light Rail
Quickway
So what we propose is a 92-mile Quickway network
targeting the densest heart of our region.

New Streetcar & Light Rail
Heavy Rail
Light Rail
Quickway
Streetcar
We also proposed over 60 miles of new rail lines.
Our plan is clearly not “anti-rail”; it’s “right rail.”

Surface (At-Grade) Busways
T-Way
(At Grade Busway)
Heavy Rail
Light Rail
Quickway
Streetcar
At-Grade Busway
An additional 50 miles of surface treatments
together make the system work.

Freeway Lanes
(HOV, Shoulder, or Managed)
Freeway Lanes
Heavy Rail
Light Rail
Quickway
Streetcar
At-Grade Busway
Freeway LanesFreeway LanesFreeway LanesFreeway LanesFreeway Lanes
And while we take advantage of freeway
managed lanes and HOV lanes in places…

Transit = FAIL!
When the freeway
is blocked:
…freeways are no substitute for a better-
located and more reliable infrastructure.

Scalability
Elevated
SurfaceSurfaceSurfaceSurfaceSurface
Tunnel
HILLCREST
TUNNEL
HOTEL
CIRCLE
FLYOVER
HILLCREST CENTRAL
UCSD HILLCREST
HOTEL CIRCLE
FASHION VALLEY
A Quickway system doesn’t have to be built
all at once. We can begin by building key
pieces, like the Hillcrest Tunnel and Hotel
Circle Flyover, and use surface bus lanes to
link to downtown…

Scalability
…and then overlay other routes
that use existing arterials.
Existing “Rapid
Bus” Route
New “Rapid Bus”
Route Overlayed on
Existing Route
New
“Rapid
Bus”
Route
New
“Rapid
Bus”
Route

Cowles Mtn Station, Navajo Rd
In other places, we can build short
dedicated transit sections, like this
concept for a Cowles Mountain
station on Navajo Road. Once the
network is in place, new pieces
can be constructed to reduce
travel time, avoid congestion, and
meet capacity demands.

Another big advantage of a Quickway network is its flexibility. In the
future, we could deploy automated vehicles to increase frequencies,
shorten wait times, and cost-effectively serve more destinations.

We might convert some corridors to rail as ridership and movement patterns
warrant. None of our options are excluded, and our children will thank us for
developing so flexible an approach to meeting future needs.

Needless to say, for
Quickways to target our
densest zones, they will
need to travel
underground in places and
on elevated structures in
others, much like the
Trolley by SDSU. Even so,
our costs are not out of
line, as we’ll get to soon.

www.quickwayproposal.wix.com/proposal
www.quickwayproposal.wix.com/proposal
This presentation will showcase only a few elements
of the Quickway Proposal. For a more comprehensive
view, please see the reports and detailed
presentations on our project website.

The Quickway Proposal
Heavy Rail
Light Rail
Quickway
Streetcar
At-Grade Busway
1
4
5
2
3
6
We’ll start in the urban core.

Bus volumes justify
expense of grade
separation, which in
turn makes transit
faster, cheaper to
operate, and attract
more riders.
Tunnel
Within the Urban Core, we
propose a mostly underground
Quickway infrastructure,
essentially a bus subway
modeled on Brisbane’s.

1. Total system cost is still less than current plans.
2. Major reduction in vehicle operating costs.
3. Avoids congestion in most congested areas.
4. Can be combined with water main and sewage
system upgrades, saving billions
of harder-to-get dollars.
5. Better supports smart growth in areas with
strong market demand.
Why so many tunnels?

Brisbane’s downtown “bus
subway” features underground
stations that separate
passengers from vehicles.

Bus volumes justify
expense of grade
separation, which in
turn makes transit
faster, cheaper to
operate, and attract
more riders.
Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
Surface and elevated sections
complement tunnel sections—
together, they create a spine well-
located to support future growth.

TROLLEY
RIDERSHIP
QUICKWAY
RIDERSHIP
COASTER
RIDERSHIP
Source:
Modeling of ridership
using 2006 trip data
Projected ridership is several
times that of the Trolley, with
many, many more
redevelopment opportunities.

Gaslamp/Convention Ctr
Gaslamp Central
Horton Plaza
Laurel
Fashion
Valley
Sharp
Hospitals
Uptown
District
Hillcrest
Central
Santa Fe
Old Town
Linda Vista/
Morena
PB
Central
Boulevard
City
Heights
12th & Imperial
North
Park
Airport East
Airport West
SuperStations serve both all-
stops routes and our proposed
MetroXpress network.

Horton Plaza
Fashion
Valley
Santa Fe
Old Town
Linda Vista/
Morena
PB
Central
Laurel
Sharp
Hospitals
Hillcrest
Central
Boulevard
Gaslamp Central
City
Heights
MetroXpress
Airport East
Airport West
Uptown
District
North
Park
MetroXpress routes
branch out to serve major
arterials, giving people
easy access to the
Quickway network.

SUPERSTATION
LOCAL STATION
QUICKWAY TROLLEY
LEGEND
How MetroXpress
Routes Work
1. Route departs.
1
SANTA FE
HORTON
PLAZA
LAUREL/
BALBOA
PK
HILLCREST
CENTER
OLD TOWN
HOTEL CIRCLE
UCSD HILLCREST
UPAS
CORTEZ
UPTOWN
DISTRICT
MetroXpress routes are at
the heart of the Quickway
Proposal.

SUPERSTATION
LOCAL STATION
QUICKWAY TROLLEY
LEGEND
How MetroXpress
Routes Work
1. Route departs.
2. Route travels along
Quickways, bypassing
local stations and
stopping only at
SuperStations.2
SANTA FE
HORTON
PLAZA
LAUREL/
BALBOA
PK
HILLCREST
CENTER
OLD TOWN UCSD HILLCREST
UPAS
CORTEZ
UPTOWN
DISTRICT
In the case of the
proposed F60 (Santa Fe
Express), riders would
reach the Hillcrest Center
SuperStation completely
free of traffic and
stopping just twice.
HOTEL CIRCLE

SUPERSTATION
LOCAL STATION
QUICKWAY TROLLEY
LEGEND
How MetroXpress
Routes Work
1. Route departs.
local stations and
stopping only at
SuperStations.
3. Route leaves Quickway
and serves a
community, stopping
at local stops.
3
SANTA FE
HORTON
PLAZA
LAUREL/
BALBOA
PK
HILLCREST
CENTER
UPAS
CORTEZ
UPTOWN
DISTRICT
When traveling along
arterials, MetroXpress
routes can either operate
as nonstop, limited stop,
or all-stop, depending on
circumstances.
HOTEL CIRCLE

SUPERSTATION
LOCAL STATION
QUICKWAY TROLLEY
LEGEND
How MetroXpress
Routes Work
1. Route departs.
local stations and
stopping only at
SuperStations.
3. Route leaves Quickway
and serves a
community, stopping
at local stops.
4. Route re-enters
Quickway and ends at
SuperStation.
SANTA FE
HORTON
PLAZA
LAUREL/
BALBOA
PK
HILLCREST
CENTER
UPAS
CORTEZ
UPTOWN
DISTRICT
The flexibility of
Quickways allows for all
of the benefits of fixed
infrastructure while still
allowing the route
network to evolve with
future needs.
HOTEL CIRCLE
4

Horton Plaza
Fashion
Valley
Santa Fe
Old Town
Linda Vista/
Morena
Laurel
Sharp
Hospitals
Hillcrest
Central
Boulevard
Gaslamp Central
City
Heights
PB
Central
Airport East
Airport West
Uptown
District
North
Park
In addition, an extensive
series of streetcar routes
would extend the reach
of fixed infrastructure
transit.

Horton
Plaza
Fashion
Valley
Santa Fe
Old Town
Linda Vista/
Morena
Laurel
Sharp
Hospitals
Hillcrest
Central
Boulevard
Gaslamp
Central
City
Heights
PB
Central
Airport East
Airport West
Uptown
District
North
Park
One-Seat
Ride to
Balboa
Park!
One of these streetcars—
perhaps an historic one—
would connect the
underground Laurel/Balboa
Park SuperStation—a one-
seat ride from any station
pictured here—with the
Plaza de Panama, the heart
of Balboa Park.

Routes directly
serving the Balboa
Park (Laurel Street)
Station
Fun’n’Sun tourist route
One-Seat
Ride to
Balboa
Park!
Core or MetroXpress
Service (in Express mode)
MetroXpress in local mode
Many residents &
visitors will have a
fast, direct, one-seat
ride to Balboa Park
All of the depicted routes
directly serve the
Laurel/Balboa Park
SuperStation, massively
amplifying access.

Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
The City of San Diego needs to
rehabilitate old water and sewer lines.
That project can be combined with the
proposed Quickway tunnels, substantially
slashing the costs of the reconstruction
and using transportation dollars—which
are easier to come by—to help
significantly reduce the costs of our other
infrastructure needs.

Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
SeaWorld
Flyover
Fun’n’Sun Line
UTC
UTC West
UCSD Central
Library Walk
Mandell Weiss
Birch Aquarium
Oceanography
La Jolla Shores
Avenida de la
Playa
Ardath
Prospect
La Jolla Cove
Children’s Pool
Contemporary
Marine St
Windansea
Bird Rock
Colima
Turquoise
Crystal Pier
Grand Ave
PB Drive
Santa Clara
El Carmel
Belmont Park
Bahia
Quivira
Sea World
Groton
Sports Arena
Riley
Old Town
Presidio
Hanalei
Handlery
Town & Country
Fashion Valley
Hotel Circle
Hillcrest Center
Laurel/Balboa Pk
Cortez
Horton Plaza
Gaslamp Central
Convention Ctr
Convention West
Seaport Village
Old Police HQ
Embarcadero S
Midway
Cruise Ships
Embarcadero N
Harbor Island
Airport West
Inlet
Nimitz
Scott
America’s Cup
Shelter Island
Portugal
The Wooded Area
Fort Rosecrans
Cabrillo
Monument
SeaWorld gets a flyover with an
elevated station integrated into its
entry plaza. This flyover is used by
a proposed tourist-focused route,
the Fun’n’Sun Line, linking many of
our tourist destinations with
thousands of hotel rooms, and
featuring specially designed stops.

Pacific
Beach
Streetcar
System
Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
Quickway tunnels lead into Pacific Beach
and La Jolla, and a Pacific Beach Streetcar
system connects a centrally-located
SuperStation with Garnet Avenue, Mission
Boulevard, and Crown Point. The tunnels
bypass two more of the region’s worst
traffic knots.
PB
Central PB Gateway

Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
La Jolla/
Coronado
Express
From the PB Central SuperStation,
MetroXpress routes fan out in all
directions. Another such route, the
La Jolla/Coronado Express, links La
Jolla to downtown with just five
intervening stops. This is faster than
driving.
PB
Central

Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
Clairemont benefits from
two short underground
Quickway segments.
These allow us to locate
stations where they can
best serve residents and
businesses and avoid
traffic delays.
Clairemont
Town Square
Balboa & Genessee

This illustration, from
Brisbane, depicts a
below-grade but open-air
station planned for a
shopping center.

Kearny Mesa
Kearny Mesa is served
by both Quickway and
surface transitway (T-
Way) infrastructure,
placing most
destinations within
walking distance of a
rapid transit station.

MetroXpress
Routes
MetroXpress routes
would connect even
more of the zone to
rapid transit.
Kearny Mesa

MetroXpress
Routes
Autonomous shuttles connect
SuperStations with key
corridors and destinations
with minimal wait times.
Kearny Mesa

MetroXpress
Routes
Quickways
The Greater Golden
Triangle is fed by well-
located Quickways.
MetroXpress routes
branch off from them,
getting closer to residents
and businesses. Perhaps
One Paseo could benefit
from these connections?

LOSSAN
Corridor
High Speed
Rail
Streetcar
We propose a new rail tunnel for the LOSSAN
corridor on the east side of UTC, allowing for
an ideally-located station that could also serve
the future High Speed Rail line, while a new
Streetcar line replaces today’s SuperLoop with
a faster and more useful route. Virtually all
major employers and many, if not most
residents would now enjoy rapid access to
High Speed Rail.

Santee
Grossmont
Centerline
City Heights
SDSU
Lemon Grove
Spring Valley
College
Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
Mid-City and East
County benefit from
underground, surface,
and elevated
infrastructure.

Santee
Grossmont
Centerline
City Heights
SDSU
Lemon Grove
Spring Valley
College
MetroXpress routes
branch out to serve major
arterials, giving people
easy access to the
Quickway network.

0:10
0:20
0:30
0:40
0:10
0:20
0:30
0:40
Downtown to SDSU Lemon Grove to SDSU
Today
Today
Quickway
Proposal
Quickway
Proposal
These improvements could cut travel time between Downtown
and SDSU from 39 minutes today to just 18 minutes in the
future—less than half the time of either the Trolley or the new
Rapid Bus. Lemon Grove to SDSU, meanwhile, would be an 8
minute trip, compared to today’s 21 minutes.

One of the benefits of a truly
useful transit system is that
it lets us dream larger about
our future.

Sails to Trails
MISSION
TRAILS
BALBOA
PARK
For example, a decade ago Richard
Louv wrote about my proposal for
Sails to Trails, a linear park linking San
Diego Bay with Mission Trails Regional
Park via El Cajon Boulevard and
Balboa Park.

Boston
“Sails to Trails” is modeled on streets such as Commonwealth
Avenue in Boston and similar streets in other cities…

Berlin
...like this street in Berlin…

Lima, Peru
...and this street in Lima…

Mexico City
...and this street in Mexico…

New York City!
…and this proposal
for Park Avenue.
EXISTING
PROPOSED

Curitiba’s “Structural Corridors”
Curitiba, Brazil, adopted one of the world’s smartest growth strategies by
concentrating all high density around well-located transit lines, pushing through
traffic to parallel roads, and locating parks and plazas along the main corridors.

Curitiba—Concentrated Density
By concentrating high densities immediately along well-located transit lines, most
of the city was preserved for single-family housing and other lower-density uses.

San Diego—Dispersed Density
In contrast, San Diego spread denser development widely, making it impossible
to serve effectively with transit or provide near-access parks and people spaces.

Sails to Trails
this thin green strip can link a
series of plazas surrounding
underground Quickway
stations…
MISSION
TRAILS
BALBOA
PARK

…shady squares that can anchor new development, support targeted retail,
and function as the community living rooms for our Mid-City neighborhoods.

Millennials (Generation Y), especially, want to live in such mixed-use “villages.”

These plazas, linked by the Sails to Trails Linear
Park, are places that neighbors walk to.

Obviously, densities, building heights, and the size of the surrounding
redevelopment zone should be decided through the Community Plan Process.

The Quickway Proposal, by creating a more effective transit system
(faster connections to many more destinations), makes this concept
viable at a wide range of densities and building forms.

Sails to Trails
There are numerous
precedents for converting
even major city streets into
linear parks. Sails to Trails
should tell the story of San
Diego and San Diegans as it
passes through different
environments and
communities.
MISSION
TRAILS
BALBOA
PARK

Cities all over the world
are creating or have
created urban linear
parks, turning streets into
places for people.
SAN FRANCISCO BOGOTÁ
LONDON AUCKLAND

Barcelona’s famous Rambla has long inspired San Diego’s urban
design community. With downtown set to add another 40,000
residents, this kind of amenity could prove transformative.

Sails to Trails
Highline
A “Highline” for pedestrians
and bicycles could bridge
over Alvarado Canyon and I-8
to make the final connection
to the Trails.
MISSION
TRAILS
BALBOA
PARK

These plazas can anchor new development while
enhancing and restoring adjacent single-family
neighborhoods damaged in the 70s and 80s
through insensitive and currently non-conforming
“dumbbell” buildings.

An incentive program can grant developers density bonuses for building
in station areas if they replace non-conforming buildings in adjacent
neighborhoods with higher quality housing, whether detached, duplex, or row
homes. An appropriate percentage of units should be made affordable.

Vancouver, BC, Canada
This kind of large-scale transformation has precedents.

Portland, Oregon

Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia, successfully developed around transit
while preserving existing neighborhoods. This is doable.

Sønder Blvd, Copenhagen
Copenhagen took a road similar in size to El Cajon Boulevard and stripped out all
but 2 through lanes, turning the entire wide middle section into a linear park.

Sønder Blvd, CopenhagenSønder Blvd, Copenhagen
Copenhagen won the European Prize for Urban Public Space in
2008 for the creation of the Sønder Boulevard linear park.

Sønder Blvd, Copenhagen
Despite the apparent density of the surrounding community,
the linear park makes it very livable and desirable.

North Park
Sails to Trails takes these lessons from both Curitiba and
Copenhagen and applies them to El Cajon Boulevard.

Spring
Valley
Gaslamp/
Convention Ctr E
Barrio Logan
8th St
Plaza Blvd
Plaza Bonita
Terra Nova
Southwestern
College
County
South
San Ysidro Otay Border
Palomar
Elevated
Surface
Tunnel
The South Bay features
Quickways operating
mostly underground
through National City and
Chula Vista as well as
surface transitways.

Spring ValleyGaslamp/
Convention Ctr E
Barrio Logan
8th St
Plaza Blvd
Plaza Bonita
Terra Nova Southwestern
College
County
South
San Ysidro Otay Border
Palomar
MetroXpress Routes
branch out to serve many
of the other corridors,
linking much of the South
Bay into a rapid and
convenient network and
supporting economic
development efforts.

The Quickway Proposal, pt. 8: North County© 2014 by The Mission Group 136136© 2017 by The Center for Advanced Urban Visioning
Managed
Lanes
Rail
Proposed Extensions
to Sprinter
North County sees major
improvements, too. We
recommend Sprinter extensions
to get closer to residents on the
east and the jobs on the west.

Grade
Separated
Road
Oceanside
Vista
Palomar College
Escondido
Transit
Ctr
North
County
Fair
Flower
Fields
Rancho
Bernardo
Palomar
Airport
Poinsettia
Encinitas
Blvd
Fairgrounds
Carmel
Gateway
Tech
Ctr
UCSD
Central
UTC
A network of Quickways connects
to major employment sites. We
also recommend grade-
separating much of El Camino
Real and all of Palomar Airport
Road, turning both into free-
flowing roads .

Nimitz Boulevard in Point
Loma is a local example of
a grade-separated road.
passing either under or
over cross-streets. This can
effectively double auto
carrying capacity mostly
within the existing footprint
and dramatically cut both
auto and transit times,
taking significant pressure
off I-5 and better
supporting existing
community character.

Median transitways are
proposed for a newly
grade-separated
Palomar Airport Road
and portions of El
Camino Real.

Oceanside
Vista
Palomar College
Escondido
Transit
Ctr
North
County
Fair
Rancho
Bernardo
Palomar
Airport
Poinsettia
Encinitas
Blvd
Fairgrounds
Carmel
Gateway
Tech
Ctr
UCSD
Central
UTC
Flower
Fields
An integrated set of
MetroXpress and shuttle
routes connects most
major employment sites
and tourism/shopping
sites into the network.

Legoland Station (connects
rapidly to Flower Fields
SuperStation)
Pedestrian “Lego”
bridge connects to
Park entrance
Legoland Station
Even Legoland gets a
special station and
pedestrian bridge.

What about costs
and ridership?

Estimated Capital Costs
($ Billions)
$-
$5
$10
$15
$20
Quickway
Proposal
Existing
2050 Plan
$14
$20
$Billions
Our capital cost model, developed by a respected engineering
firm, projected a $14 billion price tag—$6 billion less than the
transit component of our Regional Transportation Plan.

Projected Operating Subsidies through 2050
($ Billions)
$11
$14
$19
$-
$5
$10
$15
$20
Quickway
Proposal:
LOW
Quickway
Proposal:
HIGH
Current
2050 Plan
$Billions
We also projected $5-8 billion less in operating subsidies between now and
2050. Of course, these are preliminary numbers, but they are encouraging.
Quickway
Proposal
Low
Quickway
Proposal
High
Current
2050
Plan

If anything, these costs ignore two other sources of savings: the road
projects we will no longer need to build, as transit picks up the slack…

…and the possibility that our proposal will reduce the need
for families to own that third or fourth car, reducing regional
demand for new parking by up to $40 billion—a hidden and
privatized cost of the existing plan.

Today Existing
2050
Plan
Quickway
Proposal
2050
500,000
1,000,000
Projected Daily Ridership
Our ridership modeling shows huge
increases in ridership at close to twice
as many new trips per dollar invested
than the existing plan.

Comparative Travel Times
0:10
0:20
0:30
0:40
Current
Transit
0:50
1:00
Quickway
Proposal
When we analyzed
travel time on 54
likely trip pairs, we
found average
reductions of just
short of 2/3, meaning
that an hour-long
transit trip today
would be about 21
minutes in our
proposal—competitive
with driving for many
people.

The Quickway Proposal
Heavy Rail
Light Rail
Quickway
Streetcar
At-Grade Busway
So there you have the Quickway
Proposal—a synthesis of Global Best
Practices that is uniquely San Diego.

Introducing the Quickway Proposal - A Vision for a World-Class Transit System for San Diego

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Introducing the Quickway Proposal - A Vision for a World-Class Transit System for San Diego