For live traffic updates, go to map.commuteview.net.
In
many ways San Diego enjoys a much faster commute than many metropolitan
counties in California.
Bridges
are big-time bottlenecks, the scourge of traffic in the San Francisco Area,
which has major nine bridges and another on the way.
San Diego County has just one major bridge, from Coronado to
just south of downtown San Diego. And Coronado is not that populated, only
26,248 people, many of them retired and out of the commute race.
San
Diego cities and job centers are within a short drive of one another. San Diego
downtown is fewer than 15 miles from UC San Diego, the Sorrento Valley, Chula
Vista, Kearny Mesa and Miramar Air Station. And fewer than 20-25 miles from the
Mexican border, Carlsbad and Rancho Bernardo.
The
international airport sits right on the edge of downtown San Diego.
Many
people who work in the downtown, the largest job center, live close to the
downtown. Other job centers — Rancho Bernardo, Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch,
Chula Vista, Carlsbad — are
also located near residential towns or neighborhoods.
Freeways
serve also these towns and are always being widened or improved. Highway 125 is
being extended to the Mexican border.
The
San Diego trolley covers 54 miles and carries about 33 million passengers a
year. All or almost all communities are served by buses.
Commute
trains travel along the coast, from Oceanside to downtown San Diego and beyond.
The
Problems
Over
80 percent of San Diego County residents live within 15 miles of the ocean.
Steep mountains and ravines have shut off development to most of the county.
This
concentration, on the one hand, speeds the commute — the closeness of the
towns to one another. And on the other, it slows the commute.
Many people are traveling in the same direction at the same
time. Almost all freeways lead to the downtown.
Mesas and Ravines
Although San Diego doesn’t have bridges, it has almost the
equivalent in ravines and steep mesas. These force many streets into deadends
and channel traffic onto the arterials and freeways.
Los Angeles and Orange Counties would be even worst driving horrors
if they did not many wide and straight parkways.
San Diego has these arterials but fewer.
The same with frontage roads that parallel the freeways and
allow for detours when traffic congests. Few in number, because of the terrain.
Riverside and Orange
Riverside County, along Interstate 15, and Orange County,
along Interstate 5, dispatch thousands of commuters to jobs in San Diego
County.
In the 1990s, when home prices in San Diego and Orange
counties soared, the middle and upper-middle class flocked to Riverside County,
where land was cheap and home prices low.
South Riverside, in particular Temecula, Murrieta and Lake
Elsinor, is really a suburb of San Diego County. The county also draws many
commuters from Hemet, Perris and the Moreno Valley, all within a short drive of
Interstate 15.
South Orange County also boomed in the 1980s and 1990s but
favored more expensive homes. South Orange is well served by freeways and toll
roads and within a short drive of central Orange jobs. Nonetheless, as peak
traffic along Interstate 5 will attest, many Orange residents work in San Diego
County.
Development
Home construction in the county is taking a breather, thanks
to the slowdown in sales. But this comes after years of rapid growth.
In the 1990s, the county added 316,000 people and between 2000 and 2006 it took on another
253,000.
Developers and politicians are singing the praises of smart
growth: constructing housing next to job centers. This keeps people off the
roads. San Diego is building smart, especially in downtown SD but a lot of
tracts are popping up in the countryside, requiring people to commute. This is
not going to stop.
The Lure of the Car
In 2004, the state counted in San Diego County 1,882,161 cars
and 499,850 trucks, total 2,382,011. For every 100 people, 77 cars and trucks.
If you factored out the kids and the infirm, it would come close to one to one.
This is typical Californian. We love the car because if the
truth be told it is handy, fast and fun. And usually the easiest, quickest way
to commute and to ship.
We love to drive alone. Many studies show that
single-occupant drivers account for about 80 percent of commute traffic in
metropolitan California.
Big Picture
Again, compared to many other counties, San Diego zips around
its freeways. Outside of peak hours, you can go from home to job often in less
than a half hour.
As for the peak hours, there’s the problem.
Suggestions
• Before buying or renting, drive or bus or trolley or train
the commute to your job. If it’s OK or endurable, you’re set. If it’s not, if
for whatever reason you conclude, I can’t do this, look for housing in another
location. Sounds obvious but many people wind up in commutes they hate.
•
Buy a good map or computer map. Alternate routes are few but in some
communities, they can be helpful.
•
Car pool or team up with a neighbor who works at your job or nearby. San Diego
uses diamond lanes to reward vehicles with several occupants. It makes a
difference. For more information about carpooling, go to www.erideshare.com or www.ridelink.org.
•
Pay extra. For Interstate 15 commuters, a toll lane eight miles long will cut
some minutes. Search under fastrak San Diego. When the south stretch of Highway
125 kicks in, it will be tolled.
• Take a trolley or bus. If you work in or near downtown San
Diego or San Diego State University or from downtown to the Mexican border,
consider the trolley or a bus. No parking worries. For maps and information, www.sdcommute.com.
• Commute rail.
Also called the Coaster. Stations at Oceanside, Carlsbad (2), Encinitas, Solana
Beach, Old Town San Diego, Downtown San Diego. Free parking at all but downtown
SD. www.gonctd.com. Or 800-262-7837.
• Some employers allow flex time. Come in early, leave early,
beat the rush.
Miscellaneous
• To curtail speeders, San Diego employs cameras at
intersections. Run a red and look in the mail for your ticket ($351).
• Other way to beat the commute: motorcycle. The state in
2004 tallied 57,904 motorcycles in San Diego County.
• Now you tell me! Car most likely to be stolen, a Honda
Civic or Honda brand, usually, pre 2001. With the 2001 models, Honda installed
a microchip that made heisting difficult.
So reports San Diego cops, who note that in 2005 about 14,100
vehicles were stolen in the City of San Diego. To foil thieves, cops suggest
that you do not park your car for extended periods near the border or at the
beach or at popular malls. Also, lock doors and windows and install devices
that slow thieves. For understandable reasons, thieves want to work fast. If
they can’t, your car might be spared. About 80 percent of stolen vehicles are
recovered. Many of the remaining are chopped up and sold in pieces or sold in
Mexico.
• In 2000, motor
vehicle crashes killed 206 in the county. The next year, 287 were killed, the
following year 308.
• New law. No carrying passengers in trunk (Teens were doing
this to get around other laws).
• In 2007, a
Carlsbad woman called the police to report her car was stolen. Officer
interviewed woman and discovered she had an outstanding warrant for a
misdemeanor. To jail she was hauled. Hour later car was found.
• If you buy a car that gets many, many miles to the gallon,
you may quality for a sticker that will allow you drive in the car-pool lanes
during rush hours. Check with DMV. See FAQ for phone numbers and addresses.
