How Do You Commute? City of San Diego Wants to Know

The City of San Diego is asking residents to fill out a new online survey to help them understand how people get to and from work.The results will help the city plan for future transportation needs more efficiently in order to reduce traffic congestion. The one-page survey asks people how often they commute to work, their primary means of transportation and what prevents people from biking, walking or taking public transportation to work.It also asks respondents if their employers offer incentives for taking alternative transportation, and what would encourage them to take public transit or bike to work.The survey is part of San Diego’s 20-year Climate Action Plan, adopted in 2015, to reduce the city’s carbon footprint.”The way transportation works in San Diego, it’s a partnership with a few different agencies that do planning for transit, that do planning for bike lanes, that build out sidewalks and things,” explained Cody Hooven, the chief sustainability officer for the City of San Diego. “The city, the things we have control over, we’re working really hard on. We’re building new bike lanes. We’re improving sidewalks. We’re making it safer for people to cross the streets where there’s a lot of traffic.”Hooven said it’s estimated about 10 to 12 percent of San Diegans either bike, walk or use transit to commute.”Ultimately we adopted a goal to get 50 percent of people moving around the city by either biking, walking or taking transit when they’re commuting to and from work or school.”Hooven said the city will also use the survey information to help plan neighborhoods.”We’re also planning for future communities to have more density, as we call it; so more housing and more workplaces near transit,” said Hooven. “So that it’s easier to get around the city without having to own a car.The online survey will be available for several weeks.
Source: NBC San Diego