SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A new report issued by Circulate San Diego identifies bureaucratic confusion as a primary obstacle to the successful development of mass transportation projects in California.
The report titled “The Powerless Brokers: Why California Can’t Build Transit” emphasizes that, despite voter approval for transit initiatives like high-speed rail, transit authorities are required to navigate a complex web of permitting processes involving local governments, special districts, state agencies, and both public and private utilities.
At the report’s unveiling, Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, stated, “In Congress, I’ve been working to reform our permitting processes because it’s time to take action and treat climate change, California’s housing shortage, and our sky-high cost of living like the crises we say they are.”
He added, “Making it easier to build public transportation and homes near transit is a win-win that gives us more resources to invest — in our families, communities, and infrastructure.”
The report also draws upon various case studies throughout the state, illustrating how permitting challenges have resulted in increased costs and delays for essential transit projects.
The San Diego Association of Governments’ management of the Mid-Coast Trolley, known now as the Blue Line to University City, received a mostly positive assessment within the report.
Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, commented, “Transit projects should be delivered quickly, on time, and on budget, but as this report shows, we’re stuck in a system where processes are delaying the transit projects needed to connect communities and meet our air quality goals.”
Blakespear emphasized the necessity for “practical and meaningful reforms that maintain important environmental and community protections while empowering our transit agencies to build efficiently and quickly, without bureaucratic gridlock.”
Circulate San Diego has proposed multiple recommendations aimed at reducing inefficiencies, including granting transit authorities greater responsibility over permitting processes, providing incentives for local governments to expedite permitting, and extending exemptions under the California Environmental Quality Act for qualifying transit projects.
Colin Parent, CEO and general counsel of Circulate San Diego, stressed, “Californians deserve affordable and abundant public transit. The governor and Legislature have the power to reform our systems and ensure we get the transit we need.”
The controversial High-Speed Rail project connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles has faced scrutiny and criticism. Initially projected to be completed by 2020 at a cost of $33 billion, the project’s expenses have soared to estimates of $128 billion, with the first operational service expected by 2033.
In a recent development, President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew $4 billion from the High-Speed Rail project, prompting State Attorney General Rob Bonta to file a lawsuit seeking the restoration of funds, which is supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom remarked that the termination of the grants represented “petty, political retribution, motivated by President Trump’s personal animus toward California and the high-speed rail project, not the facts on the ground.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has characterized the High-Speed Rail project as a “boondoggle” and expressed readiness to contest California in a legal setting.
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