Senate Testimony

I was honored to submit written testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in my role as Chairman of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, Transportation Committee.  I focused my comments on an exciting opportunity to maximize the throughput of goods and people in San Diego County through the construction of an intermodal transit center located adjacent to Lindbergh Field and finally connecting public transit to the airport.  I thought you might be interested in my testimony and I’ve posted it for your review.

FACILITATING TRANSPORTATION EFFICIENCY THROUGH AN INTER-MODAL TRANSIT CENTER DEMONSTATION PROJECT IN SAN DIEGO

Gregory A. Stein, Chairman, Transportation Committee

San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

November 14^th, 2008

Testimony before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

Field Briefing, San Diego, California

San Diego Association of Governments, Board of Directors Room

Madame Chair Boxer, Ranking Member Inhofe, Members and Committee Staff,

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony to supplement the presentations provided by the very able and comprehensive panel of expert witnesses.  The San Diego region is truly well served by the public servants who manage our transportation policy and infrastructure, and it is an honor to provide support for their efforts.

I am writing in my capacity as the Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce to focus specifically on an issue and opportunity that our members believe is a critical component of the region’s transportation infrastructure and which meets our goal of expediting the movement of goods and people in and through the San Diego region.  This testimony seeks to focus on a specific application of the themes outlined in Chamber President Ruben Barrales’ presentation today.

In San Diego, we have a transportation circumstance that might be unique in the country.  Adjacent to San Diego International Airport, also known as Lindbergh Field, is the confluence of a major interstate highway, the regional trolley light rail service which extends to the U.S./Mexico border and to the east part of the county, the Coaster train from the north county to downtown, Amtrak service which extends from San Luis Obispo to San Diego’s downtown, a potential site for high speed rail, and proximity to the region’s cruise ship terminals.

A first-of-its-kind policy body has been assembled by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders which includes personal representation by the chair of the County Board of Supervisors, representatives from all of the transportation and regional planning entities, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, and the U.S. Marine Corps.  The policy committee is known as Destination Lindbergh.  These representatives have been meeting in person every three weeks and at occasional four-hour Saturday workshops to determine how airport planning can be integrated into regional transportation planning and the needs of the communities adjacent to the airport.

The discussions have been focused on the development of an intermodal transportation center, a Grand Central Station for San Diego adjacent to the airport that would link all of these transportation elements.  We believe this could be a model for the nation in how to integrate transportation and how use of transit can be encouraged in an urban center.  

At the most recent Destination Lindbergh workshop, the San Diego Association of Governments reported that public transportation to the airport would increase from less than one percent to as much as 15 percent, with an additional six percent attributed to shared vans.  In addition, the intermodal transportation center would reduce vehicle miles traveled significantly because those who drive cars would no longer have to drive around the airport from the freeway to get to the terminals.  The greenhouse gas reductions from the increased use of transit and reduction in vehicle miles traveled would also be important to showing how urban areas can address climate change issues and meet new mandates for reducing carbon emissions.  Finally, this Grand Central Station would encourage overall use of transit and position the city for the inevitable shift to more transit use as gas prices increase.

To implement this model, a new era of cooperation between federal agencies, state government, and local government will be required.  Historically, funding for rail, highway, and airports has been siloed.  There is no more vivid example of this than the fact that surface transportation, air transportation, and maritime authorization packages are all considered separately.  To this end, I would propose that the Committee include a provision in the surface transportation reauthorization legislation that designates a lead federal agency, such as the Department of Transportation, to convene a working group of representatives and designees from a number of affected agencies at the federal, state, and local level whose purpose is to utilize existing sources of transportation funding mechanisms to expedite and facilitate the financing structure required to implement this Intermodal Transit Center as a Demonstration Project for how similar programs throughout the United States might be structured.

This San Diego project creates a unique opportunity to show how a number of federal agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration , the Federal Transit Administration, Surface Transportation Board, the Department of Defense, and even  the Maritime Administration could put their heads together to see what parts they could contribute to this innovative vision for San Diego’s transportation future.  This federal support should include the development of a memorandum of understanding between the federal lead agency and the appropriate California transportation agencies, and might identify additional funding sources from the High Speed Rail Authority, the California Transportation Commission, the California Department of Transportation, the California Air Resources Board, as well as the local implementing agencies such as the San Diego Association of Governments and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.  We consider it appropriate and important that agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers also participate to help implement related restoration projects such as finding a suitable long-term home for the least tern nesting colony that currently resides on airport property adjacent to a taxiway.  Finally, opportunities for private investment that would supplement government revenues are also possible with this project, particularly if it includes redevelopment on the under utilized property between Interstate 5 and the airport property line.

The Destination Lindbergh committee is creating a vision for our transportation future that will be the heart beat of our community for generations to come and will help alleviate and improve some of the most intractable transportation, greenhouse gas, and related quality of life concerns of our region.  To supplement, encourage, and implement this vision, I believe that a lead agency must be empowered by Congress and designated as responsible for tearing down the barriers between funding sources that were inadvertently created through incremental expansion in public programs.  I also believe that the confluence of existing inter-modal infrastructure, rights of way, and cooperative local and state public agencies creates a unique opportunity that validates the request for using this project as an example by which transportation planning might be effectively enhanced throughout the United States.

I would offer my support and assistance, in coordination with Members and/or personal and committee staff to support this effort by helping identify the appropriate agencies and leadership for participation in such a working group, and facilitate its meetings, process, and work product.

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide this testimony to the committee and I look forward to our continued interaction in support of this request.

--Greg