Advocacy 

San Diego County has 18 cities and 76 unincorporated communities. Since 1999, WalkSanDiego has been advocating for safe, vibrant streets and walkable communities. Thanks to our staff and many volunteers, we’ve been able to help neighborhoods across the region advocate for safer walking conditions. With our help, residents have asked cities to install new crosswalks, sidewalks and traffic calming measures such as speed humps and curb extensions. Through our Safe Routes to School work, we help parents advocate for safe walking routes around elementary and middle schools around the region.

If you care about walkable communities and want to know about our ongoing advocacy, join WalkSanDiego or contact us. You can also contact your local decision maker and tell them about the importance of walking and Complete Streets in your community.

Local Priorities

• Adopt Complete Streets and supportive policies in all San Diego regional cities
• Increase awareness of Complete Streets among regional decision makers
• Identify regional priority projects for road diets and traffic calming 
• Fast track pedestrian safety projects with SANDAG’s Active Transportation funding 
• Revise SANDAG’s regional Traffic Impact Study Guidelines to ensure multi-modal goals and performance measures
• Collaborate with San Diego County Bicycle Coalition to increase miles of bike lanes and bike facilities
• Participate with Sustainable San Diego partners to advocate for sustainable, healthy communities
• Institute pedestrian safety training into elementary school curriculum aggregate

State Priorities

WalkSanDiego is proud to work with its statewide advocacy partner, California Walks whose policy advocacy has included:

• Incorporation of state of the art pedestrian friendly tools in Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
• Inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian advocates in state's California Traffic Control Devices Committee (CTCDC) which for the first time in 2012 thanks to AB 345 will add these members to existing panel of traffic engineers.
• Endorsement of AB 441 to incorporate health goals into General Plan updates.

Federal Priorities - Revised Transportation Bill

Hearings have started in the Senate on the next federal transportation bill now that the Environmental Public Works committee, chaired by our own Senator Boxer, released its 600-page draft. The bill’s finally getting some traction thanks to Boxer’s leadership with strong language on system repair and maintenance, plus inclusion of transit in an expanded TIFIA program. But it includes a major cut to dedicated bicycle/pedestrian funding and large portions of the bill still haven’t been drafted, including the Banking Committee's section on mass transit. Read a summary of the bill from our partner, TransForm.

The hardest part lies ahead: crafting a final bill that the House will actually agree to. Some House Republicans want huge cuts to public transportation and an elimination of dedicated bike/ped infrastructure funding. Want to help? Email Senator Boxer now to thank her for her leadership and ask her to defend full funding for transit and dedicated bike/ped infrastructure in the bill. Check back here for continued updates.

Contact Your Leaders

Local and national officials need to be informed on what is important to you. Contact your local leaders and inform them on the importance of bicycling and complete streets in your area.