California passed Senate Bill 79 last year with a clear purpose: to build more homes near transit. The law requires cities and counties to allow denser housing within half a mile of qualifying transit stops, called Transit-Oriented Development Stops (TOD Stops).
The idea is straightforward. Put people near buses and trains, reduce car dependence, lower housing and transportation costs, and advance the state’s climate goals. It is exactly the kind of policy San Diegans should embrace.
But how much of San Diego actually benefits from SB 79 depends on an unanswered question: which transit stops qualify?
The YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County have been pressing SANDAG, the regional planning agency responsible for publishing the official TOD Stop map, to get this right. The map carries a legal presumption of validity, meaning that developers and cities are entitled to rely on it. An underinclusive map could exclude thousands of parcels near high-quality transit from benefiting under SB 79.
This would mean fewer homes, higher costs, and more soul-crushing long-distance car commutes.
There are two areas where we are concerned that SANDAG may undercount.
The first involves the Sprinter, the commuter rail line connecting Oceanside to Escondido through North County. While SANDAG calls the Sprinter a “hybrid rail” line, under SB 79’s definitions, the Sprinter is a high-frequency commuter rail because it has more than 48 trains per day. SANDAG should adopt this interpretation, thereby making Sprinter stations Tier 2 TOD Stops.
This will mean more homes built and more transit use in one of San Diego County’s most car-dependent corridors, stretching from Oceanside through Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido.
The second involves bus service in San Diego’s urban core. SB 79 designates bus stops as Tier 2 TOD Stops if they are served by full-time dedicated bus lanes and peak-hour frequencies of 15 minutes or less. San Diego has exactly that.
Five bus routes, Routes 1, 7, and 10, and Rapid 215 and Rapid 235, operate on dedicated bus lanes along El Cajon Boulevard, University Avenue, Park Boulevard, and the SR-15 CenterLine busway through City Heights, with 15-minute frequencies or better. That yields 52 qualifying bus stops serving Mid-City and Uptown, neighborhoods with strong transit ridership, significant unmet housing demand, and some of the best existing bus infrastructure in the county.
While SANDAG has not yet given an opinion on the issue, the City of San Diego’s current analysis recognizes only a handful of these stops, on the theory that surface-street bus lanes do not qualify because they permit vehicle right turns or allow bicycle use. This is incorrect.
Under California’s Vehicle Code, a bus lane is a transit-only lane even if it allows vehicles to use the lane for turning and even if bicycles are permitted. And SB 79 itself does not require turning vehicles or bicycles. When SANDAG publishes its map, it should include all qualifying stops, even where bus lanes allow right turns or bicycles.
Both issues point to the same problem: SANDAG’s map will determine where SB 79 applies throughout the region, and a map that excludes qualifying Sprinter stations and bus stops leaves housing on the table in communities that need it. Getting the map right means more homes in the right places: near the transit infrastructure San Diego has already built, and its residents already ride every day.
SANDAG’s map is expected soon. There is still time to get it right.
Zack Defazio-Farrell is an attorney and treasurer of YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County.
