An emerging nonprofit led by passionate young advocates wants to help shape San Diego’s future by demanding a more extensive and user-friendly mass transit system. Leaders of RideSD, a small transit advocacy organization that is becoming steadily more vocal and conspicuous, say the group’s emerg ence comes at the perfect time. Transit has become more crucial to life around the region as officials seek to solve the housing crisis with high-density housing that is likely to make neighborhoods more crowded and steer people away from cars. Another factor expected to encourage people to begin considering transit is San Diego officials sharply hiking parking rates, increasing citation fines and eliminating free parking in places like Balboa Park and city beaches. And the local trolley system got a major boost in 2021 with the completion of the Blue Line’s extension north from Old Town to University City — a project that meant commuters could reach UC San Diego from the border, and that has been widely hailed as having made the whole system better for commuters. And perhaps most importantly, the Metropolitan Transit System is at a financial crossroads that could lead to either major service cuts or a significant expansion if local voters approve a possible 2028 ballot measure. “I think it’s a really good time, because the city is making all these changes and building all this infill housing,” said Manny Rodriguez, 26, executive director of RideSD. “There’s a lot of opposition to the change from people who want the city to stay the way it is — but there’s a new generation of young people that want walkable cities and better transit.” The group also faces challenges in local officials’ decisions that slow local transit growth, like scaling back plans for new trolley lines and backing away from ambitious proposals to charge drivers per mile driven to fund transit. Rodriguez, who lives in downtown’s East Village and has never owned a car, says time and momentum are on the side of people like him as they become a larger part of the electorate. He points out that a steadily shrinking share of people under 25 are getting driver’s licenses — a sign, he says, that many younger adults have a different vision of a community than their elders, one more focused more on walkability and transit. “This new wave of San Diegans — some from here, and some arriving here — do want this walkability,” Rodriguez said. “We’re here to show that there is actually a large constituency of people who want the city to grow up and become world-class.” While RideSD is less than four years old and has an annual budget under $10,000, local leaders are taking notice. “It is important that RideSD is helping elevate the voices of young transit riders,” said San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who chairs the MTS board. It helps that MTS is now being lobbied by more people who use transit and care deeply about its future, he added. “When people who rely on transit are part of shaping the system, we end up with better, more equitable outcomes,” Whitburn said. “RideSD is helping push that work forward, and that makes a real difference.” The advocacy of groups like RideSD could play a key role in whether voters support a possible November 2028 ballot measure that could raise the local sales tax by half a cent to generate revenue only for transit projects. The success or failure of such a measure could prove a watershed moment for MTS. A half-cent hike is expected to generate about $300 million a year that would let MTS add bus routes and more frequent bus and trolley service. Without that money, major cuts to existing service are expected — MTS faces projected deficits of $120.1 million in fiscal 2029 and $145.6 million in fiscal 2030. While RideSD hasn’t yet endorsed the possible ballot measure, Rodriguez said the group obviously supports more money for transit and will endorse such a measure if the details make sense once finalized. RideSD strives to have its efforts straddle big-picture campaigns like ballot measures and smaller, more incremental efforts to lobby for upgrades to existing service, said Leif Gensert, 40, the group’s vice president. “The Purple Line is our north star — what we aspire to,” said Gensert, referring to an ambitious proposal for a new trolley line connecting the U.S.-Mexico border with Sorrento Mesa through City Heights and Mission Valley. But that line has faced challenges recently and been downgraded by regional planners. Under a new plan adopted last month, it would go only as far north as Mission Valley and wouldn’t be completed until 2050. “But on the other side, we also want to see small improvements,” said Gensert, who lives in North Park where he shares a car with his wife and commutes mostly by foot and bus. RideSD has meanwhile had success persuading city planning officials to add more bus routes to new growth blueprints for neighborhoods across the city, including Mira Mesa, University City and the College Area. The group’s vocal complaints last month about weak bus service to the annual December Nights event in Balboa Park also got lots of attention. Rodriguez said he’s confident that attention will lead to change next year, including more focus on bus-only lanes recently added to nearby Park Boulevard. “It’s about building a strong constituency that can be activated to speak,” he said. RideSD has also consistently lobbied for a controversial tunnel in Del Mar to preserve coastal rail service there. Three possible routes for a tunnel are under consideration — but so is leaving the imperiled bluff-top tracks where they are, an option the California Coastal Commission has said is a non-starter. “It’s a very intimidating environment, because lots of local residents are very much opposed to building a tunnel there,” Gensert said. The overall theme of what RideSD wants is a better system, and that’s mostly about better service. “When you ask anyone who knows about transit what they want, they always say ‘increasing frequency’ as their top priority,” said Gensert, who moved to San Diego from Germany. “It increases ridership, because more people feel they can rely on public transit. It makes the system more reliable for missed connections and missed buses — if a bad thing happens, you don’t have to wait that long for the next bus or trolley.” The group has lofty ambitions that might have seemed unrealistic back in the summer of 2022, when it was spawned by a conversation on social media among commuters frustrated it wasn’t easier to pay for a fare. “One day on Twitter, some of us were discussing why it’s a struggle to pay for transit on MTS and complaining about the Pronto reader,” said Rodriguez, pointing out how many cities now allow transit payments by a simple credit card tap. “We were all dumbfounded.” The group eventually decided to attend an MTS board meeting and make their case. And to their surprise, board members embraced their ideas and directed staff to make changes. “It made us realize that when we organize, and when we bring people who want improvements in public transit to the decision-makers, we can get some stuff done,” Rodriguez said. They then decided to make their group official. They held their first meeting at Original 40 Brewing Company in North Park later that summer; a dozen people attended. While the group has no formal membership, its monthly meetings are well-attended, and it gets donations from hundreds of supporters, Rodriguez said. San Diego also has Circulate San Diego, a group focused on lobbying for traffic safety, bike lanes, transit and related issues. Rodriguez said RideSD considers Circulate an ally and the group that handles deep analysis and produces reports, like a think tank. “We’re more the upswell of grassroots advocates — a people’s organization,” he said. Colin Parent, the chief executive of Circulate, said he’s been pleased to see RideSD at some of his own group’s meetings. “We are excited to see more activists organize, and RideSD has become a valuable voice for transit,” Parent said. Gensert stressed that while RideSD is a voice for young transit riders, the group strives to represent everyone who uses transit. He points out that many older people who had never used transit have suddenly become interested once they can no longer drive. “We shouldn’t neglect the older folks,” he said. RideSD’s other ambitious goals include a comprehensive bus route plan for the region and lobbying state officials to help local transit agencies financially. “This is a key moment to build support for transit and convince policy makers to invest in the system,” Rodriguez said. “The state pours billions into highways every year, and traffic has only gotten worse. The time is now to convince state policymakers to invest some of that money into rail, which can make a real difference.” RideSD would also like to shape local policy. “We would love to be the organization politicians reach out to ask what public transit riders think about something,” Gensert said. “It would be great for them to put public transit at the forefront of their policies, instead of them catering to car drivers and people who want free parking.” ...read more read less