Michael Smolens: SANDAG leans into buses — a great idea

Financial realities have forced regional transportation officials toward a more cost-efficient long-range approach that can bring transit segments online as they seek to build out the fuller plan in coming decades.

The San Diego Association of Governments is moving away from a massive, rail-centric approach to one that relies more on buses, particularly rapid routes.

In addition to the budget challenges, San Diego City Council President Joe La Cava, vice chair of  SANDAG’s board, said the agency has long made big promises and not delivered.

“We have left the era behind of very big ideas,” he said, as reported by Lucas Robinson of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Another way to look at it is, this is a great idea.

The bus long has been treated like a second-class citizen by transportation agencies around the country, which have often prioritized more expensive and, if you will, sexier rail projects, particularly light rail. Buses are flexible, more cost-effective and increasingly sophisticated with updated technology — and they have long been the backbone of transit systems.

Trolleys are indeed an essential part of transit and will continue to be a big part of SANDAG’s plan, with the likelihood of expansion, though perhaps not as much or as soon as previously envisioned. The p...