Council Adopts Ordinance to Cut Rush-Hour Traffic

The San Diego City Council adopted an ordinance Monday that will require employers to find ways to reduce travel by employees during peak hours in order to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion.

Council members also voted to create a new transportation management division, which will be staffed by about 10 people, to administer the ordinance, which takes effect Jan. 1. The start-up cost of the program is estimated at a little more than $1 million, which will come from a variety of sources, including the federal government and sales taxes.

Reacting to charges from critics who say the city is only creating a new bureaucracy, the council said it will fund the new division for only three years and then review its effectiveness.

“If it is working, the burden will be on the council to reinstitute it or it will go out of business,” said Councilman Ron Roberts. “The council will have a very comprehensive review of the program at the end of that period. We’ll see what it’s costing us, and what it is accomplishing.” Another possibility is that another agency may assume responsibility for adminis tering the program, Roberts added.

The new ordinance will affect businesses that employ at least 15 persons. Angela Leira, a staff aide to the council’s Transportation and Land Use Committee, said businesses with 50 or more employees will be required to submit their plans first. According to Leira, employers will have to “pick from a menu of options” provided to them by the city.

Roberts said the council began working on the new ordinance in late 1987. The new law was drafted with the participation of the business community, which gave the ordinance wide support.

“We hope to reduce the number of cars on the road during peak hours basically by working with all employers throughout the city to develop plans and get them involved with transportation management,” Roberts said.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, several council members talked about the need to pass the local ordinance before the Air Pollution Control District forces its standards on San Diego.

The federal Clean Air Act requires the APCD to establish local standards to east traffic congestion and reduce pollution by July, 1991, where such standards do not exist.

The program will be largely voluntary, Leira said, but the administrator of the new division and the city attorney’s office will be authorized to assess penalties and fines against business that do not submit a plan.

“The penalties will be left up to the administrator of the program. He will look at the circumstances and go from there,” Leira said.

All proposed penalties will have to be reviewed and approved by the City Council, Roberts added.

“Some people have criticized this as too lenient, but we want to try to get people working together with the city in good faith to accomplish things. The philosophy is to get people involved in how they relate to the congestion problems facing us all,” said Roberts.

The drafting resulted from a joint effort by the city Engineering and Planning departments working with a citizens advisory group made up of employers. Employees will be encouraged to take public transportation, ride bicycles, car pool or walk to work. Employers will also be encouraged to utilize staggered work hours, said Leira.

Some backers of the program say it could reduce traffic congestion by about 10% in the next two years.