S1: This week on Roundtable. It is all about how San Diego will get round. A imaginative and prescient for our personal Grand Central Station is getting one other look. Hear concerning the new plan that also consists of transit to the airport. And the shift to electrical automobiles is extra than simply the vehicles we drive from rubbish vans to forklifts , the push to take the emissions out of our heavy equipment. I am Matt Hoffman , and that is KPBS roundtable. It is perhaps one among San Diego’s most formidable objectives in latest reminiscence a Grand Central Station the place a unified mass transit hub connects the county to downtown , and eventually , a trolley line to the airport. KPBS has been masking this concept for greater than two years. It first got here to life as a approach to repurpose the NAB conflict constructing. That is the Previous World Warfare Two relic in Previous City. It is now getting used principally for cyber tasks. Here is how KPBS has Andrew Bowen lined it again then.
S2: The Navy plans to design and construct a extra compact headquarters and pay for it by leasing or promoting off its extra land for personal growth for assist with that imaginative and prescient. The Navy has turned to the county’s regional planning company , SANDAG.
S3: It is going photo voltaic proper now. It is a bit of scary really.
S2: Hasn’t a crater is sandbags govt director. The 2 companies are actually assembly weekly making an attempt to hammer out a joint growth deal. A giant a part of a Kuroda’s imaginative and prescient is a brand new mass transit middle with a rail line connecting to the airport lower than two miles away.
S3: They informed us what they want and we informed them , if we provide you with that , while you give us the land , that is just about the time period. And we’ll take about 14 acres of the land and we’ll construct the San Diego Grand Central and we’ll open the remainder of it to non-public growth.
S2: A grotto says the addition of a brand new transit middle may kickstart the revitalization of the Halfway District , which is affected by blight. New housing and business house would fund a number of the transit hubs prices , however it will additionally require some native taxpayer {dollars}. A Kuroda says lastly connecting rail to the airport can be price it.
S3: I need to persuade individuals in San Diego that’s to their pursuits and to their children and grandkids. Curiosity is to do that , the entire system. However that is particular. That is transformational. That is going to affect what occurs from the sports activities area all the way in which to downtown.
S1: Once more , that was from KPBS reporter Andrew Bowen in February of 2020. However now it appears to be like like we’re again to the drafting board. The Navy says it will do one thing else with the Napa website. SANDAG , which is making an attempt to spice up the adoption of public transit , says it now has a brand new location in thoughts. It is all detailed this week by voice of San Diego’s managing editor , Andrew Keates. And sure , the elusive objective of rail to the airport remains to be in play. Welcome again to Roundtable , Andrew.
S4:
S1: Good to have you ever right here. So we’ll get into all the small print in a second.
S4: SANDAG , the manager director , has on a Kuroda indicated to me that as they had been required to , as they had been learning that concept , in addition they studied some options. And he indicated to me in an interview that these options had form of surpassed the outdated city choice as the highest precedence and that they had been giving extra severe appears to be like on the different one. There’s some difficult causes for that , principally the form of timeframe that they had been working with the expense. It was not all that clear how making it a transit station benefited the Navy , how having a Navy headquarters benefited SANDAG. There was simply quite a lot of items in play when you have got a venture of that massive and it appeared like regional leaders had determined to simplify their ambitions and go along with one thing else. And that’s now official. That’s now form of the formidable thought of a Grand Central Station as a part of a naval redevelopment has now form of been put to mattress.
S1: So now with D’avoir out of the image , the main focus is popping to the port of San Diego’s headquarters. Those that had pushed to the airport , they can not miss it. It is that tall constructing proper alongside Pacific Freeway.
S4: I feel the primary promoting level right here and that in all probability the primary takeaway for most individuals is that that’s now the strategy that regional leaders have settled on to realize that elusive , oft mentioned objective of connecting the transit system to the airport. They assume they will instantly begin environmental work on getting a venture like that authorised , and in the event that they do this , they assume they might break floor in as little as two years. I’ll say that that strikes me as very quick , however that is their timeline. And so they say in the event that they do this , they might have , you realize , an operational completed system. In place in as few as six years or possibly so long as ten years.
S1: And I bear in mind seeing these renderings and it did look grand.
S4: So in order that website , that civic freeway website constructed on the port headquarters can be a a lot , a lot , a lot much less formidable redevelopment venture. In actual fact , there would not there is not any speak that I have been informed to this point of constructing housing or retail or workplace house. On prime of that , it will actually simply be a transit station in shut proximity to the airport that might permit individuals to divert in direction of the airport and never need to drive after they go there. However they’re referring to that as part one among a two part venture and the to the second part , which might be extra downtown. That might be the venture. That might be form of comparable in ambition to the one up in Previous City , which is a we’re bringing again that Grand Central Station thought , however somewhat than constructing it in a brand new space like Previous City that does not have excessive rises and tremendous dense housing but , and even a lot in the way in which of workplaces but , we’d put that as a substitute downtown.
S1: And we have talked with you previously about why San Diego doesn’t have a rail line that goes to the airport. The airport not too long ago began its main rebuild of Terminal One , and that features carriers like Southwest.
S4: The airport’s a prepared associate on this case. They’re proud of the concept. They’ve mentioned that they’re principally agnostic about the way in which that it is achieved , that that is not for them to resolve. That is for the transit specialists to resolve. Their function in that is they’ve already secured from airport carriers as a part of the price of the Terminal one redevelopment , $500 million for all associated transportation enhancements to assist ease entry and congestion to and from the airport based mostly on the elevated variety of flights that they are going to have the ability to select to service based mostly on that that terminal growth.
S1: We’re speaking with Voice of San Diego managing editor Andrew Keats. And Andrew , as you talked about earlier , your story factors out the opposite massive piece of this venture , SANDAG , is now trying on the present metropolis corridor complicated for one thing that , as you mentioned , resembles a Grand Central Station.
S4: So it will embody all of that in a mass redevelopment that when you’ve spent any time at Metropolis Corridor , you realize that it’s displaying its age fairly significantly. It isn’t a spectacular constructing by any stretch of the creativeness. And town has been fairly open for quite a lot of years now that it is simply not a everlasting answer for his or her workplace staff. It is not likely placing town’s greatest foot ahead. So this could type of wrap within the metropolis’s metropolis corridor wants into this concept of a Grand Central Station or a central mobility hub station. However subsequent door to that , additionally , you’ve got obtained a hearth division firehouse that wants a brand new , new facility as nicely and a block subsequent to that. SANDAG has for years tried to construct its personal headquarters on prime above form of a bus terminal. It has acquired that block throughout the road from that. The state of California has two blocks that it has made obtainable for redevelopment. And proper on this neighborhood is the 1 to 1 ash road excessive rise that town of San Diego has been dealing with a large number of issues with for quite a lot of years now. It’s asbestos contaminated even after town entered right into a long run lease to personal settlement that’s tied up in litigation based mostly on quite a lot of issues with the property , however that can presumably be sorted out sooner or later. And so now you possibly can throw that into the combo right here as a part of this imaginative and prescient. So you’ve got obtained like seven or eight blocks of property downtown surrounding Metropolis Corridor. And the concept , as defined to me , is that you’d construct a subway terminal for brand new traces that might be constructed as a part of the area’s future transit system that might are available 80 toes beneath floor beneath this new central transit station. The trolley and varied buses that come via downtown would are available 40 toes beneath floor. After which above that , you’d have your metropolis corridor , you’d have doubtlessly a brand new SANDAG headquarters , you’d produce other workplace house which may must be constructed downtown. And you may have fairly a little bit of housing , together with inexpensive housing , possibly a civic theater , to interchange the one which’s there as nicely. Who is aware of what else they might resolve to incorporate in ? His venture that might all be sorted out sooner or later after town tries to go to non-public builders to assist them construct this. However I feel a number of the solutions to these questions on what particularly can be in there are fairly far off in the meanwhile.
S1: You’ve got lined these points for a very long time right here in San Diego and , you realize , all the important thing gamers right here.
S4: The downtown venture , I feel , is , you realize , form of faces plenty of the issues that the community thought of as nicely. However at the very least now these form of ambitions have been decoupled from the urgent want that the area has expressed for a few years now of getting a transit system that reaches the airport.
S1: Voice of San Diego’s Andrew Keates is our visitor right here. And Andrew , you talked with Sendak’s board chair and Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blake Speer about all this. She had this time period evaluation paralysis to explain the area’s lack of ability to maneuver on massive tasks like this.
S4: However each answer that was proposed would have some group of individuals that did not prefer it as a lot as some various answer. And so you’d get right into a , you realize , political litigation about whose thought was greatest. You’d have curiosity teams lined up on one aspect or the opposite , possibly a public one public company favored each other. Public company favored one other. And since there was a lot disagreement , you simply did not clear up it in any respect. You simply form of mentioned , nicely , nicely , all of us agree on the issue , what the issue is. However sadly , these knuckleheads on the opposite aspect of this debate are stopping us from arriving at a workable answer. And that she was saying what’s actually useful right here is we have now settled. That is how we will attempt to convey transit to the airport. And now it is only a matter of clearing each hurdle that is in the way in which of that within the quick future. We do not have to spend any extra time debating one of the best ways to do it. I feel that is what she made by. And I feel it is a helpful perception.
S1: And earlier than we go right here , you talked about earlier that the Navy , they had been form of shifting on with their very own plans for the nav conflict website.
S4: They did have a bit of bit of stories that they are going to begin soliciting builders to reveal their curiosity in being a part of this venture someday this 12 months. What they want here’s a new headquarters for the community facility. What they will provide in change for that’s land that , you realize , a developer can earn cash off of with all the pieces else they construct on the property. This is similar mannequin that they used for his or her Navy headquarters in downtown San Diego. That is now a part of a form of life sciences campus that is being constructed down there. So that is what they need. And so they nonetheless they are saying that they nonetheless need it to be a combined use venture. They nonetheless need it to be on prime of a transit station , if that is attainable. And possibly it will be much less dense than that they had initially envisioned. And I assume you may scale all of it the way in which again to not being something greater than only a new title for headquarters , although that doesn’t sound to me like what they need. They want to have a pleasant , massive , glowing , combined use venture that additionally occurs to present them a map for facility freed from cost.
S1: I have been talking with Andrew Keats from Voice of San Diego. And Andrew , thanks a lot to your time as we speak.
S4: Thanks , Matt.
S1: It is a bit of reduction for many who get round by automobile , however not by a lot. After the conflict in Ukraine pushed fuel costs to the $6 vary domestically. We have seen it come again down a bit. Based on Tripoli , the common worth for a gallon of normal is now round $5.80. In consequence , we have seen a spike in curiosity for electrical vehicles. A lot in order that some fashionable manufacturers like Toyota and GM are getting near exhausting their allotted federal rebates. This week on Roundtable , we’re taking the EV dialogue to a brand new degree. Heavy obligation automobiles which might be simply as massive part of reaching our local weather objectives. Ron Nicholas from the San Diego Union-Tribune obtained an in-person take a look at a few of this new expertise. Rob , welcome again to Roundtable.
S4: It is good to be again , Matt.
S1: Good to have you ever right here. So this present , Intel that you simply noticed had a pleasant backdrop on the Broadway pier in downtown San Diego.
S4: They’ve what they name their annual Fleet Day. And that is an occasion that is geared to draw operators who make and promote medium and heavy obligation vans. And quite a lot of automakers had been there displaying off their rigs.
S1: And your story begins by telling us about an all electrical rubbish truck.
S4: There is a rubbish truck on show , all electrical. However there are additionally different automakers that make rubbish vans. So , for instance , Peterbilt and Electrical. However I discovered that to be very attention-grabbing as a result of , you realize , there’s a motion in direction of heavy obligation and medium sized vans going the electrical route. However while you see that really seen an electrical rubbish truck , it type of caught everybody’s eye. And this Mac consultant mentioned that they’ve bought about 20 of these rubbish vans to this point. So they’re just a few on the street , not a complete lot , however they’ve bought 20 to this point in California. There’s one in Santa Cruz. And the individuals in Santa Cruz have this. How the they’re serious about including about two extra. So these Mac rubbish vans are on the street. They waste £66,000. That is a fairly heavy and that is an enormous cause why that they’re heavy is as a result of they afford lithium ion batteries on these vans.
S1: And other people listening , everybody is aware of what a rubbish truck feels like. They’re very loud.
S4: It is simply , like , simply as quiet as you’d expertise with an electrical passenger automobile. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. And vary anxiousness is a time period that drivers of electrical automobiles know very nicely.
S4: That is at the very least what the Mack truck official informed me is gave me an instance. It mentioned , As an example that your locality has to go , your rubbish truck drivers need to go 20 miles simply to get to their varied routes. In that case , it is not going to work that nicely as a result of the vary goes from about 70 miles to 100 miles between expenses. And if you are going to need to do a cost , you possibly can take possibly as much as 2 hours. In order that they’re principally the candy spot they’re is that if a locality has a route that is very shut the place you do not have to go 20 miles from one place to a different. But when they’re all in type of concentrated in a compact space , they are saying that it is a good match for them.
S1: We’re speaking with San Diego Union-Tribune , vitality reporter Rob Nicholas. And Rob Jeanie , we all know that they placed on Fleet Day. That is the occasion down there on the Broadway Pier.
S4: And so they provide varied plans , like , for instance , these plans embody charging infrastructure through which the utility owns many of the tools. And however there are different plans as nicely that they provide the place the operator owns most or the entire tools. All of it is determined by what the operator feels. Whether or not they need to spend that a lot cash is that little bit much less and have the utility or most of at the very least a few of it out ? It varies.
S1: Governor Gavin Newsom , he desires to finish the gross sales of fuel powered passenger vehicles by 2035.
S4: Quote , the place possible. So there may be some wiggle room there coming down the street. We’ll see what occurs. There’s additionally dreads. Vehicles have to be zero emissions by 2035 and dreads vans for the individuals who aren’t aware of that , they’re principally automobiles which might be generally used to move freight from an ocean port a really brief distance. It is what transportation officers generally name the primary mile of the delivery route.
S1: All proper. Now let’s get into a number of the different kinds of automobiles. There’s all the pieces from forklifts to the vans used to unload the cargo on the ports. The meals firm , Dole , that they had their very own present , Intel earlier within the week of latest electrical vans that they added to their fleet.
S4: This port areas do emit plenty of greenhouse fuel emissions. And the explanation why is as a result of usually talking , they use diesel gasoline. So while you’ve obtained all that diesel fumes , that actually impacts locations like Barrio Logan and likewise Nationwide Metropolis which might be proper subsequent to the port. And so they’ve had historically for a very long time that had plenty of issues with particulate air pollution , air air pollution , and that results in every kind of well being points like higher incidences of bronchial asthma.
S1:
S4: That is tougher to make that transition. That is as a result of the vary of electrical automobiles is often 200 , 300 miles. I did see one truck that had beneath optimum circumstances , ranges of 350 miles. However even while you’re attending to that prime finish , that is not likely going to be conducive if you are going to be doing a protracted haul coast to coast transporting of products.
S1: We’re talking with youth reporter Rob Nicholas. And Rob , this all prices cash , all this transition stuff. And in the case of passenger vehicles , EVs are sometimes costlier in comparison with fuel powered ones.
S4: The Mac rubbish truck that I appeared on the different day on Broadway Pier is listed at about $600,000 , and that is twice as a lot as a traditional diesel truck , and that is fairly frequent. Electrical automobiles are usually rather more costly , however operators who need to purchase or lease them can , alternatively , get reductions , authorities subsidies , issues like that , to assist offset the value. For instance , that Mack truck that I used to be telling you about , the rubbish truck that may get $120,000 in state funded reductions.
S1: Now let’s get your tackle the driving expertise. You had been in a position to speak with some drivers.
S4: And one different attention-grabbing factor that struck me once I took a take a look at the cab inside one among these heavy obligation truck automobiles was there is not any gearbox. I imply , and when you’re when you’ve ever seen the within of a truck cab , you see massive gearboxes as a result of the drivers are consistently shifting. However there is no such thing as a gearbox , at the very least not within the this one truck I noticed from this firm referred to as Nikola that is based mostly in Arizona. And the rep from Nikola informed me that he had an expertise the place he had a driver really drive the car over a protracted , pretty lengthy distance for quite a lot of days. And he was simply the motive force was speaking about how how this was the primary time he had been driving for a protracted , very long time. This was the primary time he was ever in a position to drive an enormous rig and all he may hear was simply the sound of the wheels. He mentioned , I may by no means hear the sound of wheels as a result of there was too many an excessive amount of different noise that was being generated by the by the car. However on this case , it is like a Tesla. It is like a Nissan Leaf. It’s extremely , very quiet.
S1: We talked about fuel costs firstly of this phase , and you have been following the present state of affairs usually.
S4: I feel lots of people are serious about doing that on the passenger aspect. Additionally , that is a promoting level that that they had on Fleet Day from plenty of these truck makers that had been saying , hey , when you’re paying as a result of really diesel is costlier than gasoline proper now. So that might result in a transition there. However there are some challenges , although , as a result of as we talked about earlier , they’re costlier. You get the subsidies and knock the value down , nevertheless it nonetheless is a bit of bit costlier to make that transition proper now.
S1: I have been. Talking with Rob Nichols. He is an vitality reporter for the San Diego Union Tribune. And Rob , thanks a lot for being right here as we speak.
S4: You are welcome , Mat.
S1: Earlier than we go , now we have a particular occasion coming to KPBS. On Wednesday , April twentieth , Metro reporter Andrew Bowen is internet hosting Unsheltered Fixing Homelessness in San Diego. The web discussion board consists of a number of the native specialists on the problem , which has no straightforward repair. The beginning time is about for six p.m.. Once more , that is subsequent Wednesday evening. You possibly can be taught extra and signal as much as take part at KPBS speak. That wraps up this week’s version of KPBS Roundtable. And I might wish to thank our company , Andrew Keats from Voice of San Diego and Rob Nicholas from the San Diego Union-Tribune. If you happen to missed any a part of our present , you possibly can pay attention anytime on the KPBS Roundtable podcast , I met Hoffman. Thanks a lot for being right here. We’ll catch it subsequent week on Roundtable.