San Diego Looks into Setting Up a New Mobility Department

San Diego is looking into making regulatory changes in response to the coronavirus pandemic. At a recent virtual discussion for CREW San Diego, Alyssa Muto, deputy director of environmental policy and public space in the planning department at the City of San Diego, who also has experience at the county level, said that she is working with the city now to develop a new mobility department to focus on a variety of new issues and needs that have emerged during the pandemic.

“I’m working in the City of San Diego to start up a new mobility department,” she said in the discussion. The department will focus on curb space management, including delivery windows, how curb space is being used and when it can be used for alternative practices, like dining. As a result, it will also focus on a wide range of parking issues, including parking changes for residential and multifamily properties, and it will find ways to decrease reliance on cars, especially in offices where people don’t want to drive and want alternatives. “How we move around and adapt as mobile workforce and support staff to find way to be mobile,” she said adding that people should try different access route, like busses when they have the opportunity and the city should provide those opportunities. Less parking could ultimately mean more outdoor space and parks and also more mobility. It is already happening in some parts of the city. Downtown 5^th Street, for example, has closed to cares. “We need to find more ways to invigorate those spaces,” she said.