Changing development patterns As the cost of driving becomes a concern, redevelopment can be channeled closer to work. The cities in San Diego county will also have to be ready with mixed-use zoning, allowing residential occupation in commercial and industrial areas, and developing viable transit systems. They should also rewrite the planning codes and street requirements to favor walkers and bicyclists. The developer of Village Homes in Davis was able to cut street width from 43 feet to as low as 23 feet by improving bicycle and pedestrian paths. This saved money, improved safety and quality of life, and protected environmental quality.
Buses are flexible, inexpensive and very effective if used wisely.
The city assigns the routes, sets the fares, and pays the contractor per revenue mile, not per passenger-mile. They do this to make even lower-performing routes equally attractive to operators. This bus system moves more than 1.9 million trips a day, more than the buses of New York City. The development cost of bus routes is about one-third of a percent one eightieth of the cost of subways and much, much less than trolleys or light rail. The supporting element in San Diego should be bicycle and pedestrian traffic.