San Diego Association of Governments
The San Diego Association of Governments (abbreviated SANDAG) is an association of local San Diego County governments. It is the metropolitan planning organization for the County, with policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and County Supervisors, and also has capital planning and fare setting powers for the county's transit systems, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District, some of which was assumed by the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (became MTS in 1986). SANDAG, along with the Southern California Association of Governments, are the only metropolitan planning agencies in Southern California . Governance. The board was previously governed with the representation of one board member from every city in San Diego County, with each member holding two votes in two systems. The approval of a project required the majority tally vote representing all cities and board members, as well as the majority of represented members weighted by population. After the passage of SANDAG's reform bill in 2017, any four representatives representing a majority of the county's population can overrule the tally vote. Programs. Fare payment systems. The Compass Card was launched by SANDAG in May of 2009 to integrate the  fare payment systems of San Diego MTS and North County Transit District into one system, meant to reduce the number of fare transactions at customer service centers. The Compass Card was replaced by the Pronto (smart card) in September 2021.