It is election day, and we can better fight the fence if you elect me as Del Mar Council Member. If you don’t vote in Del Mar, please tell your friends who do!
On October 30, NCTD executive director Matt Tucker issued a “Response to Public Comments” about the fence, which you can find here. They are claiming liability and insurance costs as justification for the fence. Their math and logic do not work. They note in 2020 the NCTD paid $2.7 million to purchase $295 million of insurance coverage for “unforeseen events” for its entire operating area over 41 miles. They note that Del Mar accounts for 7.5% of accidents. If we apply the 7.5% allocation to the total $2.7 million cost, that translates to a proportional cost for Del Mar of just $200,000.
So to prevent $200,000 in insurance costs, it wants to spend $2+ million to install a 1.5 mile fence that would destroy views and block access for the tens of thousands of San Diego County residents that regularly come visit Del Mar to enjoy the ocean, which is their right as Californians.
This is a terrible and unacceptable trade-off. It also highlights the complete failure of the NCTD in its core mission of efficiently providing transit to the people of San Diego County. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership of the Coaster had been very low and in multi-year decline. It accounts for just 1/20th of 1% of commuters in San Diego County, while freight accounts for just ½ of 1% of overall freight.
With the pandemic, ridership plunged another 90%+. Most Coaster trains have almost no one on them.
We need to conduct a comprehensive public audit on the NCTD and its failures. In these tough economic times with tight budgets everywhere, it is critical to spend public money where it has the greatest positive impact. This train not only has minimal positive impact, it has substantial negative impacts including accidents, physically divided cities, noise pollution, millions of dollars in operating losses, and fences that destroy views and block ocean access.
The NCTD is hosting a public workshop on November 19, and I'll put out an update on that ahead of time.
If you are a voter in Del Mar, please vote today for Dan Quirk!