San Diego’s elected leaders have been aggressively removing traffic lanes and parking spaces to make way for bus lanes, trolley expansions, and bike infrastructure. While these policies are often framed as forward-thinking climate action-driven experiments they are rooted in a transportation vision that is already outdated.
The future of mobility is not fixed-route buses or rail lines — it is autonomous vehicles.
History offers a powerful analogy. Decades ago, Bill Gates and Paul Allen famously articulated a vision of “a computer on every desk and in every home.” At the time, that idea sounded ambitious, even unrealistic. Today, it seems obvious. Computers are everywhere, embedded not just on desks but in our pockets, cars and appliances.
Autonomous vehicles are on the same trajectory. What feels novel today will soon be so common that we no longer think twice about it.
Autonomous vehicles are no longer theoretical. They are operating on public roads right now, and the pace of deployment is accelerating. Uber, one of the world’s largest transportation platforms, is actively expanding its autonomous vehicle services by partnering with developers such as Waymo, Lucid and Nuro. Through the Uber app, riders can already access driverless rides and autonomous deliveries in select cities. This approach allows autonomous technology to scale rapidly by plugging directly into an existing transportation network used by millions of people every day.
By the mid-2030s, autonomous vehicles are expected to account for a significant share of urban travel, particularly for ride-hailing, airport trips and daily commuting. In many cities, autonomous vehicles will handle more passenger miles than buses or trolleys. Importantly, these vehicles will largely be electric, making them cleaner, quieter and more climate-friendly than the internal combustion vehicles they replace.
Despite this clear trajectory, San Diego elected leaders are continuing to push for the removal of traffic lanes, eliminating parking and reducing traffic capacity in favor of transportation modes that serve a relatively small percentage of residents. The majority of people still rely on cars for work, school, errands and family obligations, and only 2.6% of residents in San Diego County rely on public transportation. Removing lanes in anticipation of a mass shift to buses or bikes not only worsens congestion today, but it also creates long-term constraints that will make it harder to accommodate the autonomous future that is rapidly approaching.
Autonomous vehicles do not eliminate the need for roads. They rely on them. In fact, as autonomous fleets expand, cities will need well-designed, efficient roadway networks with sufficient lanes, curb access, and parking or staging areas. Rather than shrinking infrastructure, policymakers should be planning how to optimize and expand it for electric autonomous traffic that moves people more efficiently and safely.
The environmental argument against vehicles is also becoming outdated. Autonomous vehicles are overwhelmingly electric by design. They reduce emissions through smoother driving, less idling, optimized routing, and shared use. Treating all cars as a climate problem ignores how dramatically vehicle technology is changing.
The real concern is not technology; it is leadership. Too many elected officials are making transportation decisions based on yesterday’s assumptions rather than tomorrow’s realities. They are investing heavily in rigid systems while failing to plan for flexible, scalable and technology-driven solutions that are already proving themselves in the real world. Autonomous vehicles are coming whether governments plan for them or not.
The choice facing cities and counties is whether to prepare thoughtfully for that future or remain locked in a past vision of transportation that no longer reflects how people live, work, and move. True leadership means looking ahead, not clinging to outdated models, and building infrastructure that supports the transportation systems of the future, not the last century.
It is time for San Diego’s elected leaders to revisit an outdated Climate Action Plan and align it with the real future of transportation. The facts are clear: most San Diegans are not biking to work, dropping their kids off at school on bicycles, or doing their grocery shopping on trolleys. Transportation policy must reflect how people actually live, not how planners wish they would.
The current approach is short-sighted and lacks vision. The future of transportation is not buses, trolleys, bicycles or traditional cabs; it is autonomous vehicles, and that future is arriving far sooner than many policymakers are willing to admit. Yet instead of preparing for it, city leaders continue to remove traffic lanes and eliminate parking, making congestion worse and limiting future capacity.
San Diego should be opening roads, modernizing infrastructure, and planning intelligently for the millions of autonomous, electric vehicles that are coming. Leadership means planning for the future, not clinging to the past.
Mark Powell is a former San Diego County Board of Education member and former Vice President for the San Diego Association of Realtors.
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