Author: Live Well San Diego Data Team 

79% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are produced by human activities. The main sources are transportation, electricity, and industry. The United States Environmental Protection Agency reported that 27% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 came from transportation.

Adverse Health Effects

Air pollution has negative side effects on respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Children, pregnant women, older adults, individuals with disabilities, and people with medical conditions are the most vulnerable. For example, individuals with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may be more sensitive to air pollution.

San Diego County

In 2018, the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors adopted the 2018 Climate Action Plan to outline methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The County of San Diego is committed to implementing the plan by engaging in ongoing collaborations with private and public sector partners and the community.

Community Based Interventions

There are several ways we can reduce the amount of these greenhouse gas emissions on our environment. For example, using public transit as a form of active transportation can decrease vehicle usage, reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution, and help people engage in physical activity.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) provides the community with all-electric trolleys and near-zero emission buses that reduce the negative environmental impacts. A pilot program, the Youth Opportunity Pass, sponsored by Live Well San Diego Recognized Partner SANDAG and the County of San Diego was implemented to provide youth with free MTS and North County Transit District (NCTD) rides. Anyone under 18 years old may ride MTS and NCTD services for free using the PRONTO app or card.

University of California San Diego students may qualify for a free Triton U-Pass membership for unlimited access to MTS and NCTD bus and trolley routes during the academic quarters. Other colleges and universities may qualify for free or reduced fare. Please review policies on the MTS website for free or reduced fares and connect with your student services for more information. 

Among the Live Well San Diego Recognized Partners collaborating for a positive impact on the environment via active transportation are Circulate San Diego and the San Diego Bike Coalition. Circulate San Diego focuses on improving pedestrian and bicycle safety. They encourage residents to be physically active by advocating for affordable and convenient public transportation. They prioritize having a transportation network that promotes active transportation and reduces GHG emissions, limits pollution and protects the undeveloped habitat. 

The San Diego Bike Coalition educate residents on how to safely use public roadways and advocates for the installation of complete streets. Their mission is to advocate and protect the rights of everyone who rides bicycles. Some of the work they do involves conducting educational programs, promoting awareness of bicyclists and bicycling issues, review infrastructure improvements, acts as a voice for bicyclists, and organize community bike rides to encourage biking as a friendly form of transportation and recreation. 

Indicator Series: Physical Environment

The Top 10 Live Well San Diego Indicators define what it means to live well in San Diego. Measured across the lifespan among all residents, the Indicators capture the collective impact of programs, services and interventions provided by government and community partners striving to improve quality of life so that all San Diego County residents can be healthy, safe and thriving. The Physical Environment Indicator measures the number of days in the month that air quality is rated poorly. Efforts by the community and partners to have better environments have been moving this indicator in the right direction.

Getting San Diego Data is Easy!

To access the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) indicators dashboard and publicly available data, visit the SANDAG website. Additionally, you can find more data at our County of San Diego Data Portal website.

This open data portal encourages the use of public data that the County of San Diego has published to spark innovation, promote public collaboration, increase government transparency, and inform decision making.

I'd Like to Know More

The Live Well San Diego Team specialists who publish data news stories are dedicated public health professionals. For a detailed view on how we drafted this news story, please refer to our data research brief.