NO WAY, BRO.
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City Times
San Diego is gonna get it
Jakob McWhinney works on a story at Voice of San Diego's downtown office May 5, 2023. Photo by Sean Monney
ity Times staffers climbed into an Uber in San Francisco on a recent trip to the Bay Area for a media conference, taking the opportunity to do some reporting on the side. No sooner had Waymos been brought up by journalist Samira Hassan did the driver, Sandy Hui, share her straightforward opinion on the autonomous robocars sharing the road with her. “Oh, I don’t like them,” she said. Waymo made its debut in San Francisco in November 2024 as the first fully public autonomous robotaxi, shaking up the existing rideshare industry. To see what it was like, the City Times reporters ventured to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in the self-driving Waymo. The autonomous car traveled throughout San Francisco, sporting... bright white exterior of a Jaguar I-PACE with the addition of a black leather interior, controlled climate and choice of personal music selection.
By Sean Monney Multimedia Journalist
TRANSPORTATION EDITION
sdcitytimes.com
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Volume 80, Issue 4 April 30, 2026
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
driverless taxis expanding service to san diego
Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Story continues on Page 2
Music production and technology Isiah Woods
ith public transit fare increases being considered and gas prices rising nationwide, City Times Media spoke with students around San Diego City College to see how much they are spending on transportation. Music production and technology student Isiah Woods lives 10 minutes away from campus and finds free parking around San Diego instead of paying. “I usually fill up my tank every, like, other week. So, maybe, 60 bucks every two weeks,” Woods said. “I just kind of thug it out with street parking, you know, sometimes there’s a close-up spot. Sometimes I gotta park up that hill and just take a nice little walk to here." If you don’t like the option of “thugging it out” like Woods, apps like ParkMobile allow you to pay for temporary parking in structures around campus. City College also offers virtual parking passes students can purchase through their portal under the finance tab. English student Dejay Judge, who lives in Oceanside, shared his strategy for saving gas — driving combined with public transit. A basic needs report from the 2023-24 school year found that 12% of students missed class or work due to transportation issues. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
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KNIGHTS SPORTS UPDATE: Check out sporting events at City College (weekly) CITY COLLEGE CALENDAR: The events you don't want to miss on campus,(weekly) With Waymo headed to SD, City Times reporters take a driverless ride in SF
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Million Needed
$24
students share their transportation expenses
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summer term to open
24%
sdcitytimes.com | April 30, 2026
CITYNEWS
David J. Bohnet Tresean Osgood Co-Editors-in-Chief Nadia Lavin Managing Editor Itzel Martinez Sports Editor Briana Bush Arts & Culture Editor Mari Pliego Social Media Editor Samira Hassan Chrisdan Peralta Co-News Editors Mylo Gallardo Video Editor Venkateswar Rao Vadlamudi AI Manager Mikey Gonzales Layout Editor Yonatan “Yogi” Hernandez Audio Operations Manager Rosemary Archer Emmanuel Baez Brandon Borrero Azriel Castaneda Dianna Elbadawi Annie Garcia Foradori Angela Galan Martinez Crow Ruiz Multimedia Journalists Nicole Vargas, M.A. Adviser
on the transit system reported last fall (vs. fall 2024)
Classes begin as soon as June 5
Survey Responses
ason Sand, a Mesa College freshman, looked over posters featuring two different rate proposals for the city’s public transportation at a recent forum hosted by San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System. Two options were shared. Package A is the least expensive option, but with higher service impacts, while Package B is pricier, but with less service impacts. As he considered both, Sand, who uses MTS services 5-6 days a week, said he preferred the second option, sacrificing short-term cost for what he hoped would be long-term stability. “Because fares are probably likely to go up more at some point, I feel like this way we can secure more funding sooner rather than having to do a whole other increase later on,” said Sand during the event at the Jackie Robinson YMCA in Southeastern San Diego. “We also have the revenue to better maintain the service we have, rather than considering more drastic cuts in service that would have a greater negative effect (on) people who regularly depend on the system.” Both San Diego’s MTS and the North County Transit District will be facing budget shortages in the next few years due primarily to cost of worker wages in a competitive job market, cost of goods and materials, lack of modern funding locally, and a flat sales tax revenue, officials said. Those have the potential to cut the over 81 million trips taken by public transit riders. “Transit doesn’t operate at a profit,” MTS Manager of Marketing and Communications Stacie Bishop said. “That’s the definition of a public service and a public good. The public helps fund their service.” MTS will need to generate over $90 million in the next four years, with an average of $23 million a year coming from either fare increases, service cuts or a combination of both to fill the budget gap, officials said. To determine if fares should change, MTS and NCTD partnered with the San Diego Association of Governments to conduct a county-wide fare study. “The first question is, how much are you raising the fares?” Associate Regional Planner with SANDAG Tim Garret said. “We don’t know yet. We need to start with hearing from the members of the community.” MTS received 5,700 responses to a rider survey last fall, with more than two-thirds of those coming from riders who use services three or more times a week. “We found that, (among) all income levels ... there was a preference for maintaining service levels, even if the fair price has to go up,” Garret said. Garret added the high number of frequent riders surveyed would prefer not to see significant increases for monthly pass rates. Riders surveyed also preferred to keep the discounted fare for seniors, disabled riders and Medicare recipients, as well as for youth, “even if others have to pay more,” Garret said. That, though, may not be enough, Garret said. “You can’t just change one (fare) and expect to solve all the problems,” he said. Package A has a projected annual revenue increase of around $11.2 million, but with a projected annual ridership loss at around $2.3 million.Officials considered this to be a low projected low ridership loss for MTS. The package includes a lower adult pass fare but the cost of Senior, Disabled and Medicare, or SDM, monthly passes would increase.It would lower day and one-way fares, resulting in lower revenue and more service impacts.Package B, by contrast, has a projected annual revenue increase of around $16.8 million but with a projected annual ridership loss at around $3.2 million, a higher ridership loss than package A.It includes higher adult pass fares but a lower cost for SDM month pass. An adult day pass and one-way fares would increase more than in package A, resulting in higher revenue with less service impacts.“I prefer Package B because I think it’s important to bring in as much revenue as possible to MTS,” said Grossmont College student who identified herself only as Ruby. “A lot of people take public transit to their jobs every day, and I think the higher, more expensive option is better because it’s important to have that service.”With a majority of MTS riders using transportation more than three times a week to make it to their job, the impact to the service would greatly affect them. “Like, what’s the point of having lower fares if you can’t even get to your job and make your wage?” she added.Sol Castellar, another young adult who uses MTS, admitted it was about priorities.“If you’re going to tell me that prices are going up and it’s only $3, when I’m spending $8 on a coffee, it’s not that big of a deal to me, especially for something that I need so importantly,” Castellar said.Special passes for events, sports venues and colleges offered by MTS will potentially be affected by these fare prices in the proposed packages. The exception, Bishop said, was UCSD’s U-Pass program.“They’ve passed a referendum so that every student, regardless of if they use transit or how much, pays a transportation fee to give them access to MTS service,” Bishop said. “That contract is a set price for years and years and years.”
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Perry Webster photo
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MORE FAre? NOT Fair!
City College feeling the pinch with paid parking in Balboa Park on 'Reporters' Roundtable' Waymo expected on San Diego streets this summer, reshaping the rideshare industry BEYOND 400: Symposium Edition
By Briana Bush, Arts & Culture Editor
By Azriel Castaneda, Multimedia Journalist
By Tresean Osgood, Co-Editor-in-Chief
wo years into its operation, Waymo cars have arrived in 10 cities in the United States with plans for the service to expand into San Diego in mid-2026. A set release date or official service area have not yet been released, explained Mark Lewis, Waymo’s public relations manager, in an email to City Times. “We are still laying the groundwork for our expansion (in San Diego),” Lewis said. “We haven’t set a launch date yet, but when we do, we’ll release our service area map.” With the future of self-driving cars in San Diego in Waymo’s hands, some locals welcome the change with open arms. In April 2025, the San Diego City Council adopted the Mobility Master Plan, addressing accessible transport throughout the county, including autonomous cars, according to City spokesperson Peter Kelly in an email. The city aims to accommodate self-driving cars like Waymo by giving them access to dedicated lanes throughout San Diego typically reserved for buses and shuttles on highways and streets. The use of the lanes for the cars will allow for efficiency in transport and safer movement throughout the roads. Stephanie Hollister, an instructor at City College, believes the car has the potential to be an alternative transportation method for women to be safer. “Maybe it is a little bit safer than taking an Uber or Lyft,” Hollister said, “because, you know, some stuff has happened where women have gotten assaulted.” As of July 2025, there had been 2,369 reported sexual assault pending lawsuits against Uber with women being the main target in the U.S., according to a report from Chaikin Trial Group. Although safety and accessibility are embraced by some San Diegans, others fear for job security and the impact Waymo will have on the rideshare industry in the city. In San Francisco, Uber’s sales fell by 11% and Lyft’s decreased 12% by the end of 2024, a month after Waymo’s release, according to Mario Herger, a technology trend researcher. Mikuel Al Hussein, the Executive Director for the United Taxi Workers of San Diego, worried Waymo would bring competition that would take away work from people who need it. “t doesn’t need gas, ... and it doesn’t get tired,” Hussein said in a public comment at a January San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Board of Directors meeting. “That’s a lot of unfair competition.” At that meeting, the board voted 12-1 to regulate the expansion of autonomous cars to San Diego. In San Francisco, Uber driver Sandy Hui admits defeat to Waymo, knowing there isn’t anything to do about the expansion and the effect it will have on her and other drivers. “You can’t do much about it, because that’s just how it is gonna be, right?” Hui said. “They’re gonna have more of those Waymos out, and they’re probably gonna have (self-driving cars) from different companies like Uber.” To Chris Ippolito and his friends, locals from San Francisco, they worry about the individual people affected by the introduction of Waymo.“Who’s getting paid for Waymo?” Ippolito said while eating at a local ramen spot in Chinatown. “These CEOs and people that probably already have enough money as it is? At least with Uber, it’s a person who’s either living around the bay or commuting to the bay.”Despite San Diego transit official opposition, San Diego mayor Todd Gloria shares support of the autonomous expansion.
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Average of $23 million a year needed over next four years between fares and service to fill the budget gap.
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WATCH
two-thirds identified as "frequent" riders
ghostridin' the whip
Cost of transportation rising in san diego, No matter how you travel
Jakob McWhinney was finishing his 5-month internship at the online news organization Voice of San Diego when it posted a job opening for the education reporter position. Then a second-year digital journalism student at San Diego City College, McWhinney was encouraged by his coworkers to apply. But he said he never imagined himself writing about education. He decided to apply anyway, compiling information and experience for his resume and reflecting on his own educational journey. “I started to realize my story is an education story,” McWhinney said. “It's a story that shows really the truly transformative power of education.” After graduating from Helix High School in 2008, McWhinney occasionally attended class at Grossmont Community College. It was not until the pandemic that he decided to go to City College and really “give school a real shot.” When McWhinney took a journalism class to fulfill a prerequisite, he fell in love with it. He got fully involved in journalism at City College, where he wrote for City Times, produced podcasts for CT Sound and anchored TV news shows for CTTV’s Newscene and Inside City. During his internship with Voice of San Diego, McWhinney worked on projects independently but also alongside other journalists like Jesse Marx, the associate editor at Voice of San Diego. “He embodied all of those traits that make a really good reporter,” Marx said about McWhinney. “So I strongly encouraged him to apply and I put in a good word for him.” McWhinney was hired as the education reporter for Voice of San Diego, where he went on to write about chronic absenteeism, student worker wages and transitional kindergarten. McWhinney said he wouldn’t have even been able to get back into school without the grants and scholarships he received, and now works full-time to afford the costs of university. “Education is supposed to be this great equalizer,” he said, “but still to this day it's very, very unequal.” Students interested in taking summer courses at San Diego City College can now register. Whether to get ahead of your general education classes toward your major or just to enjoy a summer class because it sounds intriguing, City College offers a wide variety of classes over the summer months. There are over 200+ courses to choose from at City College alone. Students can take generic subjects that count toward their general education credit like biology, English, mathematics and psychology. City College even offers classes that can help new students with the transition into college. Classes start on June 5 and run until August 12 and can run for the full summer semester or can run in a variety of weekly sessions. City College offers 6, 8, 12, or 14-week sessions. Students also have the option to choose from the first half or the second half of the session. Classes are $46 per unit, and financial aid is available for students who apply. For more information on coursework, financial aid resources, visit sdcity.edu.
Local students consider impact of higher transit rates county-wide
T HE
A Waymo sits parked as Samira Hassan, right, exits at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center in San Francisco in March. Briana Bush/CTM
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Decrease in Crime
WAYMO RESHAPING THE RIDESHARE INDUSTRY, ONE CITY AT A TIME
Frequent Riders
2
By Sydney Dull, Multimedia Journalist
BY
Expenses
Recurring Revenue
Results taken from Oct. 6-Nov. 7.
A group of riders board the MTS Rapid 235 bus to Escondido near the City College campus in March. Azriel Castaneda/City Times Media
MTS riders board the blue line trolley at the City College Transit Station in March. Azriel Castaneda/City Times Media
“I commute by car. I’m not actually sure (about the cost of gas) because my parents take me. Actually (I) have no idea how much my dad spent.”
Pree Bee, allied health student
“It’s around, like $5-6. I live in City Heights, so I would say it’s pretty far. And sometimes it’ll take a while to get here.”
NO WAYMO?
Truman Stevens-Lazich, undeclared student
Kaitlyn Gonzalez, graphic design student
San Francisco already has it
“I don’t pay for gas myself because I don’t actually have a car. I use my parents’ car, so I would have to ask them. But it can’t be that much because it’s a very short drive.”
David J. Bohnet, right, sits in the passenger seat of a Waymo as the autonomous car drives through the streets in San Francisco. Photo by Briana Bush/City Times Media