The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) It is essential for the economic well-being of San Diego County and for the maintenance of a high quality of life that the people of the State of California receive the full benefits of international trade with Mexico.

(b) Trade is the fastest expanding component of the San Diego regional economy. Mexico is the United States’ third largest trading partner, after Canada and China, and California’s number one export market.

(c) Trade passing through San Diego County’s portion of the United States-Mexico border region benefits every state in the union and contributes heavily to the nation’s trade with the countries of the Pacific Rim.

(d) Commercial traffic between the United States and Mexico using California’s ports of entry is placing extreme demands on the state’s border transportation assets which were not designed for these purposes.

(e) Congestion at the border causes increased wait times, which in turn increases commercial and noncommercial vehicle emissions.

(f) Inadequate infrastructure capacity at the existing border crossings between San Diego County and Baja California currently creates traffic congestion and delays for crossborder personal trips and freight movements that cost the United States and Mexican economies an estimated $7.2 billion in foregone gross output and more than 62,000 jobs in 2007.

(g) Public revenues to provide for an efficient border region transportation system have not kept pace with the growth of traffic and goods crossing the international border with Mexico.

(h) The state must seek all reasonable alternatives to address unmet border transportation needs and to improve existing transportation facilities.

(i) Public toll transportation facilities should be encouraged to supplement limited public resources and to support the development of new transportation system capacity.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 720, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)