By 2050, the region's population is forecast to grow by 1 million, with around 500,000 new jobs and 300,000 more homes. In anticipation of this growth, city and county land use plans have changed to focus most of the anticipated growth in existing communities. The Regional Plan seeks to respond to these changing land use patterns by offering a choice of transport modes.

The strategy proposes a significant expansion of the city's successful light rail network as well as track-doubling and extension of the Oceanside – Escondido Sprinter commuter rail line.

Funding for these projects will come from various local, state, and federal sources and Sandag anticpates that 48% of the $US 204bn required for the programme will be sourced locally with 34% coming from the state of California and 18% from the federal government. The plan stresses that some additional funding sources, such as a "Quality of Life" regional sales tax, would be required to implement the plan in full, but it assumes that none of these sources will be available before 2020.