SAN DIEGO—The San Diego Association of Governments’ (SANDAG) board of directors passed on Dec. 10 the 2021 Regional Transportation Plan without the controversial road mileage tax, but questions remain as to how the regional transportation agency will fund the $160 billion plan. A four-cents-per-mile road usage tax proposal and two half-cent regional sales taxes proposed for 2022 and 2028 were some of the key funding strategies SANDAG leadership proposed. The association estimated the road usage tax could raise more than $34 billion through 2050, but its chief economist, Ray Major, said the final figures would have changed once the scope was narrowed to implementation of the proposal in 2030. However, last week the association’s elected leadership—specifically Encinitas Mayor and Board Chairwoman Catherine Blakespear and vice chairs San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and National City Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis—announced they didn’t support the inclusion of the road usage tax. “This is a visionary plan that needs broad public support to be realized,” Blakespear …