San Diego streetlight repairs now take 340 days on average, city audit finds

San Diego residents are experiencing longer wait times for streetlight repairs, with the average repair time increasing from 144 days in fiscal year 2021 to 340 days in the current fiscal year, according to a city audit reported by the Times of San Diego.

The Transportation Department’s streetlight division has hired more workers and paid $1.4 million in overtime last fiscal year, up from over $230,000 six years ago, but these efforts have not reduced repair times.

The audit found that department managers did not effectively use tools to track workers or ensure that repairs were completed promptly. Vehicle logs from December 2025 to May 2026 showed workers' vehicles were stationary for extended periods away from job sites, averaging over two hours per stop and totaling nearly 200 hours over six months.

One vehicle stop lasted nearly five hours, and the audit criticized the streetlight division managers for failing to address these lengthy stops and periods of crew inactivity.

On November 12, the San Diego Audit Committee reviewed the audit findings and heard objections from the Transportation Department, highlighting ongoing concerns about the efficiency of streetlight repairs in the city.