2016 District 7 Candidate Norman Yee

Candidate Facts

7NY Headshot    Name: Norman Yee
   Campaign Website:  normanyee.com

Candidate Questionnaire

All official candidates were contacted and given the opportunity to answer our Candidate Questionnaire. Any candidate responses edited for length and clarity have been marked as such.

1. Do you ride a bicycle in the city?

No [DISABLED]

If “Yes,” how often do you ride and for what purpose(s)?

Recreation, errands, pleasure, occasional commuting. I have a regular bike and an electric bike. My son commutes on his bike. I ride several times a week on average.

2. The City has established a goal to at least double the number of bike trips in the next 3 years. Do you support this goal?

Yes

If yes, what would you do as Supervisor to help the city realize it?

I believe in the three pillars of our vision zero policy, I believe increasing ridership will take making people feel safer by focusing on engineering, education and enforcement. I think our main focus should be the next generation, I have been able through the budget process to create a student crossing guard program where students become safety ambassadors for their peers and receive a comprehensive safety training which I believe coupled with the efforts of the Safe route to school initiative will create and strengthen the next generation of bike riders.

3. Our City has embraced and adopted Vision Zero, the goal to eliminate all fatalities and serious injuries on our streets by 2024. Do you support Vision Zero?

Yes

If “Yes,” the city has yet to make significant progress since the introduction of Vision Zero in 2014. In fact, fatalities are on the rise. What would you do as Supervisor to help the city achieve Vision Zero?

I was proud to co author the Vision Zero legislation. I believe we have two main obstacles: one is budgetary and the other is a culture shift in how we think about transportation citywide. We need to continue to allocate more funding to improvements citywide and continue to involve residents so that they feel empowered and part of the process. In terms of culture change I believe that we need to see much more coordination among departments and much smarter and community led processes to evaluate and select needed improvement with special attention to equity.

4. Research and data has shown that building high-quality protected bike infrastructure is the most effective way to increase the number of people who bike. Despite this, there remain very few streets and corridors in San Francisco with protected bike lanes. Do you support the significant expansion of protected bike infrastructure, recognizing that this is often achieved by reallocating space on our streets that may decrease on-street car parking or vehicle travel lanes?

Yes

If “Yes,” what is at least one street or corridor in your District that you think would most benefit from a protected bike facility and why?

I am a strong supporter of the new vision for 19th avenue included in the 19th Ave Transit Study and I think as part of the complete re-envisioning of that thoroughfare we should strongly consider adding a protected bike lane.

5. The SF Bicycle Coalition participated in the Mayor’s Transportation 2030 Task Force, which identified significant funding gaps for a safe, reliable transportation system. To continue building out the bike network, the original need until 2030 was $360 million, which has now increased to $660 million, by City estimates. Do you support increased allocation and funding for bike projects to at least match the percentage of San Franciscans who bike?

Yes

6. The Department of Public Health has used data to develop the “high-injury network” to show the 12% of city streets where over 70% of the collisions occur. This map has also shown that low-income communities are disproportionately affected by traffic collisions. If Supervisor, what would you do to prevent collisions in your District at these known locations?

I am a strong supporter of community led processes and knowing how poorly we have collected data on collisions in the past I take the “high injury network” as an excellent starting point. I strongly believe that in addition to these clear focal points we need to continue to work and support community led processes that highlight needed improvements all throughout our neighborhoods. We need to show community that when they organize to make their community safer we are able to listen and be responsive.

7. Market Street is San Francisco’s most-biked street, with nearly 7,000 trips by bike counted here every day. The City is working on the Better Market Street project, which calls for limiting private automobiles, creating a continuous, protected bike lane for the full length of the project from the Embarcadero to Octavia Boulevard and significantly advancing transit and pedestrian-friendly street design. Do you support this plan?

Yes 

8. Data has shown that the five most dangerous behaviors are all driver-related offenses: speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians, improper right-hand turns, running red lights and failure to stop at stop signs. The San Francisco Police Department has committed to maintaining 50% of their traffic citations to “Focus on the Five,” a goal they have yet to meet citywide. Do you support Focus on the Five and smart, data-driven enforcement?

Yes 

9. As Supervisor, what will you do to ensure SFPD focuses enforcement on Focus on the Five or other known issues that make our streets unwelcome to bike on, such as double-parking in bike lanes, rather than ad hoc, complaint-driven enforcement?

I believe that when we have been the most effective is when we have coupled education and enforcement efforts. Having attended and have my staff attended the Vision Zero Task Force Meetings i think that publicly available reporting from SFPD on their Focus on the Five enforcement would be a useful metric to see if we are actually meeting our goals. I also think that this is another area that will necessitate a culture change.

10. Bay Area Bike Share is in the middle of a game-changing, tenfold expansion of its system to become one of the densest bike share networks in the United States. Do you support the expansion and placement of bike share stations in your District, even if this may mean repurposing of on-street vehicle parking?

Yes

District-Specific Questions

1. The SF Bicycle Coalition has been advocating for better bike connections from Balboa Park Station to Lake Merced for years. As Supervisor, what would you recommend to improve the biking and walking connections to and from this important transit hub along Ocean Avenue?

As you talk about later there is a vision for at least parts of that area through the Ocean Avenue Corridor Redesign Study. I am also interested to see how considerations for better connections are included in the project for Balboa Reservoir. I also have been active working on activating Ocean Ave as I believe that better activation and more pedestrian traffic will help. Finally I believe that again it is a resource issue and I am very excited that along Ocean Ave we have an active CBD that will us secure more resources for improvements.

2. According to the 2009 San Francisco Bicycle Plan, it is legal to ride a bicycle along the sidewalk of 19th Avenue due to the lack of a northsouth bike route here. There is currently a longrange planning effort to underground the MOcean View Muni line and repurpose the onstreet space to transform this freewaylike street into a peoplefriendly boulevard with dedicated bike lanes. Do you support this effort?

Yes

Why or why not?

I believe that we have to be visionaries when it comes to transit for San Francisco’s future, with the development at Park Merced we need to invest in the M line and do so boldly. 19th ave is a problem we need to address and the M Line redesign work allows us a once in a lifetime opportunity to address a number of issues including bike access and pedestrian safety and transform a deadly corridor into a model for future generations.

3. We support a recommendation from the Ocean Beach Master Plan, which calls for a road diet of Great Highway, given the high levels of sand erosion. The result would be to repurpose two lanes of travel to become open streets for people biking and walking. Do you support this recommendation?

Yes

4. The Planning Department led the Ocean Avenue Corridor Design Study, which was completed in 2015 after extensive public outreach. Recommendations in the study included a redesign and plaza treatment for the intersection of Ocean, Phelan and Geneva Avenues as well as the inclusion of a westbound bike lane between I280 and Phelan Avenue. Do you support the study’s findings?

Yes

If “Yes,” what would you do as Supervisor to advance the design and implementation of the Ocean Avenue Corridor Design Study?

I will continue to work within the City’s Budget Process to ensure that the core vision of the plan becomes a reality, I’m also going to continue to work with with the Ocean Avenue Association and neighbors in Westwood Park, Sunnyside, Ingleside Terraces and Lakeshore Acres to create a comprehensive vision for all of Ocean Ave.

Return to November 2016 Candidate Summaries
 

 

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