Dealing With Double-Parking on Market Street

Posted on by Janice Li

Double-parking in the bike lane is a chronic problem on some of our city’s busiest streets, including Market Street. New ideas are emerging for Upper Market Street in response to known issues of vehicles parking in the bike lane. These proposals from the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will be presented at a public meeting next week, and you’re invited!

Upper Market Street Open House
Thursday, May 5 at 5:30 pm
IBEW Local 6 Meeting Hall @ 55 Fillmore Street

If you are biking up Market towards the Wiggle or continuing through to Castro, Noe Valley and beyond, it has become a common occurrence to have to merge into faster-moving traffic to avoid a delivery truck or ride-service vehicle parked in the bike lane. We know that this makes the biking experience feel uncomfortable and unsafe, which discourages people from biking more in our city.

The SFMTA recognizes this as an issue and has performed extensive analysis to look at how the curb space is being managed. Thanks to this detailed look, they are proposing a set of changes to incentivize drivers to be able to pull all the way over to the curbs to make their drop-offs along Upper Market Street. Additional improvements are being proposed to improve vehicle circulation and make some of the complicated and lengthy intersections safer to cross.

Sign Up for Market Street Updates

Read more at the SFMTA’s website and come to next week’s open house to learn more. If you can’t make it but want to stay in the loop on all things Market Street, sign up for our mailing list today!

A Twin Peaks Victory

Posted on by Julia Raskin
Photo by Keisuke Omi

 

San Francisco won a new open street at one of its most iconic locations. Thanks to an outpouring of support from our members and allies, the proposed project for Twin Peaks was unanimously approved last week.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board voted to approve a pilot project to dedicate the scenic east side of Twin Peaks for people biking and walking. The two-year pilot project establishes a welcoming open space where people can enjoy the sweeping views of the city safely. Visiting will become easy and inviting to all modes of transit by converting the west side to two-way traffic and adding seating with ample space to walk and bike on the east side for people who want to take in that one-of-a-kind skyline view.

twin-peaks

This exciting opportunity was made possible by extensive collaboration between San Francisco Recreation and Park and the SFMTA, who held a series of public meetings to get input from a wide range of stakeholders. At the hearing on Tuesday Vice-Chairman Cheryl Brinkman of the SFMTA Board of Directors noted that there is a “growing appetite” for these kinds of spaces being opened up to people walking and biking. The Board was in agreement that this project is an important step towards making Twin Peaks accessible to everyone.

This victory would not have been possible without the support of our members and our partners at Walk SF who collected 150 signatures in support of the proposal, and the Bay Area Ridge Trail who connected the importance of this project to a larger network of trails in the region. A special thanks to Alexander Magee of the SF Urban Riders and to our other members who waited hours to speak on behalf of a new Twin Peaks.

Want to get involved in making exciting projects like this a reality in San Francisco? Join today, and be a part of a community dedicated to making San Francisco a great city to live, work and bike. Or, if you’re already member, please make a gift today and invest in your SF Bicycle Coalition’s staff continuing to represent you when City leaders face decisions about the future of our streets.

Second Street’s Transformation Begins Now

Posted on by Chema Hernández Gil

Move over Ocean Avenue: The city’s newest bike lanes were just striped on Second Street!

Our vision for a network of protected bike lanes criss-crossing San Francisco is one step closer to reality, as the complete transformation of Second Street from King to Market is under way.

Last year, we took a significant step to change that reality. With the help of our members who worked tirelessly in advocating for change over the years, the Second Street transformation was approved by the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) in August 2015. As approved, the project includes raised bike lanes for the entirety of Second Street in both directions, coupled with sidewalk widening and raised crosswalks at alleyways.

Why wait for a truly great street, though, when a better street could be just around the corner? Knowing final project construction was not scheduled to begin until later 2016, we worked with the SFMTA to identify near-term safety upgrades and successfully saw them included in the first official list of Vision Zero Priority Projects.

Much needed improvements coming to high-risk segments of Folsom Street.

Much needed improvements coming to high-risk segments of Folsom Street.

Over the last few weeks, the SFMTA has made good on their promise: they added bike lanes on 2nd Street between Market and Howard streets and implemented much-needed left-turn restrictions. Additionally, the SFMTA began improving a dangerous segment of Folsom Street east of Second Street, where people biking were forced to mix with fast-moving cars trying to get onto the Essex onramp to the Bay Bridge.

While we are hearing nothing but enthusiastic comments from people who bike about the Second Street improvements, member concerns about the design on the Folsom-Essex improvements led us to sit down with the SFMTA, hone the design and identify solutions to better serve the needs of people biking and walking. We are also urging education of drivers on the new changes and stricter enforcement of turn restrictions.

Join our 2nd Street campaign to get regular updates about the upcoming final project construction, our work around effective enforcement in and around 2nd Street and ways you can support our advocacy work in the South of Market.

Safer SoMa Streets Now

Pledge to Celebrate #BTWD in SF on May 12!

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

UPDATE, May 13, 2016: Bike to Work Day 2016 demonstrated the incredible growth of the popularity of biking in San Francisco. Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate the fun and freedom of biking and who started with this pledge, which is now closed.

Let’s break all of the records for 2016’s Bike to Work Day on May 12. If we’re going to do it, though, we need you to take the pledge and be a part of history.

We just learned that bicycling is now the fastest growing transportation mode in San Francisco. That incredible success promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation is just the beginning, though. May 12 is our opportunity to celebrate the fun and freedom of biking and engage even more people to embrace healthy, affordable and active transportation. So please take the pledge, now, then share it with your friends and family.

UPDATE: This pledge is now closed. 

Together, we’re going to make history on Bike to Work Day, and demonstrate for our City leaders and the whole country to see that SF BIKES!

San Francisco’s 2016 Bike Commuter of the Year: Liam Casey

Posted on by Christopher Budz

Liam Casey is San Francisco’s 2016 Bike Commuter of the Year. Why? Liam’s a massage therapist who has been exclusively transporting his table by bicycle for years, and an award-winning strongman who can move 800 pounds of food in just two trips by bicycle–all while raising money for the local food bank. Let’s hear it for Liam!

SF Bicycle Coalition: How long have you been biking your massage table around SF?

Liam: I’ve been casually biking with my table since 2003, but I really only got serious about it three years ago. “Massage delivered by bike” has been my full-time job for the last two and a half years.

Do you remember your very first trip transporting your massage table by bike? What was it like?

My first trip was not nearly as hard as expected! I was a bit unbalanced, to be sure, but the bike was stable enough to handle it. In those days, I was using an Xtracycle FreeRadical bolted to a standard mountain bike. It could handle the weight, but it wobbled a lot. In 2008, I upgraded to a purpose-built cargo bike and that made a huge difference.

You’ve also used your superhuman cyclist strength in the service of nonprofits.

I’ve participated in the annual Supermarket Street Sweep to benefit the SF-Marin Food Bank for the last 5 years. In 2013, I won the prize for carrying the most food, with 796 pounds. The following year, I topped that with 831 pounds, but only came in fifth! I thought that was pretty amazing.

Also, for years I was a fixture at the SF Bicycle Coalition’s Volunteer Nights. In fact, it was where I met my fiancee! For a time, I became the go-to guy for picking up the food, which ranged from bags of snacks to catered platters, depending on who was donating.

Are there any other exceptional things you’ve transported by bicycle?

Oh so many things! I’ve moved my apartment by bicycle twice and I’ve helped a few others move as well. One of my fondest bike memories involved such a moving party. We were riding down Valencia and I was towing a couch. We stopped at the light around 14th and there was a group of three young women waiting for the bus. (This was back when there was a bus on Valencia). When we found out they were going to 24th street, I said, “hop on!” They all piled onto the couch and off we went, the three of them giggling and just having a great time, eliciting all sorts of reactions from onlookers. This was long before the days of social media, so alas it didn’t get me Internet-famous.

I once carried a fellow rider and his bike home after he got a flat tire near Heron’s Head on a late-night group ride. I’ve carried Christmas trees, a 6-foot-tall painting, old televisions to e-recycling, and of course my fiancee and our dog. Ever since I discovered that that Bay Bridge bike path more or less drops you off at Ikea, I’ve joked that if they ever finish the path, I’ll be the first to bike across the bridge with a bookcase.

What other bicycle-related activities do you enjoy in your spare time?

One of my favorite things to do is go bike camping. Most people don’t realize just how easy it is to quickly escape civilization when you’re on a bicycle, but it’s amazing what opens up when you travel without the restrictions or physical constraints of a car. And with a cargo bike, the possibilities open up that much more. Sometimes I find myself thinking, “how much time would I need to get to Baja? What about Costa Rica? Or Patagonia?” Maybe someday. For now, I’ll have to be content with overnights in Point Reyes.

Check out SF Bicycle Coalition and Huckleberry Bicycle’s Bike Camping Workshop on May 24 for everyone interested in bike camping, including beginners, families and long-distance travelers. You can find more information and RSVP here.

Talk Transit with BART Director Nick Josefowitz

Posted on by Janice Li

If you ride BART regularly, the delays and bumpy rides have become part of your transit experience. What exactly is going on and what is BART doing to address it?

Find out on May 2, when we host our next Bike Talks, featuring BART Director and fellow SF Bicycle Coalition member, Nick Josefowitz.

RSVP today

Bike Talks is our latest series of events that engages our members in policy-focused discussions that relate to our world of bicycle advocacy. Our first event was held last week where we discussed the history of bike access on Caltrain and what’s ahead in the years to come. We’re honored to invite Dir. Josefowitz as our guest on May 2 to talk about Building a Better BART, the transit agency’s effort to overhaul its system as more and more riders depend on its service.

Recently, BART received national coverage for being real about what it takes to move people around and the state of its ailing infrastructure. People were both taken aback and refreshed by the honesty that BART expressed, spawning the new hashtag, #ThisIsOurReality.

BART This Is Our Reality tweet

The reality for people connecting their bikes to BART are overcrowded trains, lack of bike parking, smelly and broken elevators, pervasive issues of bike theft and poor bike infrastructure to get to and from stations. Your SF Bicycle Coalition continues to work closely with BART staff to address these issues, acknowledging how much still needs to be done and what it will take to get us there. This is your chance to hear from Dir. Josefowitz directly on how BART is responding to these real concerns and get involved today!

Bike Talks are a member-only event. Not a member yet? This is a great time to join or renew.

SF Families Biking & Rolling to School All Week

Posted on by Chris Cassidy

What better place to celebrate the largest Bike & Roll to School Week in the entire country than the Bike & Roll to School Hub at Excelsior Playground. Students, families and staff from four nearby schools congregate there every Tuesday morning for healthy snacks and refreshments, before biking, walking and rolling to Denman Middle School, Monroe Elementary, Cleveland Elementary and SF Community School.

Excelsior Playground’s weekly Bike & Roll to School Hub, supported by the Excelsior Collaborative Community Action Grant, is a testament to Excelsior families. They are taking the health and happiness of their community into their own hands, and organizing this weekly event for the enjoyment of everyone. Excelsior families are a shining example for the rest of our city, showing everyone what we can accomplish when we organize and take action.

Physical Education teacher Shenny Diaz indicates that, for the Denman Middle School Bike Club, today was the first time 60 percent of them biked on-street.

Physical Education teacher Shenny Diaz indicates that, for the Denman Middle School Bike Club, today was the first time 60 percent of them biked on-street.

We were joined at Excelsior Playground on this beautiful day by Supervisor John Avalos, a champion of people who bike, representing surrounding neighborhoods on the City’s Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Avalos has been a consistent champion for safer streets and active transportation in the Excelsior and across San Francisco, including on our ongoing campaigns to improve biking along San Jose Avenue and Geneva Avenue. He showed his commitment to healthier communities again this morning by joining the Bike & Roll to School celebration in his district.

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Bike & Roll to School Week celebrants interviewed by KTVU.

With some of the 6,000 Bike & Roll to School bags handed out to the hundreds of children in attendance, we then formed a bike train headed for SF Community School. Many members of the bike train were students in the school’s bike shop elective, taught by Nic Aulston, who also joined the ride. Through the class, Nic teaches students how to maintain and safely ride their bikes, with support from PODER’s Bicis del Pueblo program. SF Community is an incredibly bike-tastic school thanks to these folks, as well as Principal Nora Housman and Interim Principal Doug Dent.

Joining us at SF Community School today were Jamie Bruning of the YMCA of SF and Ed Reiskin, Director of Transportation for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA). Bruning shared that, through their YBike program, the YMCA of SF has shared the fun and freedom of biking with over 20,000 youths. And, in the wake of last week’s incredible bike count numbers being released by the SFMTA, Reiskin underscored that biking is the fastest growing transportation mode in San Francisco.

All in all, it was a glorious day to celebrate Bike & Roll to School Week, which is supported by the SF Safe Routes to Schools partnership and the Metta Fund, and organized by your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Thanks to our community partners at the Department of Public Health, SF Environment, the team at Walk SF, and all of the students, parents and staff at SF Community School and all participating schools for celebrating with us. Seeing the enthusiasm of so many young people for biking and rolling to school was a blast.

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Attendees of the weekly Bike & Roll to School Hub at Excelsior Playground check out this year’s bike being raffled away to one lucky SF family.

Bike & Roll to School Week continues through Friday, with over 80 schools participating across our city. So if you see students and families taking part, please be sure to cheer them on.

That also means that there is still time to win our family bike raffle. Families participating in Bike & Roll to School Week can win a gorgeous family bike with an electric assist, but the raffle closes soon. So enter now!

Envisioning a Safer SF For All: Member Melyssa Mendoza

Posted on by Mara Mabugat

The Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) provides the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and other City bodies valuable information about biking SF, guiding them towards effective and safe action regarding our streets. We caught up with one of the BAC’s most recent appointees Melyssa Mendoza to chat about her vision for safer, more inclusive streets in San Francisco.

An SF resident since 2004 and a daily commuter by bike since 2008, Melyssa sees first-hand the need for strong bicycle advocacy.

“I feel very passionate about the bicycle as a viable transportation option,” said Melyssa. “I hope that my work on the BAC will get even more people to ride bikes.”

Melyssa has consistently incorporated her passions into her work, with an extensive background in law, nonprofits, women’s rights and, now, biking.

“When I realized that riding a bike greatly increased my mood, I thought, why shouldn’t it help the moods of other people as well?” said Melyssa. “From my experience, bikes have greatly improved my mental and physical health. I’m convinced bikes can do the same for others, as well as added benefits of being more environmentally friendly than other modes of transportation.”

The BAC has a commitment to representing all voices, and Melyssa’s hands-on approach and capacity for addressing varying concerns for biking in the city provides a dynamic perspective on how to view biking in the city.

“I’ve worked at a couple of bike builds in the Bayview put on by the SF Bicycle Coalition. Those clinics align with my personal beliefs that bicycling is for everyone and can be a viable transportation option for healthier communities,” Melyssa said.

With the cost of living rising higher in the Bay Area, transportation ranks as the second highest expense after housing. For Melyssa, the bicycle can be a valuable tool in making this city more affordable for everyone.

“I have heard from some communities who think that building bike lanes means gentrification, and I would hope that they see that their communities ride bikes, as well, and deserve to have safer places to ride,” Melyssa said. “I hope that the BAC will reach out to those communities and build a better relationship with them to demonstrate that safer infrastructure is not the enemy.”

For Melyssa, her background in women’s rights and law continue to inform everything that she does, preparing her to continue advocating for safer, more inclusive streets.

“I plan on speaking for my district, which includes diverse neighborhoods from the Inner Sunset to Lower Haight to Western Addition to Hayes Valley. I try to put myself in their shoes, if I was someone living on Eddy and Post, what would I like to see to improve my neighborhood?” Melyssa said. “And if I don’t know offhand, then we need to go ask.”

SF Bicycle Coalition member Melyssa Mendoza is one shining example of how our members are helping shape the future of our city to be safer and more inclusive. If you share this vision, please join us by becoming a member today.

SFMTA Finds Popularity of Biking Soaring

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Today, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) confirmed what people who bike in our gorgeous city feel every day: Biking in San Francisco is more popular than ever.

Since 2006, the number of trips taken by bike rose by 184 percent. Between 2014 and 2015, that number increased by over 200,000, from 2.438 million to 2.644 million — a one-year increase of 8.5 percent.

“It is vital that we build on this momentum. All SF neighborhoods should benefit from safe, inviting streets, which will welcome all of our city’s diverse communities to biking,” said Margaret McCarthy, Interim Executive Director of the SF Bicycle Coalition. “When more people can embrace active transportation, it makes our city a safer, healthier place for everyone.”

This incredible rise in the number of people biking here is a testament to the dedication of our members. We know that this increase is due to years of successful, hard-fought grassroots campaigns, powered by our members. By participating in member-driven committees, speaking at city hearings, and making your voices heard in letters and petitions, our members have consistently advocated for more and better bike lanes in San Francisco.

We’re seeing the results of that advocacy and the hard work of the SFMTA in this incredible surge in biking. With members’ support, we offer free classes for people of all ages to learn how to bike, and to do so safely. We increase access to biking as an affordable transportation option through our Community Bike Builds program. And we consistently advocate for the data-driven policies and safer streets that everyone, in every neighborhood of our city, deserves.

We do all of this thanks to our members, who support our programs generously, with time and resources. Thank you, and congratulations for being a part of making bicycling in San Francisco more and more popular.

Today is a day to celebrate, but people who bike in San Francisco know that work remains to realize our city’s potential for offering the fun and freedom of biking to even more people. City leaders can and should do more to make sure that San Francisco keeps up with the demand for increased bike infrastructure in every district and every neighborhood.

If you’re not a member, now is a great time to join. As the popularity of biking skyrockets, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is here to see that improvements are made across our city that will serve the increasing number of people biking. Please take a moment to celebrate this historic day by becoming a member now or making a gift to support our work.

We’re Hiring: Graphic Designer

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is seeking a creative professional to design graphics for web and print in support of our members, campaigns and brand. If you are passionate about increasing the reach of bicycle advocacy in all San Francisco neighborhoods, this is your chance to make our city a better place to bike and live. The ideal candidate will have a strong, varied design portfolio, expertise in project management and a demonstrated commitment to our mission.

Hours: 20 to 30 hours/week
Reports to: The Communications Director

About the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition works to promote the bicycle for everyday transportation. Our member-based grassroots organization is considered one of the largest, most active and most effective advocacy groups in the country for people who bike. For more than 40 years, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has had a proven track record of winning better bicycling improvements, in part through engaging the public in our work.

Position description

The Graphic Designer will focus on growing and maintaining a strong and positive visual presence online, in print and for traditional media in order to further our mission. The Graphic Designer will provide direct support to the Communications Director and collaborate with colleagues across the organization’s staff.

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • Creating graphics in support of SF Bicycle Coalition campaigns and events;
  • Designing graphics for print, (e.g., fliers, our quarterly Tube Times magazine, direct mail, etc.);
  • Designing graphics for web, (e.g., infographics, email headers, etc.);
  • Creating design templates;
  • Updating visual elements of the website (sfbike.org);
  • Managing print orders and coordinating with printers and other contractors;
  • Working towards a long-term design/brand manual for the SF Bicycle Coalition;
  • Updating the SF Bicycle Coalition’s website to accurately reflect the latest information, developments and campaigns;
  • Assist with digital asset management, such as tagging photos, creating facebook albums, selecting photos for Instagram use or resizing images; and
  • Photography assignments may be available for the right person.

Required skills or abilities:

  • Fluency with the Adobe Creative Suite;
  • Ability to multi-task and triage in a busy work environment;
  • Acute attention to detail;
  • Strong collaborative skills;
  • Clear interpersonal communication; and
  • Dedication to efficiency and timeliness.

Desired skills or abilities:

  • Strong, concise writing;
  • A keen eye for copy-editing and/or inconsistencies;
  • Photography experience;
  • Digital asset management experience;
  • Ability to create computer-aided design (CAD) drawings;
  • Ability to create 3D renderings and conceptual images; and
  • Familiarity with HTML, WordPress and/or Google Docs.

Compensation:

  • Starting wage is $20/hour;
  • The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition offers a competitive benefits package; and
  • Indoor bike parking provided.

To Apply:

Write a compelling cover letter and resume, and submit them as a pdf using the form below. Be sure to mention where you saw the job advertised. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Interviews are likely to begin in May, 2016. People of color and women are strongly encouraged to apply. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political orientation.

UPDATE: We are no longer accepting applications for the Graphic Designer position. If you have questions, please contact Chris.