Updates to our Valet Bike Parking Program

Posted on by Cecilia Vega-Mayer

We’ve made the difficult decision to pause most of our Valet Bike Parking program, which has been a popular way for San Franciscans to arrive at large-scale venues and events via bicycle and feel confident that their bike is secure and monitored while they’re having fun. 

While this was a difficult decision, we recognize that as an organization, our focus has been too broad — in this crucial year for our advocacy and programmatic work, as the City is rolling out a generationally important Biking and Rolling Plan, we’re taking a step back to re-evaluate how we can better serve those goals. And to really affect transformative change here in San Francisco, we must continue to focus our organizational efforts and resources on activities that have a greater impact towards our mission.

We know our most popular valet presence for years has been at Giants home games — so many of our members appreciate being able to ride to Oracle Park for those events, and the good news is that the Giants will continue to offer that service in the 2025 season by running the program in-house. We’re grateful for their years of good partnership and their commitment to making it easier to bike and roll to their iconic San Francisco home, and we’re always rooting for the home team to win. 

While it’s bittersweet to pause a program that’s brought so much joy and security during its tenure, we’re confident that valet bike parking has proven its value over and over again across the city and we’re proud of that! Many venues now have their own program to routinely park bikes for attendees, which makes it easier to choose to bike to events. We also continue to remind our partners and event promoters that the SF Administrative Code requires monitored bicycle parking for events requiring a street closure and with an anticipated number of participants greater than 2,000, as part of the City’s commitment to their Transit First policy. 

You’ll still see us and our cheerful orange tent from time to time! We’ll continue offering valet bike parking at our own SFBike events and some of the city’s annual events where it’s been most popular — we’re just scaling back for now in order to reevaluate the program’s impact and financial viability. No final decisions have been made, and we hope that valet bike parking will come back in the future, even better than ever.

Construction begins on Valencia, and we have concerns

Posted on by Claire Amable

Construction begins on Valencia today, for the next phase of the design of its protected bikeway. Although we strongly support the curbside parking-protected bike lanes that have been approved and are finally being implemented, we have grave concerns about the construction period.

The most important thing SFMTA and Public Works can do now — to keep vulnerable road users safe, to minimally impact Valencia businesses, and to launch the new design in the best possible light — is quickly and competently implement the changes. Doing so requires learning the lessons of the disastrously slow and confusing rollout of the center-running lane in 2023.

To that end, we’re incredibly disappointed in the agency’s decision to not provide an alternative bike route on Valencia Street during construction — stakeholders who saw the calamity in 2023 clearly voiced that this needed to be a top priority for construction this time around. 

We also have major safety concerns about the decision to close the entirety of the center-running bike lane on February 18, and forcing people on bikes to share the lane with drivers, which is a repeat of a major mistake made in 2023. In the absence of active construction in the center-running bike lane, and with only signage marking it as closed, people on bikes will continue riding in it, as they did in the last round of construction. 

If people biking and rolling feel unsafe sharing the lane with drivers during construction, we are recommending people take Shotwell Slow Street as an alternative to Valencia Street. And sign up below to stay updated as we continue to push SFMFTA to extend the protected curbside bike lanes from 23rd Street to Cesar Chavez.

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Our statement on the delayed Biking and Rolling Plan approval

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

We heard today that the Biking and Rolling Plan, originally slated to be presented for final approval to the SFMTA Board of Directors at their Tuesday Feb 18 hearing, is being postponed to the March 4 hearing. We’re extremely disappointed with this last-minute decision. 

We know that SFMTA staff is ready to present the BRP for final approval on Tuesday, Feb 18 because funding agreements required that they do so by this deadline – and we had every expectation that the SFMTA Board of Directors was ready to approve it. Approving the Plan is only the beginning, and moving quickly towards implementation is crucial. This unnecessary delay will have consequences for the life-saving improvements we have waited too long for already.

The apparent reason is to give the Board complete focus on the crisis facing Muni — a topic that certainly demands attention. We’re acutely aware that the SFMTA is facing a fiscal cliff and that additional Muni cuts are coming and will be painful and destabilizing. We also know that ignoring the all-but-finalized and already delayed Biking and Rolling Plan won’t improve material conditions for people trying to get around SF, and failing to prioritize active and sustainable transportation choices will only push more people to become car-dependent.

This means the agency must work towards avoiding the fiscal cliff while also passing, and then continuing to strengthen, the Biking and Rolling Plan. It is the duty of the SFMTA Board of Directors and city leadership to do both, and to do them simultaneously. As the saying goes, we have to walk and chew gum.

The delay is a missed opportunity for city leaders to educate the public that investing in robust transit and in a vision for safe streets are not mutually exclusive, and are indeed sourced from entirely separate funding streams. In explaining this, City leaders could counter the disinformation that investing in biking and rolling somehow saps Muni’s resources.

Delaying the approval of the BRP gives more time for the opponents of sustainable transportation to muster their forces and continue their strategy of disingenuously pitting safe biking, rolling, and even walking against Muni, in hopes of tanking all of it –  we cannot let them. When the BRP does finally come forward for a vote in early March, we must show up in numbers that leave no doubt to city leaders that we are the voices they should be concerned about and listening to; that we remain united in our commitment to demanding the strongest possible Biking and Rolling Plan, to make San Francisco streets safer for everyone.

RSVP FOR MARCH 4 HEARING

Open letter to SFMTA Board: Approve the Biking and Rolling Plan – AND strengthen it

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Dear Board of Directors, 

We are the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and we are asking you to approve the Biking and Rolling Plan this month, while also directing SFMTA staff to come back in 6 months with a progress report on implementing Slow School Zones, and to come back in a year with an amendment that commits to rigorous All Ages and Abilities standards on all crosstown routes within the Plan’s first five years.

This plan, which is the product of nearly 3 years of work and enormous outreach and engagement efforts, will shape the future of biking and rolling and how people will get around our city for years to come. That future must include people of all ages and abilities riding safely on our streets, free from traffic violence. 

Recognizing the already-present impacts of climate change, the new SF residents that will accompany 82,000 new housing units, and the need for improved livability, equity and quality of life in a city, passing the Biking and Rolling Plan is more than a common sense decision. 

As we all work to avert the Muni fiscal cliff, our city must also commit to solid biking and rolling infrastructure and programs to complement transit choices. And if changes come to Muni service, we cannot have thousands of people getting into single occupancy vehicles – road congestion would worsen, pollution would skyrocket and traffic violence would increase. A first-rate city is one that has both strong public transportation and active transportation options. We are counting on you to get us there.

This Plan must represent the floor, not the ceiling. Passing it is the first step — the most important and challenging part will be implementing it. And to do that, we need your leadership. We call on each of you to approve this plan, and to direct staff to quickly begin implementation with updates on the Slow School Zones in six months and crosstown routes in one year.

Lastly, thank you to the SFMTA’s Biking and Rolling Plan team for all your work on this plan in the last three years. 

Sincerely, Your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition


Send your email to the SFMTA Board


THE RESULTS ARE IN: OUR 2025 BOARD ELECTION WINNERS

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

The staff administrators of the recent SF Bicycle Coalition board elections congratulate the winners:

Joanna Bate, Ernesto Cuellar, Kristy Frilling Skelly, Clarissa Garvey, Roan Kattouw, Pooja Muddasani, and Alex Thornton.

Members in good standing cast a total of 259 tallied online ballots.

Details on the entire 2025 Board of Directors election process are available here. And details on this election’s round-by-round results are here. For more information about multi-winner ranked-choice voting, click here. This election was conducted using Meek’s Single Transferable Vote method.

The first board meeting with the newly elected members will be held on February 24, 2025. We look forward to working with the winners, who will serve terms of two years on our board of directors alongside the seven existing board members whose terms have not expired. And we thank you, our wonderful members, for participating in this election.

Not yet a member or need to renew? Join or renew today to support our work for better biking all year long.

Mid-Valencia project overcomes CEQA hurdle and begins construction

Posted on by Claire Amable

Update: SFMTA announced on Friday that due to anticipated rain this week, they’d be delaying the start of construction to start on Tuesday, Feb 18.

Last Tuesday, after hearing from over 20 safe biking advocates rallied by the SF Bicycle Coalition and allies, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted 10-0 to reject a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) appeal of the Mid-Valencia curbside bike lane project, which was filed by VAMANOS (Valencia Association of Merchants, Artists, and Organizations). (Supervisor Rafael Mandelman recused himself from the vote, because he owns property within 1000 feet of the project area.) The group is advocating to revert back to unprotected bike lanes along Valencia Street, restore left turns, and to put the bike lane on a different street. 

The rejection of the appeal affirms the Planning Department’s finding that the project is statutorily exempt from CEQA, and that there are no legal grounds for the appeal.

Under SB922 and SB288, active transportation projects have statutory exemption from environmental review because they improve pedestrian and bicycle safety by constructing safe street infrastructure––which advances our City’s transit-first policy, Vision Zero, and sustainable transportation goals. Exempting active transportation projects from CEQA means we can implement life-saving and environmentally friendly interventions faster and more cost effectively.

We applaud Supervisor Fielder’s thoughtful leadership, meeting with all parties involved — merchants, SF Planning, SFMTA, and us — while clearly stating in her remarks at the hearing that, although she understands some stakeholders’ concerns, there is no legal reason to uphold a CEQA appeal. We’d also like to thank Supervisor Dorsey for his strong remarks acknowledging the history of perversely using CEQA to block or delay safe bike infrastructure, and upholding the position that CEQA appeals “will not be used to delay important bike and pedestrian infrastructure from being built.”

Now that the CEQA appeal has been rejected by the Board of Supervisors, construction on the Mid-Valencia project is starting this Monday, February 10. Construction will require three phases: removing the center-running bike lane, repaving part of the street and then installing the new parking-protected curbside bike lanes. Each of those phases will start at 23rd Street, working northward to 15th Street where the existing curbside protected lane begins. 

After 2023’s botched roll out of the center-running bike lane, we are disappointed to see no alternative bike lane proposed during construction. Not providing a temporary bike lane on Valencia during construction and forcing people on active transportation to share the lane with drivers is going to be confusing and unsafe. 

For people on bikes who feel unsafe sharing the road with drivers, we recommend these alternative routes: 

  1. Traveling southbound on Valencia Street: Make a left turn on 14th Street to then go right on Shotwell Slow Street; then turn right on 25th Street to get back onto Valencia Street to the Tiffany Wiggle. 
  2. Traveling northbound on Valencia Street: Make a right turn at 25th Street and then a left on Shotwell Slow Street. Continue going north on Shotwell and then make a left on 15th Street to reconnect to Valencia Street. 

As this segment of Valencia moves towards a final design, we will be advocating for the SFMTA to complete the corridor by extending the protected curbside bike lanes from 23rd Street to Cesar Chavez. Get involved in the next phase of this saga by signing up for updates below.

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We’re so close to having a new Biking and Rolling Plan

Posted on by Krissa Cavouras

Last Tuesday, the SFMTA Board of Directors heard an informational item from the Biking and Rolling Plan team, who were presenting updates to the Plan ahead of the Feb. 18 hearing at which the Board will consider and vote on final approval. Staff and community partners presented on the Community Action Plans and on updates to the draft Plan including proposed projects and decision-making processes for selecting projects.

Your SF Bicycle Coalition showed up in force to demand that the Board direct staff to strengthen the plan in the following key ways:

  • Prioritize Slow School Zones around City elementary schools in the first five years of the plan
  • Build a base grid of convenient cross-town routes that meet NACTO’s All Ages and Abilities guidelines within five years
  • More clearly articulate in the Plan how “community readiness” is defined

More than a dozen members and fellow advocates gave public comment, speaking to their experiences as people who bike and roll and who deserve the most robust, ambitious possible Plan – not just for our safety, but for the city’s own climate and transportation goals to be met in the next 15 years. 

We were heartened to hear some of the Directors questioning why the current draft Plan does not go far enough to meet the needs of the next two decades. Director Dominica Henderson stated that community readiness cannot create 5 to 15 year delays or too-slow processes while the lives of vulnerable road users are jeopardized. Director Mike Chen directed SFMTA to commit to a two-year prioritization for Slow School Zones — one of our key priorities. 

While we appreciated direction from the Board and we know that SFMTA staff sorely need their support and leadership in this time of fiscal crisis for the agency, we remain concerned by the version of the Biking and Rolling Plan that we expect will come back for final approval in February – the lack of timelines and goals strips the plan of accountability, and saps it of urgency that can focus the will of the agency and city leaders. 

We also know what we’re up against. Opponents of safe and accessible biking and rolling were organized and showed up with supporters. They used a familiar playbook, trying to discredit biking as a valid form of transportation, claiming that only young, fit newcomers bike, and even stating that no families with children would ever bike together. They also suggested, dangerously and untruthfully, that even our current modest progress towards safe biking and rolling has spurred the agency’s financial crisis. We must continue to show up in meetings and other public forums to counter such misinformation. 

We will continue to press the agency and organize our fellow advocates, understanding that passage of the Plan as merely the first step in our fight towards the strongest, safest and most ambitious possible biking and rolling network for San Francisco. As we’ve demanded, and SFMTA staff has begun to echo, this Plan represents the floor, not the ceiling, of what city and agency leadership must deliver. 

If you haven’t yet, please sign the SF CYCLES petition. In these last crucial few weeks, we will share the petition with agency leadership and elected officials, demanding momentum for rapid implementation of the Biking and Rolling Plan. 

Sign the Petition

Further delays to Oak Street Quick-Build

Posted on by Rachel Clyde

Your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition started working on the Oak Street Quick-Build over a year ago and we are so close to the end. The project was delayed at the end of 2024 and, unfortunately, we are seeing some more delays. If it moves forward as planned, we are expecting it to go to the SFMTA Board of Directors for final approval in the next month.

Some of the stakeholders in the Haight-Ashbury area are worried about the parking loss associated with the project. SFMTA staff are working to smooth over these concerns by reassuring them that there are no alternative design options that would provide fewer lost parking spots. 

Much of the parking loss included in this project isn’t necessitated by the bike lane, including implementation of daylighting required by state law and creating signal separation for pedestrians crossing Masonic at Oak. 

During the outreach process, a major concern from residents is that people don’t feel safe crossing Masonic at the Panhandle walking path, because cars are turning left at the same time. It’s confusing and unsafe for everyone – so the city plans to create a separate signal phase for pedestrians. This requires creating more capacity for left turns at that intersection, which means getting rid of some parking spaces. 

Ultimately, there are only 9 parking spots lost in this project that are a direct result of the protected bike lane. 

We are still confident that the Oak Street Quick-Build will go to the SFMTA Board of Directors soon. We are planning for approval in February and implementation in the Spring. Stay tuned because we’ll share with you as soon as it’s scheduled for the Board and how you can show your support. Sign up for the campaign list so you can be the first to know.

Sign up for campaign updates

MEET THE CANDIDATES FOR OUR 2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition


It’s time for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition annual election of our all-volunteer Board of Directors. Here you will find information about the process, statements by the candidates, and links to questions you may have.

The timeline is:

  • Online voting begins on Jan 22, 2025 and ends Jan 31, 2025 at 9:59 pm PST.
  • Members will each receive an individual e-mail on Jan 22 with a code and link enabling them to vote. This code will be sent to the e-mail address on file through which the member receives communications from the SF Bicycle Coalition. Please add invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com to your contacts. If you do not see your invitation in your inbox, please check your spam folder.
  • Opportunities to meet and hear from candidates will be available at our Annual Member Meeting on Jan 22.
  • Only current SF Bicycle Coalition members as of Friday, Jan 10, 2025 at 11:59 pm PST may cast a ballot.
  • Results will be announced in the Biker Bulletin email and on our website.
  • If you have technical questions regarding voting, please contact our election administrators at boardvoting@sfbike.org.

ABOUT SF BICYCLE COALITION BOARD ELECTIONS

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors. Any SF Bicycle Coalition member can run for the board. The board is responsible for ensuring the organization’s financial health and achievement of its mission. The 15-member board is elected by the membership. There is a board election each year and terms are two years. Seven seats on the board of directors will be elected by the membership this year for the term beginning at the first board meeting following this election until the new board is seated following the 2026 board elections. A full timeline and detailed description of the process can be found here.

The SF Bicycle Coalition has elected board members using ranked choice voting for several years, giving members the chance to rank their votes in order of preference. Our board of directors adopted ranked-choice voting in the hope that it will encourage increased member participation in our elections and our work. For more information about multi-winner ranked-choice voting, click here.

If you are a member who is interested in learning more about board service in future years, please contact us at boardnomination@sfbike.org.

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

All candidates completed an online questionnaire to declare their interest in running for the board.  You can view all candidate questionnaire responses here.

UPDATE: You can now watch the 2-minute candidate statements from our Annual Member Meeting on Jan 22 here on YouTube. 

JOANNA BATE

I am running for the San Franciso Bicycle Coalition Board of Directors as I believe in the importance of advocating for the safety and dignity of cyclists, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users.

Originally from the UK, I have been living car-free in the Castro district since 2010. Since 2020, I have been the lead organizer for Streets for People, an advocacy organization advocating for fast, frequent, reliable transit and safe streets for cyclists and pedestrians. Professionally, I work as a data scientist with 16 years of experience in renewable energy.

I bike for everyday transportation, primarily using bike share, and also for recreation. I am also a frequent Muni rider. I deeply care about LGBTQ+ rights, and volunteer with several organizations focused on supporting trans people.

I would be honored to have your support. Let’s make San Francisco a city that works for all road users!

ERNESTO CUELLAR (INCUMBENT)

The last two years have been a transformative time for San Francisco streets, from our new parks and bikeways, to the changes of the political landscape. We are at a pivotal time in San Francisco, the people who lead our advocacy and relationships with our new government will set the tone for the coming years. I am proud to have been previously elected on my lived experience as a kid from the southeast projects who uses his bike as transportation, but now, I am proud of the work I have done with SFBike, I am proud to have lead (with a lot of help from our amazing staff) our endorsement process and our Bike the Vote mobilizations.

I know San Francisco and I know community. I serve as President of the San Francisco Young Democrats and serve on the advisory board of the Castro Cultural District and I would be proud to serve another term as a Board member of the Bicycle Coalition.

KRISTY FRILLING SKELLY

As a mom of 4 children ages six and under, I am deeply invested in doing my part to help make San Francisco a city where families not only survive, but thrive. San Francisco gets a bad rap for being a city that is not built for families. If I am elected to the board, I promise to bring awareness about biking and hope to families that this city can be safe and accessible while biking – that a car can be a supplement to getting around, not the primary and that a life in the suburbs is not the only solution. Thank you for your consideration.

CLARISSA GARVEY

I passionately believe the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has a profoundly positive impact locally and beyond. A year ago, I was hit by a driver turning illegally. SFBike helped me push for related improvements, and I learned more about their work in the process. I was amazed how involved the SFBike is in infrastructure improvements throughout SF.

I am running for the board to support their incredible work. I bring work experience leading projects with limited resources and conflicting constraints, facilitating effective and inclusive meetings, and frugally planning and running social events, plus knowledge of disability and accessibility. See my candidate questionnaire for much more detail!

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is an incredible organization, so I encourage you to vote for whoever you think will best serve the board, even if that is not me, and, if(!) you are able and not already doing so, to consider even a small recurring donation.

ROAN KATTOUW (INCUMBENT)

As an immigrant from the Netherlands, I’ve been biking my entire life. Having grown up there, I know that safe infrastructure is what makes biking a part of everyday life. It’s what gave me the freedom to go places on my own as a teenager, long before I could drive.

I’ve been a member for 10 years, and a board member for 4 years. I’m currently the board president, and I’ve previously served as treasurer and led the endorsements process for the 2022 elections.

At my day job, I lead a team of software engineers at Wikipedia. I live in NoPa with my wife and our 4-month-old son, and I look forward to taking him for his first bike ride soon.

WILLIAM MEE

As a passionate sports and commute cyclist I’m a long time member of the Bike Coalition with a history of volunteering there. I’m actively engaged in the city of San Francisco via organizations like the Sutro Stewards and SPUR. As an engineer doing an MBA at Berkeley I’d bring practical knowledge of finance and marketing, together with organizational experience from other non-profit boards such as SF Tsunami.

POOJA MUDDASANI

Bike infrastructure is very important to me. I have never owned a car, so when I bought my first bike, I was suddenly able to get to so many new places in the Bay Area that I hadn’t been to before. I believe that better bike infrastructure can encourage more citizens to bike and share that experience with me. I would be a good candidate for the board because I am passionate about making San Francisco a more urbanist city. I have volunteered for Urban Environmentalists (part of SF Yimby), through which I helped advocate for more housing to meet the city’s climate goals. I hope I can bring that experience to the SFBike board.

ALEX THORNTON (INCUMBENT)

A San Franciscan since 2011, Alex loves getting around in anything besides a car. He is passionate about how accessible, safe bike infrastructure can be a tool for mobility, equity, climate impact, and just plain fun. He works on climate in roles that have spanned energy policy, solar, food waste, and carbon analytics. He lives in the Inner Sunset with his wife and two kids. You can see him most mornings and evenings using his trusty cargo bike as the family minivan.

It’s crucial we show up to demand the strongest possible Biking and Rolling Plan

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Next Tuesday, January 21, the Biking and Rolling Plan is going to the SFMTA Board of Directors for the last time as an informational item, before the Board votes on the approval of the Plan in February. At this meeting, the staff will be sharing the Community Action Plans from the five community partner organizations and how they will facilitate implementation of the Biking and Rolling Plan. 

It is essential that we show up in force to this meeting to demonstrate the importance of an ambitious Biking and Rolling Plan. The Plan sets the city’s course for the next twenty years of improvements for biking and rolling and will determine if and how San Francisco will hit its climate and Vision Zero goals. To make sure the plan doesn’t just sit on a shelf, it must have strong momentum in its first few years, with impactful projects that guide the Plan’s “northstar network” to success.

While the current draft plan creates real progress — particularly regarding policies and programs — it does not yet represent the ambition necessary to empower the 80% of SF residents who want to bike and roll to be able to do so. We are demanding that the SFMTA Board direct staff to include four adjustments to the plan as part of its first five years:

  1. Establish calmed Slow School Zones around all elementary schools in SF, demonstrating the agency’s ability to meaningfully prioritize safe biking and rolling while protecting children; 
  2. Establish a base grid of people-prioritized crosstown routes, at least 3 each in the north-south and east-west directions, fully separated in all areas that are not already Slow Streets;
  3. A clear definition of “community readiness” that includes considerations of real and perceived safety, equity, repair of past harms, and thriving, bike-friendly commercial districts — but cannot be an excuse to prioritize convenience for driving over safety or to preserve parking; and
  4. The Northstar Network must be explicitly  treated as the floor of progress, not the ceiling. 

SFMTA staff have been working hard over the past three years to develop this plan, conducting unprecedented outreach across the city and deeply engaging and rebuilding trust with Equity Priority Communities through partnerships with community-based organizations. We know that staff wants to see these changes — but in the absence of clear direction and leadership from the city’s decision-makers and elected leaders, they don’t feel empowered to present a plan as ambitious as we all know the city needs. 

At this moment, we must demand that the SFMTA Board, Supervisors, and our new Mayor vocally back ambitious improvements to our transportation systems, making biking and rolling viable, convenient, and safe options for everyone. As we plan for the next 20 years — when transit funding is precarious, tens of thousands of new homes will be built, and our climate emergency will only deepen — the urgency of this evolution is immense.

Join us at noon for a lunch-time action in front of City Hall then head inside with us to give public comment in person to the SFMTA Board of Directors. Now is your chance to determine the future of biking and rolling in San Francisco.

RSVP to join

Can’t make the meeting on Tuesdsay? Make sure to sign our SF CYCLES petition!