Welcome to Eliana, Program Coordinator

Posted on by Christopher White

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition welcomes Eliana Marcus-Tyler as our new program coordinator! Eliana will be managing our bicycle education program.

Tell us about your role at the SF Bicycle Coalition.

Here at the Bicycle Coalition we have a whole range of free bike education classes. We offer courses on everything from learning how to ride a bike for the first time to how to be a safe and respectful multimodal commuter. I’ll be coordinating these classes. So whether you want to finally make good on that New Year’s resolution to learn to bike or are a seasoned rider who wants to refine their city biking skills, we’ve got a class for you.

Do you have a favorite bike trip memory?

This past fall, my dad and I biked from Vancouver, Canada to the U.S.-Mexico Border. It was amazing to get to spend all day, every day, biking. The route varied between rural roads, coastal highways and urban bike paths, and it was powerful to get to see different parts of the country.

You’ll be working a lot on our Adult Education programs. What excites you most about SF Bicycle Coalition’s classes? Why are they important, do you think?

Biking means so much to me — in many ways, it represents freedom and independence, and I want to give others the opportunity to integrate biking into their own lives. I love that our education programs serve people of all ability levels and ages; there is truly something for everyone! I believe that biking has the ability to change lives and change the world by increasing joy, reducing carbon emissions and building community. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to get more people biking and hopefully inspire those changes.

You’ve worked at a farm camp, and now you’re living in San Francisco. What do you like best about the city?

I really love how the outdoors is so integrated into the city — in less than an hour I can ride my bike from home into the Marin Headlands. For me, it offers the best of both worlds! Also, having grown up on the East Coast, I feel energized being in a new city that is quite different from those back East.

When you’re not working or biking, what fills your time?

I love anything that involves being outside, especially running and hiking. After a six-year hiatus I have started playing basketball again, so I’ve been trying to bust the rust off of my jumpshot. I also enjoy cooking and sharing conversations with friends.

Get learning! There’s still space available in Smart City Cycling 1 on 4/17 and 5/7, and in Family Learn to Ride on 4/20!

Help Put People First in the Richmond

Posted on by Kristen Leckie

In the Richmond, this year alone, two seniors were hit and killed, and last week, another was seriously injured just trying to cross the street. When do we draw the line? It’s past time to put the safety of our neighbors first.

Will you help us demand necessary safety improvements at the Central Richmond open house next week?

I want a safe Richmond

Residential outer neighborhoods like the Richmond need strong traffic calming and pedestrian safety improvements to make sure streets are designed for everyone, including those walking and biking. Earlier this year, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency started a neighborhood-wide project to address safety concerns in the Richmond between 15th and 25th avenues, especially around schools and senior centers.

We’ve heard from Richmond neighbors that this project isn’t going far enough. Winston Parsons works at the Richmond Senior Center and witnesses the struggles that seniors, people with disabilities and other pedestrians face everyday when simply trying to cross the street. “A sprinkling of speed humps and a few brighter crosswalks aren’t enough to stop these preventable deaths,” says Winston. “There are real opportunities for the project to benefit bicyclists, but more important to me is for fellow bicyclists to show up, listen and support the needs of the most precious members of our community.”

We need to push for strong safety improvements so we don’t have to mourn the loss of another life on our streets. Will you show up to support our walking neighbors and demand real change in the Richmond?

Central Richmond Project Open House
Monday, April 15, 6:00 to 8:00 PM
Richmond Recreation Center, 251 18th Ave.

Riding Together: The Kelly Family Roll to School

Posted on by Nesrine Majzoub

When Sarah Kelly was in preschool, she was already biking through downtown San Francisco — in a helmet and baby sling. Her dad, John, would bike through the city streets with her strapped to his chest.

John and his wife Shaheerah moved to San Francisco in 2002 and immediately got involved in the biking community. When their youngest daughter Charlotte was born, the Kelly family moved to the Sunset and found themselves relying on cramped buses with their two young children. Navigating crowded buses to get Sarah and Charlotte to school was often stressful for John. “I decided to gear up,” he recalls, “and start taking them to school on bikes.”

Shaheerah first learned how to ride a bike to take the kids to school with John. “Now that the kids are big and I don’t really need to be with them, I still ride my bike everyday to work,” she says.“It has just become part of my life now.”

Sarah, now a freshman in high school, loves the fresh air on her morning rides and arriving faster than she would by bus or car. Charlotte, a seventh grader, adds, “I feel free, like I can go anywhere. I can improvise my path to school.”

Sarah and Charlotte’s favorite part of their commute is riding through Golden Gate Park. Their dad agrees “[The park] looks so different from day to day, at different times of day and different seasons,” John says. “It is a great place to ride through on the weekends, especially just to see all the things that are going on.”

Biking is more than an easy commute for the Kelly family. It’s a way to stay healthy and do things together. Shaheerah says, “Biking helps us get out and stay active.”

Bike & Roll to School Week is April 15-19. Take the pledge to ride!

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the spring issue of our quarterly Tube Times magazine, one of many perks of membership in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Not a member? Join today.

Help Design Caltrain’s New Cars

Posted on by Janice Li

If you ride Caltrain regularly and have thoughts about what electrified train cars should look like, we’ve got the not-to-be-missed event for you. Come to an April 17 Caltrain-led workshop to dig into car designs with us.

See You at the Workshop

After voters defeated Proposition 6 in last November’s election, your SF Bicycle Coalition wrote a letter directed to Caltrain to shed light on bike security issues, given the proposed layout of their new electrified train cars. With funds now in hand to order even more train cars and expand capacity when electrified Caltrain service launches, now is the time to make sure the future is as bike-friendly as ever.

We’re excited that Caltrain staff has heard the concerns we raised and will be hosting a special joint session between two of their advisory groups, the Bicycle Advisory Committee and the Citizens Advisory Committee. Better yet, you’re invited! This workshop will have a board game-style exercise where attendees will work with to-scale models to come up with different ideas for the interior layout of the train cars.

RSVP today, and we’ll see you there.

Caltrain Joint BAC/CAC Workshop
Wednesday, April 17, 5:30-7:00 pm
1250 San Carlos Ave., 2nd Floor Auditorium
San Carlos, CA

Polk Street Ribbon Cutting

Posted on by Charles Deffarges

At the newly re-designed Fern Alley, Mayor London Breed, Supervisors Matt Haney and Aaron Peskin, and our Executive Director Brian Wiedenmeier cut the ribbon on the completed Polk Streetscape Project alongside students from Redding Elementary.

Below are Brian’s remarks delivered at the event. Join our campaign to build better bike lanes, faster, so we don’t have to wait years like we did for Polk.

*****

Thank you, Director Nuru, and thank you to Director Reiskin and Mayor Breed for your remarks and for your commitment to improving the safety of people who bike in our city.

We’re here today to celebrate the completion of the Polk Streetscape Project. And certainly, Fern Alley is a welcome improvement. Unfortunately, from a bicycle safety and Vision Zero perspective, this project is not complete. With only a few blocks of real protected bike lane and many blocks with no bike infrastructure at all, this project falls short of the standards we have set for improvements on other busy Vision Zero high injury corridors.

We are at this point because Polk Street is the result of an outdated process. Years of contentious outreach and planning and delayed construction went into this project. Six years of waiting and fighting made worse by an end result today that does little to help San Francisco meet our goals of getting people out of cars and improving safety.

The good news is that we do things differently now. Thanks to leadership from Mayor Breed, support from members of the Board of Supervisors, and rapid response from our City agency partners, we are approving and building protected bike lanes at an unprecedented rate. Rather than eight years, protected bike lanes can go in the ground in mere months now. We’ve seen bike lanes added to Seventh and Eighth streets, thanks to Mayor Ed Lee, and on Townsend, Howard and Valencia, thanks to Mayor Breed. This is the type of leadership and action it takes to create the city we envision.

We look forward to working with the Mayor’s Office and the SFMTA to evaluate the Polk Streetscape Project this year and apply our new, improved processes to close the gaps here in the protected bike lanes. The memories of the lives we have lost on our streets demand that we continue to make real and fast change for everyone who walks and bikes.

Brian Wiedenmeier, Executive Director

*****

Join our campaign to build better bike lanes, faster, so we don’t have to wait years like we did for Polk.

 

Join Your Bike to Work Day Neighborhood Ride

Posted on by Charles Deffarges

On May 9, tens of thousands of people biking from all over will arrive at work energized, on time and happy. As you plan your route for the biggest biking day of the year, consider this: Bike to Work Day is an opportunity to meet your neighbors who ride, invite your roommate who’s been on the fence and get your elected representative to City Hall on a bike.

The morning of Bike to Work Day, SF Bicycle Coalition members will be leading a Neighborhood Ride for you to join and celebrate biking together as a community. Whether you live in the Excelsior or the Presidio, there’ll be a ride nearby. If you’ve seen other people biking your same route everyday, this will be your chance to meet them. Your Neighborhood Ride will also be an important opportunity to connect with your local elected official about your bike commute.

To pedal in with your neighbors and local decision makers, sign up below to find the starting point and time of your Neighborhood Ride. We’ll see you then!

Speak up now for the Excelsior

Posted on by Andy Gonzalez Cabrera

Anyone who’s been at the intersection of Mission Street and Geneva Avenue in the Excelsior knows that this location could be far more welcome to people who bike and walk. We’re excited that after years of planning and collaborating with the neighborhood, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is ready to share its plan for improving this intersection and the surrounding streets. Attend an open house on either April 10 or April 13 to ensure biking is prioritized.

Better Biking in the Excelsior

From Muni reliability to gaps in the bike network, we know that getting around the Excelsior isn’t always the easiest. If we want to make our neighborhoods more accessible and welcoming for everybody, we need to make sure that we use every chance we get to build out better biking and walking connections.

Streetscape from Mission Street between Amazon and Onondaga avenues. Image from SFMTA.

Over the last several months, we’ve been turning out to all kinds of different meetings where community members have had a chance to talk directly with City planners about opportunities for improvements. Next week, you’ll have two chances to support better bike lanes on Geneva Avenue and several proposals to improve pedestrian safety along these busy streets filled with local shops and restaurants.

We expect these two open houses will be your last opportunities to weigh in before the project moves to approval, so there’s no better time to get involved than now.

Excelsior Open House #1
Wednesday, April 10, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Excelsior Playground Clubhouse (579 Madrid St.)

Excelsior Open House #2
Saturday, April 13, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Excelsior Playground Clubhouse (579 Madrid St.)

Biking Brings Families Together at Rosa Parks Elementary

Posted on by Nesrine Majzoub

Kiyomi Noguchi has been biking with her daughter, Ivy, since she was a one-year-old. — at first in a rear bike seat and a trailer, then a trail-a-bike and now on her own bike. Kiyomi and Ivy love biking to school multiple times a week because they get there faster and have more fun than they would standing on a crowded bus.

Ivy attends Rosa Parks Elementary School in the Western Addition. Kiyomi, an SF Bicycle Coalition member, was impressed by how many people pedal from all over the city to drop their children off. “There are so many biking families that we had to get another set of bike racks installed!” she says. These families have gathered together to host Safe Routes to School bike rodeos, participate in Sunday Streets and Japantown events, and even make smoothies using a bike-powered blender.

Rosa Parks Elementary has created a vibrant community, attracting students citywide with its three distinctive programs: General Education with a focus in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), Special Education and the Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program. “It’s awesome. It’s a family,” says Anitra Baker, Family Liaison at Rosa Parks.

After living in the Western Addition for many years, Anitra notes that the neighborhood has changed for the better. “It’s changed drastically, but it’s for the good because the communities are coming together more.”

Rosa Parks Elementary is celebrating Bike & Roll to School Week on April 17. This will be Kiyomi and her family’s fifth year leading a bike train from the Inner Richmond. “It’s a good way to encourage families to try biking to school,” she says. “Hopefully, some people try it and realize it’s convenient.”  Anitra often walks to school with neighborhood children, and will be leading the “walking school bus” on April 17.

Bike & Roll to School Week will be celebrated April 15-19 at over 90 schools throughout San Francisco. Is your school one of them? See the list of participating schools here.

Inspired to try biking to school? Pledge to Bike & Roll and be entered to win a free Cleary bike in your child’s size.

Take the Pledge

Near Term Designs for Fifth Street

Posted on by Charles Deffarges

As we push the City to close the gaps in our bicycle network following the fatal collision on March 8, one street in SoMa stands out as a glaring example of a corridor needing urgent change: Fifth Street.

Fast Change for Fifth

Fifth Street is a major connector between downtown and Caltrain on our bicycle network and currently has only sharrows among four lanes of fast-moving traffic. A promising longer term project for Fifth will transform the street, with wider sidewalks and sidewalk level bike lanes. The timeline for that project is extended, though. If we’ve learned anything over the past month, it’s that we need change on streets like Fifth, now.

The SF Municipal Transportation Agency has listened to your calls for near-term improvements. Next Wednesday, they will be hosting an open house to present the designs for fully protected bike lanes on Fifth, buildable by end of 2019.

These paint and post bike lanes will make Fifth safe for people biking. Join us at the open house next week to show your support and make sure these protected bike lanes go in the ground quickly.

Fifth Street Open House
Bayanihan Community Center, 1010 Mission St.
Wed. April 3, 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Bike Me Out to the Ball Game

Posted on by Jo-Anne Burgess

Get ready with your rally towels and big foam fingers: It’s baseball season! Kick off spring with a bike ride to the Giants season opener on Friday, April 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Game starts at 1:35 pm, and we’ll be there two hours before, providing free valet bike parking.

A few days later, the bike-and-baseball bonanza continues with the Giants’ Bike to the Park event on Tuesday, April 9. Your Special Event ticket will get you access to a pre-game party at Seals Plaza from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Bike riders will get a free place to park and a Giants cap. Not only will you get to party before the game with other bicycle fans, but you’ll also help our work providing bikes to people who wouldn’t have access otherwise: partial proceeds from each Special Event ticket will be donated to our Bike it Forward Program.

As at every home game, we’ll be there providing free valet bicycle parking on the Portwalk. We hope to see you there. Can’t make it to this one? We’ll be there all season.