Corridor-Wide Improvements for Alemany in 2018

Posted on by Charles Deffarges

In June of this year, Moises Chavez was hit and killed while riding at the intersection of Alemany and Silver streets, a location with a long history of severe and fatal collisions.

Following this tragic death, we called for rapid implementation of safety improvements at this particular intersection and along the entire Alemany corridor. Thanks to a resounding call from our membership and quick action by Livable Streets team at the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), we are now seeing near-term safety improvements installed at Alemany and Silver.

While these changes don’t make Alemany the welcoming, safe corridor we want to see, they are a step in the right direction. Painted safety zones for pedestrians and soft hit posts dedicate more space on the road to people walking and biking, increasing their visibility. We want to make sure that this the first of many safety improvements for this important bike route through the Excelsior. The neighborhood and surrounding area are currently underserved by the bicycle network. Alemany is one of the few north-south routes for bikes and, as such, is an important backbone to the bicycle network in southern San Francisco.

With an upcoming repaving project, there is an opportunity to replicate these improvements at all T-intersections along Alemany from Lawrence Avenue to Rousseau Street. A buffer, soft hit posts, greening and striping through the intersections added to the bike lane in the near term would also go a long way towards making Alemany more inviting for people riding.

Our members’ voices will be essential to getting these improvements into the ground. As funding becomes available to re-stripe the road, your voices will be needed to support this safety project. Add your name to our member petition to demand change and keep updated as this campaign progresses in the new year.

Beth’s Brush With Bike Theft: A Cautionary Tale

Posted on by Chris Cassidy

Editors: This story was originally published in Issue 162 of our quarterly Tube Times magazine, one of many perks of membership in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

In 2014, SF Bicycle Coalition member Beth Williams emerged from an event she was attending in the Mission District. She strolled back to where she had locked up her bike and found nothing remaining but the cable portion of her lock cut in two. Both her bike and her U-lock were nowhere to be seen.

“What I learned that night is that there is no 100-percent theft-proof lock,” Beth said.

Bike theft is a serious problem in San Francisco. In 2016, over 3,800 bikes were stolen at a cost of over $5 million, according to an estimate by Hoodline.

In a city where many are struggling to make ends meet, losing a bike can be disastrous. After only housing costs, transportation is the second-highest monthly expense for the average San Francisco household. And biking offers the affordable transportation that many residents rely on to remain living here.

Using a high-quality, hardened steel U-lock to secure both your rear tire and the rear triangle of your bike frame is among the most effective locking methods. Add a cable or second lock to secure your front tire, and the chances of keeping your bike are greatly improved. Members can find discounts on locks from an array of local bike shops at sfbike.org/discounts.

Two common locking mistakes are evident all over town, however. Some folks use locks that are too big, leaving space for thieves to access the lock with saws, bolt cutters and other tools. Employing the smallest U-lock possible decreases both the lock surface area and the angles available to would-be thieves.

Additionally, it is all too common to see U-locks securing just the top tube — that segment of the frame between the seat post and the handlebars. This method risks exposing more surface area of the U-lock to tampering and leaves both wheels at risk. It also opens up the possibility of a thief using the top tube for leverage against your U-lock.

Sadly, even the best locking arrangements only delay a determined thief. While some locking techniques are more formidable obstacles to thieves than others, no lock is absolutely certain to prevent theft, as Beth learned the hard way. Before even taking your bike out on the streets, though, there is one important step to take.

Registering with SAFE Bikes, a citywide bike registry, can go a long ways towards helping police recover your ride, should thieves strike. When officers recover stolen bikes, they turn to SAFE Bikes to look up the serial numbers. Police can then reach out to bikes’ rightful owners, using the contact information logged with SAFE Bikes.

Registration with SAFE Bikes is free, and there’s a link to their registration page at sfbike.org/theft. Registration was the first step toward the recovery of Beth’s bike.

After discovering her bike missing, Beth filed a police report at SFPD’s Mission Station. “I did everything recommended by the SF Bicycle Coalition,” Beth said. (Psst! Those recommendations are all available at sfbike.org/theft.)

Four days later, not having heard from the police, Beth began looking for a similar make and model to replace her beloved missing bike. She started with online sites where people resell bikes and — to her great surprise — she found her stolen bike listed for sale in South San Francisco.

“The description was extremely detailed about the gears and modifications made to the original bike,” Beth said. “They knew exactly how to market the bike. They just had beautiful details about it that made you think, ‘Wow, what a cool vintage bike!’”

“They knew more about the bike than I did!” she added.

Beth called the South San Francisco Police Department.

“My heart was pounding. South San Francisco Police suggested that I make arrangements to meet the seller, then come to the police station before the meeting,” Beth said. “Essentially, we set up a sting operation.”

Beth arranged to meet the seller near South San Francisco’s City Hall. Then she went to the police station in South San Francisco, where she met Officer Alvarez. Beth and Officer Alvarez hopped into a squad car and headed toward the meeting place she had agreed on with the person attempting to sell Beth her own bike.

Officer Alvarez dropped Beth three blocks away, and she approached the meet-up spot by foot.

“I felt a little bit at risk meeting this guy, not knowing how he would react when he realized he was being caught up in a sting,” Beth said. “I walked up and started talking with the seller. When I asked him if I could ride the bike and got on, police immediately swooped in and arrested the seller.”

The recovery was successful because Beth had recorded her bike’s serial number with SAFE Bikes and filed it away at home along with photos of her bike. Beth was able to take her bike home that day.

“The main thing to remember when you buy a new bike and you’re very excited is to be sure to take pictures of it and record your serial number. It lets you prove that it’s your bike,” Beth said.

While there’s no one guaranteed way to prevent bike theft or ensure the recovery of a stolen bike, Beth’s story shows the value of registering your bike and maintaining your own records, should the day arrive when you need that information.

The Tube Times is published quarterly as one of the many benefits to members of the SF Bicycle Coalition. For a complete list of membership benefits, or to join/renew today, click here.

Putting Our Values Into Action

Posted on by Brian Wiedenmeier

By the time you read this, your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition board of directors will have approved a bold new five-year Strategic Plan to guide our work through 2022. I want to thank all of you who informed the scope and direction of this plan by attending an open house or a forum, responding to our survey, or sitting down for a listening session. I also want to thank the board, staff and members who served on the committee that analyzed all of the data that resulted from the planning process, and helped draft and revise the plan until we arrived at the final product. We are pleased to share this exciting plan in detail with members and the world in the coming weeks, so watch your inboxes.

In a time where our values are under attack nationally, we are proud to adopt four core values that help guide us as we work towards achieving our mission of promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation:

TRANSPORTATION JUSTICE: We advocate for everyone’s equitable access to safe, affordable and healthy transportation to create a just city.

SUSTAINABILITY: We fight climate change by enabling and encouraging more people to bike more often.

PEOPLE POWER: We create positive change through coalition-building and collective action.

JOY: We celebrate bicycling as a fun, healthy way to get around and connect with each other and our communities.

Each time I read these values, I feel a sense of renewed commitment to our mission, and a dedication to holding ourselves to a high standard. If we live these values through the work of SF Bicycle Coalition, I know that we will continue to make even more significant progress toward a city that is a safe, just and livable place for everyone.

Sometimes, however, we will need to navigate situations where these values may seem at first glance in opposition to one another.

Take our cover story on bicycle theft, for example. Our value of Transportation Justice calls on us to recognize the experience of black and brown communities with law enforcement and to resist advocating for enforcement policies that may bring further harm. People Power calls on us to come together as individuals to form a louder voice for action. This past summer and fall, I heard from many members upset about theft who demanded we support aggressive police enforcement of theft, particularly of open air chop shops. On page 5, you can read more about the thinking, values and standards that guided our work this summer on the critical issue of bike theft.

Solving problems that others would too easily give up on is at the heart of what your SF Bicycle Coalition does. Whether it’s demanding the highest quality protected bike lanes on our streets or holding City officials accountable to their promises, we will be there seeking the best solutions in a complex and changing world. I hope you will join us in embracing these values and supporting this crucial work. Please make a year-end, tax-deductible gift to the SF Bicycle Coalition Education Fund at sfbike.org/donate. We need your support to help our movement pedal the extra mile in 2018. Best wishes to you, your families, and our biking community for a happy and healthy holiday season!

Open Streets Every Saturday in Golden Gate Park?

Posted on by Julia Raskin

Open streets in Golden Gate Park every Saturday of the year? Yes, please!

In a busy, dense city like San Francisco, we cherish our open spaces. With over 1,000 acres of parkland, Golden Gate Park is the backyard for thousands of local residents and a destination for people all over the city and beyond. That’s why your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has been stepping up our advocacy for more streets in Golden Gate Park to be opened up to people walking and biking.

In 2007, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition led a broad coalition of community advocates to win Healthy Saturdays, a program that opens up a key portion of JFK Drive from Eighth Avenue to Crossover to people walking and biking. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Healthy Saturdays, but the program only runs half the year. It’s time to see the success of this program expand and match the year-round car-free Sundays.

Once again, we are building a strong coalition of advocates to support the expansion of Healthy Saturdays into a year-long event. We are working with our members, local institutions and organizations to show City leaders that San Franciscans deserve more open streets in their parks. Joining us are Walk SF, Livable Streets, the California Outdoor Rollerskating Association and the SF Parks Alliance, and the list keeps growing.

Help us advocate for open streets that make parks a place for people first. Make a year-end gift today to fuel our efforts so that we can celebrate the freedom and joy of open streets together in 2018.

A Better Market Street Is in SF’s Future

Posted on by Brian Wiedenmeier

From City Hall to our streets, San Francisco’s seeing a lot of change as we close 2017. And our city’s most travelled – and most biked – corridor is no exception.

The 2.2-mile corridor of Market Street from the Embarcadero all the way through Octavia is about to undergo a massive overhaul. To closely monitor and push along this multi-year transformation of our city’s grand boulevard, we need to invest in hiring another Community Organizer. Will you join the campaign for Market Street’s visionary transformation with a special donation?

DONATE TODAY

After years of outreach and planning, we finally have a design that features protected, separated bike lanes in each direction of Market Street. Private cars – including Lyfts and Ubers – would be restricted east of 10th Street. The City plans to start construction on the first segment of Better Market Street by the end of 2018.

But, Better Market Street is still just a vision on City slide decks. To make it manifest in concrete will require a tremendous amount of organizing and work. With so many people who use Market Street, engaging and organizing all of those stakeholders to overcome the inevitable opposition to change is now a primary focus of our work.

We need your help in making sure that this project stays on track. That is why I am asking you to consider a special, tax-deductible, year-end gift to support our advocacy work for projects like Better Market Street.

We have proven time and again that with the right resources and people power, we can make real change on our streets. Market Street represents the biggest test of that formula yet: we will not be successful without your support. Make a special donation of $25, $50, $100 or more today.

Visionary Second Street Project Breaks Ground

Posted on by Charles Deffarges

Long in the works, the Second Street Improvement Project broke ground early this month, kicking off a two-year construction period to transform Second Street into multimodal corridor with protected bike lanes and raised crosswalks along the entirety of the corridor.

On the corner of Second and King streets, our now-late Mayor Ed Lee, Supervisor Jane Kim, and a handful of department heads and neighborhood activists gathered in front of the cameras to celebrate the beginning of the final phase for the project. This visionary corridor improvement has been in planning since 2012, hitting several roadblocks along the way, but all of the speakers praised the community’s persistence in getting the design approved and shovel-ready.

We could not have come this far without the many members contributing their time and resources to seeing this project advanced. To everyone’s who’s made this possible: thank you. And even if you didn’t chip in to see Second Street transformed, now’s a great time to invest in making transforming more streets into more livable, bikeable places across our city.

The new design will stretch along the entirety of Second Street from Market to King and reduce automobile travel lanes in both directions to repurpose space to make this popular commercial corridor more welcoming. Where there were only sharrows before, brand new bike lanes physically protected from faster moving traffic lanes by transit boarding islands will make the street safe for people riding bikes and Muni, while raised crossings at the midblock alleys will improve safety for people walking.

Construction for the project is scheduled to take about two years and will be phased along four different segments of the street. See the diagram below for the segment and timeline details Any questions regarding the construction process are best directed to Public Works Information Officer Coma Te at coma.te@sfdpw.org.

Street improvements like this would not be possible without the support of our members. Please consider giving a year-end gift to help keep Second Street on track and push for similar projects citywide.

Should SF Break Up the SFMTA?

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

News is emerging that Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safaí are asking their colleagues to undo San Francisco voters’ 1999 merger of the agencies overseeing Muni and what was then the Department of Parking and Traffic. When the SFMTA already struggles to deliver safety improvements in a timely fashion, adding more bureaucratic and political obstacles to every single project would further impair the City’s ability to meet our Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

See our letter to the Board of Supervisors below, cosigned by SF Transit Riders, SPUR and Walk SF, and add your name today. If we speak up together, we can stop this effort to further impede our City’s ability to deliver more bikeable, livable streets.

*****

Dear President Breed and Supervisors,

We write as advocates for progressive and effective transportation policy to voice our strong opposition to the City Charter amendment being introduced by Supervisors Peskin and Safaí. This amendment purports to improve the performance and responsiveness of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) by breaking it into two separate agencies: one responsible for Muni operations and another overseeing parking and traffic. It would also enact governance changes to the two new agencies by modifying appointments to its board and by giving the Board of Supervisors additional legislative responsibility for changes to parking, traffic and policy approved by the new agencies’ board. We strongly oppose this proposed amendment for the following reasons:

Increased bureaucracy. When San Francisco voters created the SFMTA in 1999 and strengthened its authority in 2007, they voted for sound governance, combining transit operations with transportation policy and engineering. Splitting the agency into two entities again would reverse the progress voters made and create an unnecessary duplication of services, decrease coordination in planning, policy making, and operations, and cost taxpayers untold millions in additional City expenditures.

More unnecessary process and politics. San Francisco currently struggles to make improvements to transit and our streets at a pace that matches the growth in jobs and residents the city has experienced over the past decade. Voters recognize this and twice in recent years have rejected introducing more process and politics into the City’s transportation management – voting resoundingly just last year against a charter amendment to split MTA Board appointments between the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors. Adding an additional layer of review to every proposed bus stop, parking space and bike lane promises to further slow the rate of such improvements. People who live and work in our city need better transit and safe streets delivered more quickly. Further politicizing the process by which those improvements are approved will only slow things down.

Contradicts Transit First policy. Being a “Transit First” city — a policy enshrined in our City charter — means that San Francisco makes transportation decisions that prioritize and encourage modes of transportation other than private automobile use. Decoupling the operations of transit from the planning and design of our streets is a step backwards from Transit First, threatening the City’s ability to achieve its ambitious Vision Zero and Climate Action Strategy goals. San Franciscans deserve safe, affordable and reliable transportation choices. The SFMTA is a an imperfect institution, and we acknowledge that much must be done to improve its responsiveness and performance. Rather than fixing the SFMTA’s shortcomings, however, this charter amendment will compound them. It brings a hammer to a problem that requires a scalpel, breaking up an agency that has worked to incrementally improve transit and traffic amid an influx of tens of thousands of additional vehicles in recent years.

On behalf of the tens of thousands of members and San Franciscans whom we represent, we urge you to oppose this charter amendment, and we look forward to working with each of you to improve the experience of moving around San Francisco. The health and wellbeing of our neighborhoods, businesses and residents depend on it.

Sincerely,

Brian Wiedenmeier, Executive Director
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Rachel Hyden, Executive Director
San Francisco Transit Riders

Gabriel Metcalf, Executive Director
SPUR

Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director
Walk San Francisco

*****

Sign onto our letter today to let Supervisors know that you oppose adding more bureaucratic and political obstacles to every single street safety improvement considered in San Francisco.

Introducing: Wheel Talk for Wheel People

Posted on by Christopher White

Advice for people living their lives one push of the pedals at a time

We’re launching a new monthly advice column written by Christopher White, our adult education program coordinator. The first column is premiering here in the Tube Times, but will also be available online. Though bikes, biking, and getting around SF is our area of expertise, feel free to ask anything!

Wheel Talk, I’ve noticed that more and more people are riding around with music playing from their bikes. Some people have small Bluetooth speakers, while others seem to have club-ready PA systems rigged to their frames. Call me a noise-pollution curmudgeon, but isn’t this just adding to the din of the city and intruding on the peace of others on the road? —Plugged Ears

Dear Plugged Ears: I hope you didn’t earn your sobriquet because you have rubber-tipped headphones permanently crammed in while you’re in the saddle. One of the aspects of this trend that I really appreciate is that many people are choosing Bluetooth speakers over headphones, which allows people to enjoy their tunes while still maintaining awareness of street sounds.

But as with so many things in life, the answer shifts with context and with scale. At big parades or marches, I love a booming subwoofer mounted on a bike trailer. The same subwoofer blasting down Valencia during rush hour, however, is at best disrespectful and at worst dangerous. In that context a Bluetooth speaker at a reasonable level is great, though. But for Pete’s sake, people: when entering an enclosed space such as a BART train, turn it off!

Wheel Talk, I just recently moved to the city. While biking near Mission Bay, I was pulled over by a cop and ticketed for running a flashing red light and having both earbuds in. The fine came to nearly $500! The cop told me not to worry — I could contact the SF Bicycle Coalition and take a class, which would get the ticket wiped away. Where do I sign up? —Lesson Learned

Dear Lesson Learned: Oh if only the left hand of the law would take a look at what the right hand is doing! I get this question frequently from people who have been misinformed by a police officer. Sadly, it’s not true, Lesson Learned.

Here’s how the confusion originated: in 2015, California passed a law that permits municipalities to institute a bike traffic ticket diversion program, such as what the officer described. However, municipalities must actively institute the program, which SF has not yet done. Why not? The law specifically states that the program must be sanctioned by local law enforcement agencies — as in, the SFPD. That has not yet happened.

But fear not! Your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is working hard with various segments of the San Francisco government to get a program rolling, and we’re feeling hopeful. Stay tuned!

Wheel Talk, I get apoplectic when I see cars double parked in the bike lane. More often than not, they have telltale Uber and Lyft stickers in the window. Now, I’m no purist. Every so often, I take a Lyft home at the end of a night out. Last night I did so. When the driver dropped me off, she pulled over into the bike lane! I was appalled and gave the driver a mediocre review. Was that the right thing to do? —Heading Home

Dear Heading Home: Discussing the impact that so-called ridesharing companies have on biking can be like trying to untangle a hairball (or even the Hairball). Like many riders, I have a special forehead vein that pops out just for Uber and Lyft drivers in bike lanes. At the same time, this behavior is in many ways a down-lane effect of the “gig economy”, which relies on contractors instead of employees who can be required to attend comprehensive safety training. Actual taxi drivers, by contrast, must take a live training from yours truly before they are permitted by the SFMTA.

So is it fair to penalize your driver for this behavior by leaving a bad review? Maybe — every person behind the wheel should still know that pulling their car into a bike line is unacceptable and dangerous. But your driver is also trying to get by in a system that’s in many ways stacked against them. So here’s what you do next time, HH: first, use your words. Ask your driver not to pull over in the bike lane and explain why. And then send a message to the transportation network company, demanding that they take responsibility for training their drivers. Our safety depend on it. Try support@uber.com or support@lyft.com. Feel free to cc: christopher@sfbike.org.

Sports Basement Discount Days Just for You

Posted on by Maggie Fields

Remember when you were on the fence about joining the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and we told you that your membership fee would pay for itself? Well, this is one of those opportunities: Sports Basement is hosting special discounted shopping days, this Saturday, Dec. 16 and Sunday, Dec. 17, specifically for San Francisco Bicycle Coalition members.

Head to any Sports Basement on Saturday, Dec. 16 or Sunday, Dec. 17 to purchase holiday gifts (or to simply treat yourself!) with a whopping 20 percent discount after presenting this flyer.

As if you needed another reason to participate, 10 percent of proceeds will go straight to our advocacy for safe streets and biking in San Francisco. The gift that keeps on giving!

Be sure to take advantage of your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition membership with this exclusive offer.

Not an SF Bicycle Coalition member? Join today and be a part of the solution for climate change, traffic congestion and safe streets!

One-Day SF Bicycle Coalition Gift Sale

Posted on by Anna Gore

Let the hard-working elves at your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition take a little weight off your shoulders during this year’s holiday hustle.

This year, there’s no need to stress over what to get the relative who just moved to San Francisco, the coworker who just had a baby or the friend that just bought a bike. Our Holiday Merch Sale and Social will have something to satisfy everyone on your list.

Peruse our discounted merchandise with a steaming cup of apple cider. I’ll be there with some colleagues and fellow members, too, if you want to catch up on the latest updates on our ongoing campaigns.

Among the many gift options available is our Holiday Gift Package, including a gift membership certificate, the SF Bicycle Coalition hoodie of your choice, and an SF Biking and Walking Map. It’s perfect for new San Francisco residents or bike commuters who you’re excited to welcome to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition community.

Whatever you purchase, you can take pride that every dollar from your purchase supports our advocacy to improve bicycling conditions in our city. Oh, and we’ll even have gift wrapping and a special holiday card for you to use, so your gift will be ready for giving!

Don’t miss the opportunity to save money while picking up last minute gifts at our Holiday Merch Sale and Social!

Can’t wait for the sale? Make your purchase online before Sunday, Dec. 10 to ensure everything arrives before the holidays!