Our first endorsement of 2024: YES to a car-free Great Highway Park

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Photo courtesy of Friends of Great Highway Park; image by CMG Landscape Architecture

The Board of Directors of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition have made their first endorsement of the 2024 Bike the Vote campaign, in support of a ballot measure to turn the southern section of the Great Highway into a 17-acre oceanfront park.

The new ballot measure would restore 24/7 access for people biking, rolling, and walking on the two-mile stretch of the Great Highway between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard. With support from Mayor London Breed, Supervisors Joel Engardio and Myrna Melgar introduced the measure on Tuesday, June 18, in collaboration with Friends of Great Highway Park and fellow supervisors Dean Preston, Matt Dorsey, and Rafael Mandelman. This people-centric road usage was first introduced as a COVID-era emergency measure. Since December 2022, this section of the Great Highway has been reserved for biking, rolling, and walking from Friday afternoon until Monday morning, as a three-year pilot program. 

“It’s very clear to all of us that the measure aligns with our goal of achieving a citywide network of car-free and people-prioritized corridors,” said Roan Kattouw, President of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Board. “The city’s oceanfront should be accessible to people to enjoy, not handed over to private vehicles, especially when it costs the city millions each year to keep it free of sand.”

Already this year, the Board of Supervisors voted to make the Great Highway Extension, the portion between Sloat and Skyline Boulevards, permanently car-free as a climate change adaptation project. Sea level rise and increasing storm activity has been making the area vulnerable to erosion, and removing vehicle traffic and redesigning the area will help mitigate those impacts. 

Under the new ballot measure, north-south vehicle through-traffic will be redirected eastward to Sunset Boulevard. In 2022, SFBike issued a “no” endorsement for Proposition I, a ballot measure that aimed to make JFK Drive and the Great Highway permanently accessible to private cars, and San Francisco voters overwhelmingly rejected the measure.

As the Bike the Vote 2024 season heats up, we’ll reach out to members and volunteers to help spread the word on our endorsements and get out the vote to support better, safer, more accessible biking in San Francisco. Sign up today for updates and volunteer opportunities.

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What comes after the Valencia Center-Running Bike Lane?

Posted on by Claire Amable

On June 18th, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) Board of Directors will vote on whether to endorse a conceptual design for parking protected side-running bike lanes on Valencia Street between 15th and 23rd Street. 

This presentation and vote comes nine months after the start of the center-running bike lane pilot, and is fully aligned with our organizational stance from February to pivot to a protected side-running bike lane once the pilot is over, if safety improvements aren’t made for the center pilot design. 

The conceptual design includes a traditional side-running parking protected bike lane with a mix of floating and curbside parklets. 

To prepare for the June 18th hearing, we’ve been consulting with members and stakeholders. Last week, we hosted an in-person member meeting with nearly 50 attendees and we sent a member survey to the roughly 600 members who have expressed interest in the Valencia pilot. We also sat down with the Valencia Corridors Merchant Association (VCMA) to address business concerns about the conceptual design. 

From the member meeting and followup survey last Tuesday, we learned that 60% of attendees and respondents are generally very supportive of a parking protected side-running bike lane because of its predictability, along with the ability to safely stop midblock to visit businesses and easily turn onto cross streets. 

For members, the top three concerns about the conceptual design include:

  1. Unpredictable interactions with pedestrians crossing the bike lane to get to floating parklets and liability in the event of a collision between people on foot (pedestrians, parklet customers or staff) and people on bikes
  2. People in cars using daylighting zones as temporary parking spaces
  3. Double-parking in the bike lane and buffer spaces around parklets

In addition, we heard strong support for the center-running bike lane from some members. This is a trend we see in the results from both of our Valencia Member Survey conducted in February, in which a center-running bike lane ranked second to a protected side-running bike lane with curbside parklets, and our most recent survey where 32% of survey respondents prefer the center-running bike lane.  

The broader biking community is not a monolith, and neither are our members. We know many members who feel safe in the center-running bike lane and think that with more durable materials, strict enforcement of turn restrictions, and continuity along the entire corridor, this design could be a successful one. But there are safety issues with the center-running lane that have not improved in the pilot period, like the difficulty of turning from the center, and the inconsistency in bike lane design along the whole corridor. Safety is our top priority. While the center-running lane is an improvement on the previous unprotected lanes, unresolved safety issues persist that would be improved by pivoting to a traditional and familiar design on Valencia Street.

On Thursday, we met with members of the Valencia Corridor Merchant Association (VCMA) to discuss the proposed conceptual design. They expressed their top three priorities in changing the design, starting with the highest: improving traffic circulation on and around the corridor, the parking experience for people visiting the corridor, and the merchant loading experience. At this time, both the SF Bicycle Coalition and VCMA generally support the conceptual design. As we move toward a more detailed design from the SFMTA, we will look to our members and collaborate with other stakeholders to provide input on the fine-grained details, such as safe turning, consistent paint treatments, and signal phasing. 

The SF Bicycle Coalition supports the proposed conceptual design under these conditions: 

  1. Consistent curbside parklet arrangement, rather than a mix of curbside and floating parklets
  2. The longest permitted leading pedestrian interval of seven seconds, to give cyclists and pedestrians time to cross before people driving
  3. Installing street signage clarifying that bicyclists may proceed with pedestrian walk signal 

We plan to attend on June 18 to present our stance to the MTA Board of Directors, and are drafting talking points for our members to give public comment as well – join our campaign now in order to get talking points and meeting reminders from us before then. 

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Meet our new Executive Director: Christopher White

Posted on by SF Bicycle Coalition Board

After a thorough search process, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Board of Directors is excited to announce Christopher White as the next executive director.

Christopher White has been at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for seven years, starting as the Program Coordinator for our Adult Bicycle Education program. Over the years he progressed into a leadership role, ultimately becoming Deputy Director in 2022. Christopher has been serving as interim executive director since October 2023, when Janelle Wong stepped down from the role. In that time, he has proven to be a highly capable leader, with a collaborative and transparent leadership style and excellent communication skills. 

Christopher impressed us as interim executive director. He demonstrated thoughtful leadership, a steadfast dedication to our mission, and a strategic vision for building our movement. We’re confident that he’s exactly the right person to continue leading the Coalition as we work towards our goals of safer streets and a more livable, equitable San Francisco.

Christopher steps into the permanent executive director role on the heels of a successful Bike Month, with one of our biggest and best Bike to Wherever Day events in recent years just behind us – and with the city’s upcoming Biking & Rolling Plan as the most crucial priority for the organization in 2024. “Our motivating vision is a citywide, interconnected network of car-free and people-prioritized corridors that allows anyone to leave their home, get on their bike or scooter, and within minutes be on the network that connects them to any other neighborhood, with minimal contact or conflict with cars,” says Christopher. 

“San Francisco is a beautiful city with strong values of equity, sustainability, and community activism. We know the change we seek is a civic good that helps us achieve those values. Creating a citywide network that makes biking and rolling easier to use than driving, and supporting that network with thoughtful policies, ensures a more livable San Francisco for all.”

Christopher, and the rest of the SFBike staff, are busy planning for our 2024 Bike the Vote endorsement process, including hosting Candidate Transportation Forums across the city in the next two months for Supervisorial and Mayoral races leading up to the 2024 election. Members are invited to join us at one of those forums, as well as upcoming member events like joining our Pride Parade contingent, other social rides and happy hours throughout the summer. 

Our membership sustains all the work we do, helping us grow this movement and achieve our ambitious goals for San Francisco – thank you to all our members for supporting SFBike, and Christoper as our new executive director. And if you’re not yet a member, or if your membership has lapsed, we invite you to join us or renew your membership!

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We’re hiring: School Engagement Coordinator

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Who we are

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBike) works to promote bicycling for everyday transportation in order to transform our streets and neighborhoods into more safe, just, and livable places. Our member-based grassroots organization is considered one of the largest, most active, and effective groups of our kind in the country.

The position

The School Engagement Coordinator supports school communities to safely adopt sustainable and/or active transportation modes by acting as the initial point of contact for SF Unified School District schools prioritized by the San Francisco Safe Routes to School (SF-SRTS) program, assessing their transportation needs and safety issues and making recommendations of programs and resources. Within the SF-SRTS program, the role is known as the “School Engagement Lead.”

The School Engagement Lead engages with school communities, assesses their sustainable transportation needs, priorities, and capacity, and connects schools with the programs and resources offered by SF-SRTS to best address those needs. In particular, the School Engagement Lead will act as in-person ambassador for the program, regularly visiting school sites and building relationships with members of school communities, encompassing elementary through high schools. Over the course of the program, the School Engagement Lead will work with the program’s evaluation team to continually track and assess progress made by schools and specific groups within schools, refining recommendations and facilitating continued adoption of safe and habitual use of the “Four Fun Ways”: walking, biking, transit, and carpooling. The School Engagement Lead will maintain up-to-date familiarity with program offerings and strong relationships with the partner organizations offering them. In collaboration with SFBike’s SF-SRTS Project Manager and SFMTA staff, the School Engagement Lead will cultivate robust, sustainable school community engagement, with an emphasis on being culturally responsive.

Primary responsibilities include:

  • Build and maintain relationships with school staff, families, and community members by attending school and community meetings to engage with school staff and families and learn more about school community needs and priorities;
  • Regularly communicate with school staff, families, and community members through in-person conversations, phone calls, and email;
  • Assess receptiveness and barriers to program offerings and transportation choices at prioritized focus schools:
    • Gather feedback on school trip transportation choices and understand the current landscape of school travel;
    • Identify opportunities and challenges in the environment surrounding the school that impact transportation choices;
    • Build understanding of school culture, needs, priorities, and capacities and how they affect transportation choices and shape school receptiveness to programming;
    • Collect data to support findings and recommendations and document school and community feedback;
  • Develop recommendations to schools of SF-SRTS events, classes and other program activities and resources to make progress along the SF-SRTS Theory of Change and improve student safety and increase mode shift towards the Four Fun Ways;
  • Work with the Project Manager, SFMTA, and SFUSD to recommend the development of new events, classes or activities, if current offerings don’t meet existing needs;
  • Identify and cultivate transportation champions among school staff, families and community members;
  • Connect school staff, families, and community members with partners responsible for specific program offerings;
  • Follow up with school contacts after events, classes and activities; 
  • Regularly update school assessments and recommendations;
  • Maintain a daily log of interactions with school staff, families, and community members to maintain accurate records and support ongoing communication efforts.
  • Assist with outreach and implementation for Citywide Annual Events and ongoing program activities to ensure community engagement and participation.

Strong candidates will possess as many of the following qualifications as possible: 

We recognize that this position encompasses a number of different responsibility areas. We are committed to train and support our staff to strengthen their abilities in each area and we encourage applications from people who may not have all of the qualifications listed below.

  • 3+ years serving youth and families, preferably with at least one year with SFUSD or other public school system;
  • A commitment to and passion for the mission and core values of the SF Bicycle Coalition and SF-SRTS;
  • Strong relational skills, including experience developing community relationships, connections, or partnerships;
  • Experience using both quantitative and qualitative data to assess community behaviors and needs, especially in transportation;
  • Experience serving diverse communities from a wide array of cultural, experiential, and financial backgrounds, with an emphasis on cultural humility and responsiveness;
  • Proven organizational skills working with multiple partners, projects, and timelines;
  • Excellent communication skills (both verbal and written);
  • Experience and skills working both collaboratively and independently;
  • Experience with data management within database tools, such as AirTable;
  • Bilingual in English and another language, especially Spanish, Cantonese, Filipino/Tagalog, Arabic, or Samoan.

Reports to: Director of Youth and Family Programs, with input and additional direction from external SF-SRTS Project Manager

Salary and Benefits: The annual salary for this exempt position is $68,300. Full-time benefits include excellent medical, vision and dental insurance with no employee contribution, as well as three weeks of paid time off, a pilot four-day work week (NOTE: the pilot is nearing its end and will be under review), two weeks of sick leave, pre-tax transit benefits, and a flexible work arrangement policy.

Hours: Full-time, exempt. The position may require occasional early morning, evening, or Friday/weekend work.

Location: Hybrid — San Francisco Bay Area. Staff and their supervisors will work together to determine the appropriate work arrangement based on the nature of the individual’s role, and in alignment with organizational policies and departmental needs and activities. We strive to be as flexible and fair as possible while ensuring in-person accessibility when needed to interface with our volunteers, membership, community, and each other.

To apply, please submit a resume and a PDF with your answers to the below three questions. Please make your answers roughly one paragraph each. 

  1. What inspires you to want to work at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition?
  2. What does transportation justice mean to you and how do you see it fitting into your career?
  3. What skills and/or experiences do you have that would make you a good fit for this role?

APPLY HERE

A new car-free space coming to the Great Highway Extension

Posted on by Rachel Clyde

Photo rendering courtesy of SFPUC.

On May 14, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to finally pass a new park code to permanently close the Great Highway Extension between Sloat and Skyline Blvds to allow for the Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project. The closure will take place this month and the city will begin construction to address the significant erosion that has occurred here and turn the road into a community space. 

The Ocean Beach Master Plan, an inter-agency effort beginning in 2010, outlines a managed retreat from the coastline in consideration of impending sea level rise and will also protect the SF Public Utilities Commission’s wastewater pipes underground.

Climate change and sea level rise are continually eroding away our shoreline and we’ve seen significant damage in the last 15 years, threatening the Lake Merced Tunnel and wastewater treatment plant that hundreds of thousands of San Franciscans rely on daily. The project protects critical infrastructure and creates new space for coastal access and recreation. This managed retreat will protect our city, making it more resilient to the effects of climate change while also providing key opportunities for improving active transportation.

The Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project will be incredibly transformative for people walking, biking and rolling across the city and region. Currently, accessing this part of the city on bike can be difficult and safety improvements are necessary. Once completed, this project will draw more bicycle, foot, and bus traffic to the southwest corner of the city. 

The proposed improvements will be exponentially more beneficial when paired with the new Lake Merced Blvd Quick-Build, the Sloat Blvd Quick-build, the Great Highway Pilot Project, the Lincoln Blvd Quick-Build, the 29-Sunset Improvement project, and other improvements to the active transportation network in the area. We want to encourage more people to take sustainable modes of transportation to enjoy the attractions in this area, including the SF Zoo, Ocean Beach, Fort Funston and Lake Merced. 

The approval of this project is completely separate from the Great Highway Pilot Project which is halfway through piloting a weekend promenade on the Upper Great Highway and will conclude at the end of 2025. After the pilot, the Board of Supervisors will determine the long-term future of the Upper Great Highway between Lincoln Way and Sloat Blvd.

We look forward to seeing the Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation project completed and more projects like it to create safe spaces for people taking active transportation. 

If you would like to be updated and get involved with the Great Highway, sign up here for campaign updates.

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Frida Kahlo Way Quick-Build approved!

Posted on by Rachel Clyde

After a lengthy and robust community engagement process, the Frida Kahlo Way Quick-Build was unanimously approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors last week! This quick-build will create a two-way protected bikeway, update pedestrian crossings and improve transit reliability and accessibility. It will help transform a transit-poor part of our city into a more connected and safe neighborhood.

We are excited to see this new protected bike lane on Frida Kahlo for students and neighbors who are already biking in the area and rely on this route. We also believe that it will allow more people to bike who feel limited by unsafe street conditions. Through this quick-build process we have been connected to students and leadership at CCSF to tackle concerns for affordability and equity in getting to and from their main campus.

We have encouraged city agencies to work with CCSF to offer free muni for students who want to take public transit but find the cost prohibitive. Together, with the quick-build, these solutions will take the pressure off private cars being the only realistic way to get to campus for many people – and our CCSF students deserve that! They’re the future of our city and the reason we work towards our transportation and climate goals.

We’re grateful to Supervisor Melgar for her tireless support of this project; we also commend the SFMTA staff for being receptive to feedback and envisioning a new Frida Kahlo Way. We’re glad the Board approved the quick-build and acknowledged the need to continue working on programs and policies to support affordable and accessible transportation for low-income students at CCSF and across our city.

Read more about the project and our involvement in our previous blog.

We will keep you updated on the implementation of the project and our continued work in the southwest of San Francisco.

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Black Bike Project: Empowering Bayview Youth Through Biking

Posted on by Alex Frank

In partnership with the Rafiki Coalition, SFBike, and our Bike it Forward programming team has launched the Black Bike Project, a journey to cultivate a vibrant bike culture among Bayview’s youth, focusing particularly on our Black and brown communities. Through this initiative, we aim to empower young people to see cycling as an easy and enjoyable mode of transportation and foster a sense of freedom and inclusion in the local community, while also reshaping perceptions of cycling and people who bike.

Our program spans ten creative workshops and “build-and-learn” sessions. These events aren’t just about learning the mechanics of bikes—though our introductory course based on the ParkTool School Curriculum is setting up our young riders with a good set of basic skills. It’s about building a deeper connection between the community and the built environment. We discuss road safety, the nuances of navigating the urban landscape, and we even touch on potential career paths in biking, city planning, and advocacy.

About halfway through our journey, we’ve already seen amazing growth. Our shed is up, filled with bikes and tools, and our lessons are in full swing. Just recently, we tackled drivetrain maintenance and even started the shop’s tool wall after an informative walk to the local hardware store. It’s all hands on deck—parents  and caretakers included, which has transformed our sessions into family biking adventures.

Despite the progress, challenges abound. Traffic safety is a huge concern in our largely industrial neighborhood, where large trucks and young people must coexist. Last week, one of our cyclists asked about the safety of crossing mid-block due to obstructed sidewalks. It was a teachable moment about visibility, safety, and the practical wisdom needed when cycling—like making sure big vehicles see you and are stopped if you have to cross their path.

In the coming weeks, our enthusiastic young bikers will volunteer at the Southeast Community Center’s Bike to Wherever Day energizer station. It’s a fantastic opportunity for them to engage with other people who bike, and feel part of a larger community. Looking ahead, we’re planning rides to Heron’s Head and possibly even to the Embarcadero area, aiming to connect these young riders with diverse spaces and experiences throughout their city.

Our journey is far from over. With summer around the corner, we hope to find funding to continue nurturing this vibrant community of young cyclists, empowering them to navigate their city safely and confidently. Let’s keep pedaling forward, building a safer, more equitably connected San Francisco. Donate now to support this work.

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New Lake Merced Blvd bike lane and coalition work for safer streets

Posted on by Rachel Clyde

Street safety improvements are crucial for our city, and should not come at the expense of our fellow San Franciscans who are housing insecure.

Lake Merced Blvd is part of the city’s High-Injury Network and is a notoriously fast and dangerous street. The Lake Merced Blvd Quick-Build Project added a protected bike lane and improved bus access and pedestrian safety to 2.5 miles of road, thereby expanding the bicycle network, equitable access to sustainable forms of transportation and opens up the southwest corner of San Francisco to improved micromobility in a historically car-dependent part of the city.

We support the quick-build project and know it will bring much-needed safety improvements to the area, we also stand in solidarity with the End Poverty Tows Coalition, a coalition of nonprofits supporting and advocating for the RV residents. For several years, people have parked their RVs for temporary and long-term residence along Lake Merced Blvd and two adjacent streets, Winston Drive and Buckingham Way. These residents are largely students, families, seniors, non-English speakers and workers who can’t afford rent in the Bay Area.

End Poverty Tows have been vocal from the beginning about the city’s mishandling of vehicularly-housed people along the corridor, and were instrumental in getting a commitment to finding a safe site to help mitigate the displacement caused by the project.

As part of the quick-build, the SFMTA has already removed approximately 101 parking spots on Lake Merced Blvd in order to construct the protected bike lane. To complete the last section of the bike lane, they need to remove an additional 90 parking spots on Lake Merced Blvd. This parking removal is necessary for the project; over a year ago, Supervisor Myrna Melgar, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), and the SFMTA Board of Directors agreed to provide a safe relocation site for the RV residents before removing the remaining 90 spaces. However, last fall, RV residents and advocates were caught off guard by 4-hour parking restrictions introduced on Winston and Buckingham that are nonessential for the quick-build. Now, an even larger group of RV residents is at risk of displacement, towing, and deepened housing insecurity. 

The End Poverty Tows Coalition has worked tirelessly to push HSH to provide a safe relocation site and permanent housing solutions, because relocation alone isn’t a solution to housing insecurity. They have done extensive outreach and kept the RV community in the loop when city agency communication has fallen short. Despite this and after over a year of looking, there is still no safe relocation site.

These 4-hour parking restrictions were introduced in the name of street safety, but don’t seem to actually address the real safety concerns. If we want to talk about safety improvements to Winston and Buckingham, we need to address speeding vehicles, unsafe crosswalks and the whole area needing infrastructure improvements – which are the real concerns, not the residents living in RVs who are also impacted by unsafe street conditions. Our focus and priority is safe infrastructure and though we’ve recently learned that the bike lane on Winston will receive improvements, we’re concerned that the 4-hour restrictions don’t actually improve safety for people walking and biking. 

The 4-hour restrictions will go into effect on July 1 and currently the RV community has nowhere to go. The entire city is facing a housing crisis and changing the parking limits on one or two streets will not fix this issue. We joined the End Poverty Tows Coalition because our streets are our largest and most used shared civil space and we can’t achieve our organization’s mission without addressing all the ways our streets are used.

Send an email to HSH, SFMTA and Supervisor Melgar to support the RV community!

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Background and timeline:

  • 2021 – Lake Merced Blvd Quick-Build process begins
  • 2021-2022 – outreach to the RV community along Lake Merced Blvd reveals depth and difficulty of this quick-build. The End Poverty Tows Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness support outreach to the RV community.
  • January 2023 – Lake Merced Quick-Build approved by SFMTA Board of Directors with the condition to hold off on a section of the bike lane until a safe relocation parking site was secured by Supervisor Myrna Melgar and HSH.
  • January 2023-Now – Supervisor Melgar’s office and HSH looked at dozens of potential relocation sites. HSH has also looked into permanent housing solutions. They’ve only been able to pursue permanent housing for a small number of the RV residents. A relocation site remains unsecured to date.
  • September 19, 2023 – taking the residents and advocates by surprise, the SFMTA Board of Directors voted to impose 4-hour parking restrictions on Buckingham Way and Winston Drive. Hearing concern from the community, the Board decided the restrictions would not go into effect for 3 months, despite HSH saying they won’t have the safe relocation site done in that timeline.
  • August 2023-Now – Advocates and RV residents have shown up and spoken in opposition to the parking restrictions at MTAB, HSH Commission meetings and 1-on-1 meetings.
  • October 2023 – Construction begins on Lake Merced Blvd Quick-Build project.
  • October 24, 2023 – The End Poverty Tows Coalition hosted a press conference with families from the RVs to put pressure on city agencies and leaders to secure a safe parking site and permanent housing solutions before the parking restrictions go into effect. 
  • November-December 2023 – Construction of the bike lane began on the east side of Lake Merced Blvd and approximately 101 parking spots were removed. Several families in RVs were forced to disperse. 
  • December 2023 – SFMTA Board delayed enforcement of the 4-hour restrictions on Winston and Buckingham “indefinitely.”
  • March 2024 – Construction of bike lane on Lake Merced Blvd concludes. A few other small elements of the quick-build remain undone.
  • April 2024 – Advocates and residents see parking signs go up on Winston and Buckingham and learn that enforcement of the 4-hour restrictions will begin imminently.
  • April 16, 2024 – Advocates and residents show up at City Hall for a rally, meet with Supervisor Melgar and give public comment at the SFMTA Board meeting. The Board says that enforcement of the restrictions will begin July 1 when Winston is scheduled to be repaved and all parking has to be removed anyway.

MEET PETER, OUR 2024 BIKE CHAMPION OF THE YEAR!

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Bike to Wherever Day is coming up on May 16, and every year we highlight a member of our community that embodies the joy of biking and helps make their community better for biking. Meet Peter Belden, SF Bike member and our 2024 Bike Champion of the Year. Read more about Peter’s bike journey and how he’s helping make SF more bike-friendly for everyone.

1. Tell us about yourself and how biking is part of your life here in the Bay.

I had never ridden a bike in SF before 2019 because I was too scared of getting hit by a car. Then during a family trip to Copenhagen I finally experienced how wonderful it is to bike around for everyday transportation. It’s fun. It’s healthy. It’s better for the planet and you get to experience the city and see things you’d normally miss. So when I returned home, I took a SF Bike class on urban riding and went out to explore. I found that although there were some routes, particularly in SOMA, that felt safe, there were too many gaps in the bike network. I knew I wanted to help make a difference there. Now I bike for everyday transportation, but advocating for better biking infrastructure is an even bigger part of my life. 

2. What does bike joy mean to you?

Bike joy to me is when I am riding on one of those precious few places in SF where the biking infrastructure is truly safe and carefree like Car Free JFK, the Great Highway Park and the concrete protected bike lanes on the Embarcadero. There is a sense of relief, fun, and ease. And of course, bike buses and all the fun I’ve had organizing them with Luke Bornheimer, Molly Hayden, Deep Jawa and Charlotte Mooney. It’s hard to beat the joy of riding through SF with music, bubbles and dozens of kids riding to school. 

3. How do you help make your community a better place to bike?

I ride on 17th St in Potrero Hill almost every day, including going to and from the gym with my kids. 17th St is the main east-west route on a bike and it’s a critical connection. The bike lanes on 17th are unprotected painted lanes. We started advocating for a physical separation that prevents cars from entering the bike lane and with lots of help from another volunteer, Kieran Farr, created safer17th.com. We did outreach to people using the bike lanes, through the local neighborhood associations. We quickly grew to about a dozen engaged volunteers plus several hundred supporters. We also coordinated with other organizations including the SF Bike Coalition, KidSafeSF, the Sierra Club and more. Ultimately we convinced SFMTA to formally approve a safer design for the bike lanes which will be installed by the end of spring, and we want to make the design even better – we’re still concerned about the lack of protected intersections and will continue to advocate for those. 

Following this success, our current focus is for Safer Illinois Street. Myself and another SF Bike member, Donovan Lacy have been helping member Kate Blumberg, who is leading Safer Illinois. We’ve been talking to merchants, creating materials, distributing posters and doing other outreach to decision makers. 

4. What advice do you have for people who want to get involved in making our streets better for biking?

Reach out to someone who is involved. That way they can loop you into an existing campaign and share lessons learned. It really is true that an organized group of just a few people can really change things. That’s how we made Safer 17th happen and you can do something similar in your neighborhood. I also encourage everyone to get involved with their local neighborhood association. Neighborhood associations in SF have outsized influence and we need that influence to be in support of biking. 

Want to reach out to Peter and get involved with neighborhood street advocacy? Email him at info@safer17th.com.

Get ready for Bike to Wherever Day with us – check out this year’s energizer stations, pledge to ride, and stay tuned for more info on group rides!

WE’RE HIRING: VALET BICYCLE PARKING ATTENDANTS

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is seeking energetic and organized individuals interested in providing first-class service to come be a part of our famous Valet Bicycle Parking team as Bicycle Valet Attendants. Candidates must have a flexible schedule, with availability on days, nights, and/or weekends. Must be available to work August and September. If you want to further the mission of the SF Bicycle Coalition by helping provide safe and secure bike parking at events all over San Francisco, we’d love to hear from you!

Hours: Flexible, part-time to full time, seasonal work. Includes days, nights, and/or weekends.

Reports to: Valet Bicycle Parking Program Coordinator

Bicycle Valet Attendants oversee site-specific valet bike parking operations for events citywide. Bicycle Valet Attendants are responsible for representing the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, as well as our mission and policies, to event organizers, volunteers, and the general public. Bicycle Valet Attendants are also responsible for on-site volunteer training, care and management.

Job Components

A Bicycle Valet Attendant:

  • Arranges drop-off/pick-up of supplies at event site
  • Sets up and breaks down events
  • Ensures appropriate location signage and banners are displayed, all parked bikes are tagged, outreach materials and signage is displayed on table, when available
  • Troubleshoots issues and resolves problems facing the Valet Bicycle Parking Program and SF Bicycle Coalition Volunteers
  • Is sensitive to opportunities to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of San Francisco Bicycle Coalition work
  • Maintains an effective manner and demeanor and sets an example for others
  • Is a proactive problem solver dedicated to ensuring a high-quality experience for all
  • Keeps track of the membership envelope, any membership forms and any donations and arranges their secure return to the SF Bicycle Coalition
  • Attends SF Bicycle Coalition’s Bicycle Ambassador Training at least one time per calendar year and is effective in explaining current SF Bicycle Coalition policies, goals, objectives, programs and activities.

Qualifications:

  • Commitment to providing a top-quality Valet Bicycle Parking experience for all guests
  • Ability to train and manage volunteers
  • Ability to work individually and as part of a team
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Comfortable working outdoors
  • Ability to lift 25-60 pounds required
  • Ability to lift bikes and gently place them about 4 feet off the ground
  • Ability to use bike to pull trailer of supplies weighing approx. 70+ pounds (trailer provided by SF Bicycle Coalition)
  • Must have your own bike and be comfortable biking in San Francisco.

Volunteer experience with our Valet Bicycle Parking program is a plus.

Pay is $21/hour for all events.

How to Apply:

To apply, please use the form to submit a resume and a PDF with your answers to the below three questions. A formal cover letter is not required. Please make your answers roughly one paragraph each:

  • What makes you excited to work at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition?
  • What does transportation justice mean to you and how do you see it fitting into your career?
  • What skills and/or experiences do you have that would make you a good fit for this role?

Commitment to Equity and Justice

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is an equal opportunity employer and acknowledges the harm biking culture and inequitable access to transportation have inflicted upon marginalized communities — including people of color, people with disabilities, people from working-class backgrounds, women, and people with LGBTQ+ identities. We believe that these communities must be centered as leaders in the work we do; therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with relevant lived experience. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.