Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless otherwise noted in the story, GJEL Accident Attorneys is not consulted for the content or editorial alignment of the Sponsored Content.

Advocates held mock funerals Saturday in Oakland and San Francisco for BART, Muni, AC Transit and other agencies that may be forced to make significant benefit cuts because of ongoing Sacramento budget negotiations. From reporting in SFGate:

BART issued a statement last week outlining what those cuts would look like if the agency “fell off the tax cliff” without government funding for transit operations: Trains would only run once an hour and never after 9 p.m. there would be no weekend service and some stations and entire lines would be closed entirely. SFMTA said in a similar statement that without the necessary funding, Muni service would have to be scaled back to where it was at the height of the pandemic — meaning 40 percent fewer Muni routes and no service after 10 p.m

Another picture of the mock funeral from KidSafeSF Twitter

All interest groups, big and small, in the Bay Area participated and are working to put pressure on Gov. Newsom and the legislature.

Together, @SFBART and @SFMTA_MUNI are the fourth largest transit agency in the country, but these two systems are planning devastating service cuts as early as next year. pic.twitter.com/3J3OWzgbDQ

— SPUR (@SPUR_Urbanist) June 1, 2023

The rally managed to draw media attention to the issue (see SFStandard, SFChronicle, NBCBayArea, theFrisk, CBS for more information). Proponents again urge members to keep up the pressure. From Streetsblog ally Friends of Caltrain:

Can you call the governor and lawmakers NOW to save mass transit? We need to cut their phone lines during the negotiations. Noon or anytime during business hours is good.

State leaders are currently negotiating possible funding, but the proposed budget bills on the table do not yet provide enough funds to prevent larger cuts.

Hundreds of people took part in rallies over the weekend, which drew widespread media attention. Now decision makers need to hear directly from Californians.

So far, the main funding on the table would cannibalize funding for large capital projects — meaning forgoing over $6 billion in federal funding — or leave the Bay Area with a life-size railroad museum — large train stations with no rail service.

Negotiations are in the hands of the state’s leaders – Governor Newsom, Budget Chairs Ting and Skinner, Senate Speaker Pro Tem Atkins and House Speaker Rendon. The new parliamentary speaker, Rivas, is waiting in the wings.

Caltrain, BART, SFMTA and AC Transit face potentially catastrophic service cuts if the transit fiscal cliff isn’t averted.

Here’s how you can help now, ahead of the June 15 budget deadline:

* Make brief phone calls to Governor Newsom and senior negotiators during business hours. We need to burn down their phone lines.

* Send a letter to the state’s leaders telling them that we cannot sustain the state’s economy and meet our climate goals if public transportation collapses

* Sign up to volunteer to distribute flyers on trains, buses and ferries

Lawmakers are negotiating accountability measures to ensure agencies are committed to improving service, increasing ridership and long-term financial sustainability. But these improvements won’t happen unless we stave off the fiscal cliff – your help is important.

Streetsblog can only confirm this message! Be sure to make your voice heard in Sacramento.

The post Advocates and Officers Rally to Save Transit – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless otherwise noted in the story, GJEL Accident Attorneys is not consulted for the content or editorial alignment of the Sponsored Content.

Long-delayed construction of an elevated, sheltered bike path on a section of Fruitvale Avenue connecting BART to the Jingletown neighborhood is finally underway. From a city publication:

Fruitvale Avenue between E12th Street and Alameda Ave is a critical gap in the city of Oakland’s bike lane network. This stretch of road connects commuters and residents of Jingletown and the City of Alameda with the services, amenities and quality public transportation available around the Fruitvale BART station. This corridor is home to numerous railroad crossings, the I-880 underpass, and wide lanes that encourage high vehicle speeds. From 2014 to 2016, this corridor was the focus of a community planning and design initiative that saw the city hold several public meetings in the Fruitvale neighborhood.

Oakland’s first protected sidewalk-level bike path, entrance. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

While it’s great that it’s happening, the Fruitvale Alive project is really lagging behind. Even the city’s information page shows that construction should begin in the summer of 2022. In fact, studies and reports on this project began back in 2005, as evidenced by this tweet from Bike East Bay’s Robert Prinz.

Yes, community engagement with the project began in 2014 and funding came in 2016. The original Fruitvale Alive report was completed in 2005.

— Robert Prinz (@prinzrob) June 1, 2023

Streetsblog has reached out to the Oakland DOT to find out when the project will be complete and will update this post. Right now, “I heard ‘2024,’” Prinz wrote in an email to Streetsblog. “But nothing more concrete and no recent accounts.”

Big plus points of the project: the protected lane, of course. And the new connection to the Bay Trail, as shown in green on the map below. Currently, the Bay Trail is inaccessible from Fruitvale Avenue and the estuary without significant tracing. Even if someone wanted to overland it, thanks to the disused Union Pacific tracks, there are large fences blocking access.

Note the Bay Trail connection below in green.

“East Bay Parks is working on a separate Bay Trail connection project that will be built at the end of the Fruitvale project,” added Prince. “A protected Jughandle cycle path will be added between these two projects, which basically serves the same purpose as a protected crossing.”

A protected crossing is also planned at the intersection with East 12th. Unfortunately, none of the other intersections will be protected—and even on East 12th, according to the blueprints, only two of the four corners will have a protective island.

The only protected intersection is on East 12th. And only one side of it is protected.

Two of Fruitvale’s dangerous slip curves are removed, but others remain, apparently due to objections from AC Transit. Additionally, no provision has yet been made to protect the bridge over Fruitvale Avenue – cyclists will either be forced to dismount and use the sidewalk, as they must now, or have to contend with car traffic and no bike lane at all.

This sad situation will not be resolved. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

“Alameda is also working on its own project to continue the bike path over the Fruitvale Bridge and down the Tilden Way to Clement and Broadway,” Prince wrote. More on that in a future post.

Also, as is all too often the case, traffic control seems to have paid little attention to the needs of cyclists and pedestrians during construction, as Streetsblog found when photographing and surveying the area. Construction barriers that could have been used to protect cyclists and construction workers are instead used only to protect construction workers.

Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

And not only could the crew not bother to create a pedestrian detour, they didn’t even put up the sign they were told about the closed sidewalk:

Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

Of course, routes for cars are preserved because in the Bay Area, only drivers count (grrrrr).

No provision was made for pedestrians during construction.

Aside from the urgent work that was needed on Fruitvale Avenue, it’s great that this long overdue project is finally getting underway. In a year or two things should be a lot better for hikers and bikers between Fruitvale BART and Jingletown.

The post Development of Fruitvale Ave’s Protected Bike Lane – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless otherwise noted in the story, GJEL Accident Attorneys is not consulted for the content or editorial alignment of the Sponsored Content.

My short sabbatical in Europe ended this month with a trip to the Netherlands, the mecca for every urbanist and advocate of safe roads.

It wasn’t my first trip there. But as I got off the train in Utrecht a few weeks ago, having just finished my week at an international cycling conference in Leipzig, it struck me again that I was in a world that’s all about people, not about cars went . I am sure that all Streetsblog readers know the numbers: Depending on the city, a full third to over half of all journeys in the Netherlands are made by bicycle. Transit tends to increase again as much. Cars also play an important role, but they don’t take precedence over all other modes of transport like they do in the US

A bridge in Utrecht

It was my first time in Utrecht but it felt so familiar and comfortable, like an old shoe. It was as if the whole town was one community—an extension of everyone’s homes. It gave the same feeling you get when you walk through a park or an outdoor market, only they were just regular streets full of bikes, the occasional car or truck, and lots of pedestrians.

But that was not always the case in the Netherlands. Check out this photo below from the 1980s in Utrecht from the Bicycle Dutch blog.

An aerial view of Utrecht in the bad old days. Photo by : Bicycle Dutch

How do you reconcile old photos like the one above with today’s Utrecht, which is characterized by gabled houses, canals and bicycles? Surely they can’t be the same place? (But they are).

As an American, I can get a better idea of ​​that when I go to the Dutch city of Rotterdam next. Rotterdam was completely destroyed in World War II. Well into the 1970s the city was still being rebuilt like an American city – with skyscrapers, large glass and steel structures, freeways and huge roads to maximize automobile throughput.

It’s still a modern looking city with wide streets and tall buildings. There is nothing really “Dutch” or European about the architecture or layout, as I hope the photo of the skyline below will make clear. From this perspective, it could be Pittsburgh or Toledo without concrete streets running through and around downtown:

Rotterdam, Wikimedia Commons

And yet, just like Utrecht, Rotterdam feels wonderful for walking and cycling. Watching the movement of so many people on bicycles, trams, on foot and even by car was a kind of poetry. No horns. I could not see or hear any aggression. No standstill. And there was so much life in the streets.

A typical corner in Rotterdam

The Dutch are still making improvements. Since I was last there ten years ago, Rotterdam has moved away from building cycle lanes or even sheltered lanes as one would normally think of them. Instead of cutting off a fraction of the road space for cars and using it for bikes, they shook up the Etch a Sketch road and built completely separate roads for bikes, with wide gaps between the two modes of transport. Except at intersections, cyclists rarely need to interact with or pay attention to motorists. And the crossings are of course Dutch – no dangerous curves or mixing zones.

Modern Dutch cycle lanes are almost completely separated from the parking lot.

My friend Ju-Sung, with whom I stayed in Rotterdam, has a small, modern terraced house in the suburb of Zevenkamp. He and his wife own a car; There are many cars. Creating a suburban neighborhood where car ownership and use can still be desirable does not mean that it will be difficult or even difficult to use public transportation, ride a bike or walk. We actually walked everywhere and took the subway. All of the modes co-exist but without the constant conflicts and dangers of attempting to walk or bike through an American suburb.

My friend’s neighborhood in a suburb of Rotterdam. Note that there are many cars. Image: Google Earth

I’ve also gone jogging through the neighborhood and admired the harmony that reigns with the many hiking trails, wetlands teeming with ducks and other birds, bike lanes, car lanes, and trains.

Since I had a large suitcase, my friends saved me a transfer on the way back and drove me to a main train station where I could catch my return flight on my last morning there. They discussed driving me to Schiphol Airport but the train was a faster and easier option. Ju-Sung accompanied me until departure at Schiphol to say goodbye. You can do this for a friend if the trains are fast, frequent and reliable.

An example of one of the many bike-only streets in my friend’s Rotterdam suburb. Image: Google Maps

How come they have such a great transit too? investment of course. But the Dutch don’t make things that damn complicated either. The Rotterdam Metro, for example, runs on the surface as soon as it leaves the inner city district. On the surface, it takes complete precedence over other modes. It is therefore easy to get to the city center and trains are fast and frequent. And it doesn’t cost billions a mile to build and maintain.

The Rotterdam Metro runs on the surface, at a bicycle crossing

How many times have I heard from professional transit planners in California that subways can only run fast and frequently when they are in a tunnel or above traffic? No, planners simply have to follow the Dutch example and stop subordinating trains to people in cars. Note the above photo of a level crossing on the Rotterdam Metro. where the train crosses its own cycle path.

All of this may seem like an urban fantasy. But it’s real. And it’s accessible everywhere if leaders want to make it a reality, as they are currently doing in Paris, Brussels, Lyon and elsewhere.

I cut my flight home and stayed in Boston. Walking through downtown Boston, as is the case in any mid-to-large American city downtown, one encounters a place riddled with traffic noise, huge SUVs, pollution, huge multi-lane highways, virtually no bike lanes, and a non-stop gridlock is overwhelmed. It was shocking how intimidating and incredibly uncomfortable it was to be back.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Dutch design can be applied anywhere if people can get the “car must rule” meme out of their heads.

I wish everyone could spend some time in the Netherlands. I think upon his return, any sane person would demand an end to all freeways, multi-lane roads, unprotected bike lanes, noise and the current state of the Bay Area.

The post The Shock of Returning to the Bay Space – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• Gov. Newsom Proposes “Broad Changes” to CEQA (CalMatters)
  • It’s a “bold plan” to advance transportation, water, clean energy and other major infrastructure projects (Sacramento Bee)
  • What’s Inside (Capital Public Radio)
• Without CEQA, California would be much worse off (CalMatters)
• “We can’t get out of it” – Individual transport companies have to make their arguments (CalMatters)
• Youth in the Inland Empire want to lead the way on climate issues (Daily Bulletin)
• Some cities want people to keep using bikes (AP)
• Cruise And Waymo Close To Being Permitted To Operate 24/7 Driverless Taxis In San Francisco (Tech Crunch)
• Here is a bike with triangular wheels (Gizmodo)

For more California headlines, check out Streetsblog LA and Streetsblog SF

The post Right now’s Headlines – Streetsblog California appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless otherwise noted in the story, GJEL Accident Attorneys is not consulted for the content or editorial alignment of the Sponsored Content.

Transportation companies in the San Francisco Bay Area rely more heavily on fare box revenues than most of the rest of the country. In the past, that was something to be proud of, but given the sharp drop in ridership during the pandemic, it’s become something of an Achilles’ heel.

Federal aid has helped agencies continue to provide services to workers who have depended on them during the pandemic shutdowns, but that emergency aid is coming to an end. Meanwhile, a variety of factors have prevented ridership from returning to pre-pandemic levels, and major transit companies that have relied heavily on paying passengers are facing an existential crisis.

Representatives from multiple agencies and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission presented the issues to the Senate Special Committee on Bay Area Public Transportation, which met for the first time this week. No decisions were made or laws discussed at the hearing. However, there is pressure to take action, particularly after Governor Newsom’s May budget review continued to ignore transit.

California has never played a big part in funding public transportation — SPUR’s Laura Tolkoff said the bulk of public transportation funding in California comes from fares and taxes, with only a small portion of that provided by the state. This is why many of their agencies rely so heavily on ticketing revenue, supplemented by local and regional tax measures. This is low compared to other states, she said, citing New York (where the state provides thirty percent of operational funding) and Pennsylvania (fifty percent) as examples.

“California’s policy goals are ambitious,” she said, “and funding levels have fallen short of mobility, climate, equity and housing goals.”

Several speakers called for a one-off emergency funding from the state to give agencies time to find other sources of funding, which may take a while. For example, the MTC plans to draft a regional tax measure, but it must be approved by the legislature and then passed by voters, which would take at least several years.

“The only way to stop a death spiral is to provide emergency funding in the short term to avoid major benefit cuts,” Tolkoff said. “If you want transit traffic in fifty years, you can’t let it collapse in the next five years.”

Meanwhile, some of the larger agencies would reach the end of their funding and be forced to cut their services so drastically they might never recover. SF Muni, for example, estimates that about twenty bus lines would have to be eliminated, forcing BART to completely halt all weekend service and limit weekday service as well.

“This is not a crisis caused by financial mismanagement,” said committee chairman Scott Wiener. “No amount of tightening of the belt, no fare increases or cuts in services could have prevented this.”

“We need to work to identify long-term sources of funding, and we need short-term help while we implement service changes and other reforms to get ridership back up.”

The pandemic has led to enormous shifts in the use of public transport in recent years. “Remote work has increased massively, particularly in the Bay Area,” said MTC’s Rebecca Long. This has forced authorities to reconsider their purpose and find ways to efficiently accommodate passengers outside of normal commute times. For example, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District — which manages all routes across the Golden Gate Bridge, including the bridge itself, buses and ferries — says commuters are staying home, but leisure and tourist travel has mostly returned. Their efforts at efficiency include “right sizing” of staff – they employ 100 fewer bus operators than before the pandemic. Also, “we will not be running empty buses,” said Denis Mulligan, the district’s general manager. “If we did that, we would have already run out of government aid.”

The district has suffered dramatic losses in revenue in recent years. Before the pandemic, Golden Gate Bridge tolls were their top source of funding, and public transit fares were their second-biggest, above all the other sources. Fewer people now commute on the bridge and only seventeen percent of passengers have returned to their express buses that took passengers to Santa Rosa and across the Richmond San Rafael Bridge.

BART recently conducted a major survey to find out what it would take for its former commuters to return, and safety and cleanliness were top of the list for nearly all of them. So they increased the presence of BART officers on the trains — they were extremely rarely seen before the pandemic, but are now commonly seen driving and chatting with people on board — as well as unarmed ambassadors. They’ve expanded their cleaning regimen, sweeping every car at each end of its journey and doing a “more thorough cleaning” at night.

However, the former drivers, some of whom have switched to cars, will not hear of these changes unless they drive with the system and far less attention is paid to safe and clean than dirty and mean.

The post Bay Space Public Transit Companies Lay Out Their Case for Emergency Funding – Streetsblog California appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

It was raining and chilly that Saturday morning and it was so tempting to stay under the covers. But the long-awaited bike link from the Oakland Bay Bridge to Treasure Island was due to have a ribbon cut, so the old bike was pulled out and a good breakfast inhaled.

We knew that the ribbon cutting was really about the new on and off ramps from the highway to the island, and we had no illusions that we would find a Bike Eden. Finally, in recent years, the bike connection to the island has been cut off at weekends to allow the cumbersome ramps for cars to be built, and not because a bike connection would be complicated or expensive.

The rain subsided, forming a mist in the background, and it proved to be a perfect day for driving up the long, slow incline of the bridge. It was very quiet this morning; So far, only a few riders or hikers have been on the road – they probably stayed under the covers. Still, it was a surprise to see from a distance that there were no waiting media vans, no cameras, and no dignitaries assembled at the designated location. Was everyone afraid of getting wet?

We did not expect that one of the dignitaries would arrive by bicycle. This project is entirely within the city of San Francisco, but there is still no way to cycle from San Francisco to the islands. The current route benefits day riders from Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley, Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, as well as people who bring their bikes in transit from San Francisco.

A cyclist stopped at the designated spot for the ribbon cutting and looked at his phone. Another driver stopped by because he was checking out the rest of the route. We all traveled from the East Bay to witness the ribbon cutting: a city planner, a longtime cyclist and advocate, and myself.

We joked that a little rain sent the dignitaries inside, but after waiting a few more minutes we realized it wasn’t a joke – they might have settled elsewhere. So we made our way along the designated bike route to the Treasure Island administration building, where we found a couple of fancy shuttle buses waiting to carry people.

We arrived at this fabulous Art Deco building—which would offer stunning views of San Francisco if it weren’t for the cars parked in front of it—just in time to hear SFCTA Director Tilly Chang address the thanks to supporters of Bike East Bay and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for their contribution to the bike path. Those advocates weren’t in attendance — some of them have taken on other jobs after years of meetings with the agency. But we were there! Two of us made it, we stood in the back with our bikes.

We missed most of the speeches and missed even more when a member of staff offered us coffee and snacks. As a working journalist on a small salary, I appreciate a good Costco croissant, but believe it or not, that wasn’t what fascinated me on a cold, wet Saturday. I wanted to celebrate the opening of the cycle path seven days a week and see the route.

On the way there we had raced over the small mountain of Yerba Buena Island. The Bay Bridge Freeway cuts through a tunnel in the heart of the hill, but the bike route — and the ascents and descents — winds uphill and over the mountain before dropping to the flat sea level of Treasure Island. We were distracted by the stunning views of San Francisco and the rush to find the event.

But on the way back there were no distractions. The steep hill rose high before us. At the bottom, beautiful new landscaping helped make a short set of switchbacks more enjoyable than the rest of the ride, which was merely a steep uphill tarmac track alongside the road. I had to walk; My cycling colleague was able to stay on the pedals, but we rode at the same speed.

People: It’s steep. I came back a few days later to check out the route to town (by ferry). My first impression – that this isn’t a hill for someone not quite sure if their brakes are working properly – was confirmed when I encountered a cyclist standing to one side, contemplating the way down. Ahead, Macalla Road turned so steeply that it disappeared from sight. The driver was equipped with cycling gear; she had a high quality racing bike; she looked prepared. But when I pulled up next to her, she said everything that had been on my mind since that first Saturday ride.

A camera just can’t capture the steepness here. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

“I’m terrified,” she said. “How did that come about? What were they thinking? San Francisco needs one or two employees who actually ride bikes to realize they need to build something better than that.” In the end, she turned around and refused to walk down the hill, even though the ferry to San Francisco was right there .

It cannot be overstated that this descent to Treasure Island is not for the faint of heart; It is not suitable for cargo bikes, children or families. It’s definitely not for e-bikes with potential braking issues. If you’re a confident mountain climber, you’ll have fun, but definitely don’t skip the ABC quick check (air, brakes, crank and chain, quick release, fast ride) before you head out.

Take this warning seriously.

The view back down the Strait from the Treasure Island Ferry. I still can’t really describe how steep it is. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

On Saturday, both of us, who had cycled all the way there, raced back to the viewpoint on the shuttle buses (slowly up the hill). The ribbon had already been ceremoniously torn with scissors several times in the administration building, but there were more speeches and a “photo opportunity” in the park with a view of the bridge.

Again we waited in vain. Obviously this reinforced my belief that bikes are better as we got there well before the buses.

But when they finally arrived, the shuttle drivers dropped them off at a spot far above us – and completely unreachable from the bike path. To get to where the event was to take place, the dignitaries would have had to cross a high-speed ramp and walk around the outside curve for a few hundred yards. how much fun How dangerous! Welcome to my world!

At least you can see us in the background of their photos. There we are, way down in the background, behind a fence. It looks like we photographed the event.

Happy to be photo bombarding this motor vehicle centric event with bikes together with @currymel.@prinzrob pic.twitter.com/i7zfoLEtIl

— gregm123456 (@gregm123456) May 7, 2023

That was absolutely the perfect metaphor for the day. Bikes were never the focus of this project. The bike route is attached to an existing vehicle route and while parts of it are great, like the switchbacks at the bottom of the hill, much of it is impossible.

It’s also obviously not finished yet, so hope shouldn’t be given up. On my follow-up ride I could see that at a point where cyclists are supposed to switch places on a sharp bend and cyclists are going in the opposite direction – it’s painted green but very confusing – another cycle link is being built across the underpass.

It’s just not open.

It’s well marked but if a few more cyclists come out here there will be chaos. To the right, on the incline, the two directions switch places. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

And this is an “intermediate project”. These on and off ramps were built to allow the other, more gently sloping road on the other side of Yerba Buena Island to be closed and its bridges rebuilt. The SFCTA says cyclists will one day have the choice of either safely navigating a gentler climb or choosing an improved two-way bike route over this steep trail.

Also, one day there will be a bike path on the west side of the bridge.

At least that’s the current plan. Proponents who have been working on it for years, including Bike East Bay’s Dave Campbell — who is among those who have turned to other ventures — describe plans changing constantly as the actual building of a busy road up this steep incline has met unexpected obstacles . Yes, as Caltrans director Tony Tavares said when I asked him about it, there were certainly “space constraints” when planning this transition route. This is in the nature of the building infrastructure.

However.

Access to these islands by car is already very easy. Housing is expanding on both Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island, and San Francisco has made it possible for people to hop on and off with private vehicles (even if they discuss congestion pricing, which is fair, since the only way to do this is by car). to reach or leave the island is a boat or a bridge). ).

But as usual, bike access was not taken seriously. The restriction of 24-hour access for the cycle path – but not for the car path next to it – is condescending and dismissive. It’s ridiculous to pretend that a 17 percent gradient is a reasonable compromise for any bike route. The assumption that nobody wants to ride a bike becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when bike routes end like this.

This is the only warning sign of what lies ahead. That’s Alcatraz Island out there in the bay. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

But people drive it. We met two young men who were floating down the bridge on e-bikes on the “wrong” route – the south side of Yerba Buena Island, which is “closed” to bikes and will soon be closed to all vehicles for several years. They knew exactly what they were doing. They grew up on Treasure Island, and one of them still lives there, mulling over the $3,000 her family was offered to move out of their affordable rental home.

According to too many traffic planners, people like her don’t really exist. At least they don’t matter, especially compared to people who travel by car.

The new driveways are really nice. This is the bridge in the background (looking east here) Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

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Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless noted in the Story, GJEL Accident Attorneys will not be consulted for the content or editorial direction of the Sponsored Content.

induced demand? What is that?

Pretending that induced demand—a well-documented phenomenon—didn’t exist was the unintended theme of Saturday’s celebration of the opening of the “Managed Lanes” project at 101 in San Mateo County (aka freeway widening). More details on KQED’s $600 million project:

The San Mateo 101 Express Lanes Project officially opened with a dedication ceremony on Saturday. The 22-mile express lanes, stretching along Highway 101 from the San Mateo/Santa Clara county line to Interstate 380 in South San Francisco, are designed to reduce traffic congestion and encourage carpooling and the use of public transit along one of the busiest thoroughfares on the peninsula Promote San Francisco. “The opening of the freeways in San Mateo County has been in the pipeline for years [and] it finally came to fruition,” said San Mateo Rep. Kevin Mullin, representing District 15. “It’s good for the economy, it’s good for the environment, and it’s a win-win for everyone involved who’s taken the years to get this project off the ground.”

Of course, Mullin’s claim that it’s “good for the environment” is complete nonsense. If officials wanted to help the environment, they could have converted existing lanes into toll, HOV, and bus lanes instead of adding more lanes.

Most advocates would probably rather be somewhere else on a Saturday than standing in the middle of screeching lanes full of car pollution. But Mike Swire, a peninsula advocate and member of the San Mateo County Transit Authority’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee, Max Mautner, co-lead of Move San Mateo, and Darryl Yip, who is leading opposition to further 101 expansion between 380 and 101 San Francisco, went down to try and fight off the gaslights.

Mautner, Swire and Yip came to protest the ribbon cutting: image from Swire’s Photostream

And since KQED quoted Swire as saying the 101 project was “the worst local environmental decision in recent memory” and “the highway widening has never worked,” it had the desired effect.

Officials, meanwhile, “discussed the environmental and equity impacts of the project,” Swire wrote in an email to Streetsblog. “No mention of global warming, air pollution, traffic violence, or induced demand. Many prominent politicians are there and speak – e.g. B. Newly-elected Congressman Kevin Mullin, Progressive County Supervisor David Canepa, and Newly-elected Rep. Diane Papan (the main sponsor of the project).”

Sure, as long as people in these low-income communities hold their breath.

Photo by Caltrans of their latest expansion project

As Streetsblog previously reported, stakeholders in widening the 101 (and other roads) sometimes even tacitly admit that their projects aren’t working — and are actually making things worse. Despite this, they continue to do the work, knowing full well that it will harm the environment and lead to more accidents and other destructive effects. Advocates must keep challenging this evil until they stop.

The post Advocates Crash 101 Celebration of Induced Site visitors and Air pollution – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

NASA engineers, impressed by SFMTA’s outreach and community meeting program, have decided that the construction of the next lunar launch, including choice of propulsion, rocket design and other factors, will be based on public comment.

“We have a long history of not listening to the public before launching a rocket,” said Jeffrey Smuvlin, NASA’s chief of propulsion systems. “That needs to change. And SFMTA has shown us the way.”

Following this concept, Smulvin instructed the agency to discard any design guides based on Newtonian physics or a century of international best practices, and instead rely on the “something is better than nothing” principle, gut instinct and if it suits your gut instinct corresponds, public comment.

At the first such meeting, held Tuesday at Moffett Field, members of the public were each given two minutes to address a panel of NASA directors.

“I think you should use organic, natural methane for fuel — it’s less wasteful,” said Mountain View’s Joyce Souffle. “I know the bottling and collection will take longer, but you haven’t been to the moon in fifty years, so why the rush?”

“Just attach some impulse engines and dilithium crystals to the ship,” said Bobby Canolie, a foodie from North Beach. “It worked on TV!”

Meanwhile, staff at UCSF General Hospital, inspired by NASA, are moving forward with similar plans to adopt SFMTA’s outreach efforts as a core component of their treatment programs. “Yes, why shouldn’t we listen to the public?” said Dr. George Whackedelly. “We must be able to say that we are listening.”

In addition, Whackedelly said that from now on the hospital would ignore studies of successful surgical techniques from Europe and Asia. “Just because a new heart bypass technique has shown better success rates abroad doesn’t mean it will work here. That’s not Denmark.” Whackedelly added that he is reactivating the bloodletting/leech unit. When asked why he would resort to an ancient medical technique that doesn’t work, he said “we have to do something” and that doctors at a clinic in a São Paulo suburb still use lye.

The first program to receive public funding under the new policy will be the hospital’s Brain Surgery Unit. Operations will be delayed for three years or more while public comments are collected and processed, Whackedelly said. He added that even if 99 percent of the public urged the hospital to go back to science, studies and international best practices, they would not. “We can’t go back. It is too late. We must do something now.”

“You spend too much money on surgical tools when drills and picks from any hardware store will do,” Clark Chan of Great Maul Hardware in Taraval said at the hospital’s first public session on surgical techniques, also held Tuesday. “A drill is a drill is a drill. If it’s good enough for a two-by-four, it’s good enough for my skull.”

“You know what? I’m flying to Sweden for my brain tumor surgery,” said Shane Rodgers, arriving at the meeting in his scrubs. “You guys are f*cknuts.”

***

Streetsblog will be closed on Friday March 31st in celebration of Cesar Chavez Day. Since April Fool’s Day is Saturday, we thought we’d publish this post earlier.

The post NASA Adopts SFMTA Determination-Making Mannequin for Lunar Mission – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless noted in the Story, GJEL Accident Attorneys will not be consulted for the content or editorial direction of the Sponsored Content.

Click here to join the fight for protected Dutch-style cycle lanes in Valencia Here. Download your own flyers Here.

In less than two weeks, over 600 people have already written to the mayor, the SFMTA board and others, urging the city to halt its push to build cycle lanes in central Valencia. They strongly support the Better Valencia Plan, a push by advocates to demand that the city deliver on its 2020 promise to extend the successful Dutch-style sheltered cycle lane (from the Markt to the 15th) to the rest of the street .

This is entirely consistent with the city’s own outreach, conducted in 2022, which showed that only 13 percent, or 80 people, supported the center-led design over a three-month city-led outreach period that also included about 600 respondents arrived. The SFMTA board is scheduled to vote on the plan on April 4.

“Valencia dealers I’ve spoken to also support Better Valencia’s plan for protected roadside bike lanes,” said Luke Bornheimer, a “slow streets” mayor and one of the advocates who campaigned for a car-free JFK at the forefront Valencia for protected cycle paths based on the Dutch model. “They understand that not only would it be better for safety and the climate, it would also be better for business.”

As Streetsblog readers are likely to know, in 2018 SFMTA included a “Center Running” design as an option for the Valencia street (see configuration below). This design, a failed concept adopted by some surviving examples around the world, violates security best practices. Running in the center is almost unknown in the Netherlands, Denmark or anywhere else with a really successful and ubiquitous cycling infrastructure. The only thing that makes it good is preserving roadside access for motorists. It was almost universally rejected in 2018 during city public relations. In 2020, SFMTA completed designs to extend the successful Dutch-style sheltered cycle lanes (from Market to 15th and from Duncan to Cesar Chavez) to more of Valencia and to add sheltered crossings. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition strongly supported this plan, but later changed their view (under new leadership).

A look at the center-running, unprotected bike lane city officials plan to build to wedge cyclists between moving cars and trucks with no physical protection other than plastic posts specially constructed to allow motorists to drive directly over them. Image: SFMTA

Some proponents have argued that a bike lane running down the middle is the way to make the street pedestrianized. Of course, one does not follow from the other. Even Tom Maguire, deputy head of SFMTA, conceded in a recent email to Bornheimer: “The park sheltered design you advocated last week wouldn’t necessarily preclude a placemaking pilot, but it would severely limit options that could be explored.”

A reminder that the design that Bornheimer “began to advocate for last week” was the plan that SFMTA drafted and presented to the public in 2020, before the mayor ordered SFMTA not to touch the parklets or that Disturbing car loading, Vision Zero and safety be damned.

Seen in Valencia on Saturday. The same city officials who want proponents to trust they want a central walking lane at some future, unspecified date to ease pedestrian traffic have removed a fallen tree from Valencia’s lanes and neatly placed the timber on a bike-sharing Station and stored on top of the existing bike lane, putting cyclists’ lives at risk – further proof that this city’s officials always put rider’s comfort ahead of cyclist’s safety. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

To simplify Maguire’s statements, the Running vs. Parking Protected center has nothing to do with placemaking, which all advocates of safe and livable roads support. The other argument for center running is that it’s “better than nothing.” In fact, there are indications that the road will be more dangerous than it is now when bike lanes running down the middle are added (see tweet and links below).

I was surprised to find out that the DC Bike Path Assessment Report was co-authored by a planner who is now SFMTA Liveable Roads Director!

What it says about safety is discouraging: collisions increased, even accounting for the increased number of cyclistshttps://t.co/7rZH9KETFX pic.twitter.com/cNvDmKU8vW

— zachlipton@mastodon.xyz (@zachlipton) September 21, 2022

To paraphrase Copenhagenize, figuring out how to build safe cycling infrastructure has been a decades-long struggle riddled with failed experiments and tragedy — but the Dutch and Danes have a 100-year lead over the US SFMTA, which is literally talking about it to repeat the same experiments with people life and limb at stake. As Copenhagenize put it, “If you wouldn’t put pedestrians in a middle lane between moving traffic, why the hell would you put cyclists there!”

Register for join the fight for protected cycle paths based on the Dutch model in Valencia. Download flyers Here.

The post Assist Construct a Higher Valencia Road – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.