Walk San Francisco » Actions

Extended Parking Meter Hours Study Debated

jamie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:59:57 +0000

On October 20, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board heard an introductory presentation of the SFMTA’s Extended Parking Meter Hours Study, commissioned by the SFMTA Board last spring during their budget deliberations, in which Muni service was cut and fares were raised while parking rates remained essentially untouched. When the Board of Supervisors threatened to veto the budget, the SFMTA Board called for a study of parking meter hours.

At the following Tuesday’s SFMTA Board meeting, about 50 people spoke for and against the study’s recommendations to extend meter hours in several well-defined commercial corridors. While understandably controversial, it’s an ultimately essential move towards making Muni a reliable and convenient transportation option, reducing the danger of traffic “cruising” for parking for the sake of safer walking, and rebalancing the inequitable state of encouraging cheap driving in a city with a bold commitment for sustainable streets.

Walk San Francisco will continue to work with transit and bicycle advocates to properly balance SF’s transportation revenue options. Read Walk San Francisco’s letter to the SFMTA Board and send your own note of encouragement to them at MTABoard@sfmta.com. To learn more, please listen to this interview with UCLA Planning Professor Dr. Donald Shoup.

Support the Mayor’s Sunday Streets Pilot Program!

jamie — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:21:16 +0000

Sunday Streets is a pilot program that will bring physical activity space to San Francisco neighborhoods on Sunday mornings this summer and fall. These Sunday morning activities will create a route for thousands of local families, kids and adults to walk, jog, and bike, as well as participate in group exercise. The program will offer safe and free activities that will attract people from throughout the city and the entire Bay Area. It represents our city’s next innovative step toward a healthier community.

Questions and doubts have been raised about the benefits of the Sunday Streets program to San Francisco, and an ordinance has been introduced that could potentially kill this Sunday Streets program planned for late August and September. To voice your support for Sunday Streets, please contact Supervisors through these emails: Michaela.Alioto-Pier@sfgov.org; Tom.Ammiano@sfgov.org; Chris.Daly@sfgov.org;Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org; Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org; Carmen.Chu@sfgov.org; Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org; Jake.McGoldrick@sfgov.org; Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org; Gerardo.Sandoval@sfgov.org.

Modeled on a 25-year old program in Bogota, Columbia, Sunday morning street activities have proven to be wildly popular on three continents in cities ranging from Tokyo to Kiev. American cities like Chicago, Portland, and New York are planning to hold similar events. By starting its own Sunday Streets program, San Francisco will join a global movement to create healthier cities.

Sunday Streets is an innovative way to connect local residents to San Francisco’s neighborhoods, and support local businesses in the process. It literally brings open space to local residents, activating local corridors with healthy activities and demonstrating the benefits of increasing open space and recreational opportunities within our city. The route will run along the city’s waterfront, showcasing the Blue Greenway, and connecting the Bayview district to Chinatown.

For more information about Sunday Streets, please visit the website www.sundaystreetssf.com or contact Susan King at susan@walkSF.org.

Weigh in on the Regional Transportation Plan

jamie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:06:47 +0000

Can you spend $30 billion in ten minutes? That’s approximately How long it will take you to complete the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s on-line survey for the current phase of the Transportation 2035 planning process.

Test your grasp of transportation facts, and tell MTC planners and policymakers how you would divvy up the $30 billion in Discretionary funding expected to flow to the Bay Area over the next 25 years. Maintain the existing transportation network? Provide more funding torelief traffic? Help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions?

Now is your chance to tell us what you think. Log on to http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/2035_plan/ and let us know your priorities by June 27, 2008 by clicking on the Transportation 2035 On-line Survey link.

Sidewalks are for Pedestrians Survey

jamie — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:01:44 +0000

Senior Action Network is conducting a study on theeffectiveness of education and enforcement regarding bicycle riding on the sidewalk and pedestrian safety. Presently SAN has documented that approximately 80% of bicyclists that travel on the sidewalk do so by riding their bicycle. At the same time SAN has documented about 20% of it’s members have been struck by a bicyclist within the last 2 years. To understand the complexities of this issue SAN is asking both pedestrians and cyclists to fill out one or both of its SHORT
surveys.

The survey for pedestrians is here:
http://www.sfsan.org/Pedestrian-Survey.html
and the survey for bicyclists is here:
http://www.sfsan.org/Bike-Survey.html

Masonic Avenue Online Survey

jamie — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:30:19 +0000

As part of our efforts to advocate for changes to the Masonic corridor, we are conducting a survey of residents and users of Masonic Ave. and surrounding streets. This survey will give us valuable information to further advocate for changes on Masonic.

If you live or work in the area or even if you like to stroll through the Panhandle and have concerns with the Fell/Masonic or Oak/Masonic intersections, please fill out the survey at www.walksf.org/fixmasonic