Walk San Francisco

Annual Meeting on October 6th

Walk San Francisco Annual Meeting – RSVP Online
Please join your Walk San Francisco friends at our annual meeting on

Tuesday, October 6th
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
SPUR’s beautiful new Urban Center
654 Mission Street (between 2nd & 3rd)

We’ll have Amit Ghosh, the Deputy Director of Planning from the MTA to tell us about plans for pedestrian improvements here in the City.

We truly hope you’ll join us for this once-a-year event so that we can get reacquainted and talk about our objectives.

Pizza and soft drinks will be served. Please RSVP  by Sunday, October 4th, so that we know how much food to order.

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Cars, pedestrians in The City should be on the level

The following originally appeared in the 1/15/2009 edition of the San Francisco Examiner, Opinion section.

“Jaywalker killed” blared off the front page of the Dec. 15 edition of The Examiner with a photo of a grisly scene. The subhead was equally jarring: “Elderly man with walker ignored no-crossing sign.”

When you opened up the paper, you were treated to the headline of “Illegal shortcut claims a life,” and you also learned that The Examiner is running a poll on its Web site asking whether there should be a crackdown on jaywalkers.

Cut and dried. The pedestrian did something illegal and paid for it with his life.

But is that really the whole story? We later learned that the name of the victim was Victor Cinti. He was an 87-year-old man who used a walker to get around.

So why would an 87-year-old man in a walker decline to use a pedestrian bridge and choose to jaywalk against the light? He doesn’t exactly fit the profile of someone who would dart across traffic — damn the consequences — because he was in too much of a hurry.

The first issue is the bridge itself. The bridge was built prior to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As such, the bridge is considered too steep for use by people with mobility problems. It is also seismically unsafe. Furthermore, there is no good way to inform blind pedestrians about the bridge, meaning that many blind folks end up crossing the street when they hear cars moving in their direction (as they are trained to do). The irony of this pedestrian bridge is that our most vulnerable citizens can’t use it, and we’ve taken away the one option that everyone can use and from anecdotal evidence many prefer: street-level crossing.

Furthermore, Cinti was killed on the west side of the street, while the bridge is on east side. This means that in order for Cinti to have used the bridge he would have had to cross Webster Street twice just to cross Geary Boulevard on the bridge, in addition to climbing up to cross. That’s a lot of extra effort for someone using a walker.

If the intersection of Geary and Webster allowed crossing at the street level, city standards would dictate more time to cross than what is currently the case. They would also dictate pedestrian countdown signals, along with pedestrian refuge islands in the medians, so someone who couldn’t cross the entire length of the street in one light cycle could continue at the next cycle.

The solution to avoid this kind of tragedy at intersections with a pedestrian bridge is not to crack down on “jaywalkers,” but rather to allow people to cross at street level. We also need to calm the traffic in this area and make it more inviting to people walking at street level, rather than trying to separate people from the street.

Manish Champsee is the president of Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian-safety advocacy group.

Pedestrian safety

 Walking in S.F. can be dangerous.

9.4 Percent of San Francisco residents who walked to work in 2000

9.6 Percent who walked to work in ’06

726 Nonfatal pedestrian collisions in ’06

13 Fatal pedestrian collisions in ’06

Sources: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, San Francisco Transportation Fact Sheet, October 2008

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13th Annual Winterfest – SF Bicycle Coalition Fundraiser

WHAT: 13th Annual Winterfest the SFBC Auction, Art Show, Party & Fundraiser

WHEN: Sunday, December 7, 6-10:30pm (with a special art preview on Saturday, December 6th from 6-8pm)

WHERE:  SOMArts,  934 Brannan Street (at 8th)

WHO: The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Rickshaw Bagworks

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT: Brass Mafia featuring Dublin

WEBSITE: http://www.sfbike.org/winterfest

COST: $15/sliding scale for SFBC members or join at the door for $40

Get out of the cold and into the hottest bike party, art show and fundraiser of the year! The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Rickshaw Bagworks present the 13th Annual Winterfect Auction, Art Show, Party and Fundraiser on Sunday, December 7th. A festive evening filled with the energetic sounds of Brass Mafia, a local New Orleans style marching band, 60 pieces of amazing local art to bid on and buy, great deals on bike and local goodies, not to mention the two New Belgium beer tickets that come with admission, all while supporting San Francisco’s most effective bicycle advocacy organization. It’s the party you won’t want to miss! Find out more at http://www.sfbike.org/winterfest

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Peak2Peak a Great Success

The Annual Peak2Peak walk happened this past weekend. The weather was foggy in the morning, though the fog burned off later in the morning and the weather cooperated for the rest of the day. We want to thank everyone who came for making it a fun-filled day. One of our walkers has posted some photos on flickr here:

http://flickr.com/photos/9240154@N03/sets/72157608188871175/

If you took any photos and have a flickr account, please tag them with peaktopeak

For More Information about the event:
http://walksf.org/peak.html

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COME OUT AND PLAY!

What: Sunday Streets
When: August 31 and September 14, 2008
Time: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Location: Washington at Clay Street to Embarcadero, Terry Francios Blvd, Illinois Street to 3rd Street and Oakdale in San Francisco

Join SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, Shape Up SF, Walk San Francisco, and our many partners for the exciting launch of Sunday Streets on August 31 and September 14! Sunday Streets brings 4.5 miles of open space to SF streets and creates a novel, fun play space for all.

Sunday Streets is anchored in two communities, Portsmouth Square in Chinatown, and Joe Lee Gym/Bayview Opera House in Bayview Hunters Point. These community centers will be connected by nearly five miles of open, car-free streets along Washington Street, the Embarcadero, Terry Francios Blvd. Illinois and 3rd Streets, with the route lined with activities for all to enjoy.

Come out and skip, skate, run, bike, stroll and sample different kinds of physical activity along the way. Organized activities include yoga, roller skating and skating lessons, biking and bike repair, dancing, stretching, guided walking tours, Tai Chi, Boot Camp classes and much more! All activities are free of charge, presented by nearly 100 health, fitness, youth and family oriented organizations.

To see the map of activities, volunteer, or learn more go to www.SundayStreetsSF.com

Tell all your friends, family members and members about Sunday Streets, then Come Out and Play!

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Support the Mayor’s Sunday Streets Pilot Program!

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.

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San Francisco Most Walkable City in America

Front Seat, the civic software company that operates walkability site www.walkscore.com, today announced the results of their calculations to identify America’s Most Walkable Neighborhoods. With gas topping $4 per gallon, Americans are increasingly looking for walkable places to live. The new list is the first objective national ranking of walkability; findings are based on analysis of 2,508 neighborhoods in the 40 most populous U.S. cities. The full rankings of the 40 cities and each of their neighborhoods can be found at www.walkscore.com.

Based on these rankings, San Francisco came out on top. It should be noted that the score is based entirely on services that are within walking distance of residents of different neighborhoods. While its wonderful to learn that San Francisco ranks high on this scale, we are also a very dangerous city for pedestrians.

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Walk San Francisco’s July Walk

Permeable Sidewalk Projects in the Mission District Walking Tour
Saturday, July 12th, 10:30am
Starting at Shotwell Greenway (Shotwell Street between 17th and 18th Streets)
Take a guided tour of Plant*SF’s permeable landscaped sidewalk projects in the Mission District. An innovative sustainable urban infrastructure practice, permeable landscaped sidewalks demonstrate one approach to reducing storm loads on the combined city sewer system, by removing significant portions of formerly existing concrete sidewalks, which instead of entering the sewer, permits rain water to permeate the exposed soil and nourish plants. When this method is implemented throughout the city, it will result in a significant reduction on the currently overloaded sewer system, and restore the city’s urban hydrology. These sidewalks also create species habitat and provide beautiful walking spaces.

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Weigh in on the Regional Transportation Plan

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.

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Better Streets Plan Draft for Public Review

View the Better Streets Plan Draft for Public Review

From the San Francisco Better Streets website:

Executive Summary
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Context
Chapter 3: Goals and Policies: The Path to Better Streets
Chapter 4: Approach: Designing Great Streetscapes
Chapter 5: Guide: Street Designs
Chapter 6: Guide: Streetscape Elements
Chapter 7: Implementation
Appendices

To comment on the Draft Better Streets Plan:

• Use the formal comment sheet located here
• Send comments to: info@sfbetterstreets.org
• Or come to a public meeting

To request a free CD of the plan, contact:

Maria Oropeza-Singh 
 San Francisco Planning Department
 PH. 415.558.6307
 maria.oropeza@sfgov.org

Hard copies of the plan will be available after June 5. Hard copies will be distributed to San Francisco Public Library branches, and may also be purchased for $99 (cost of printing) at:

San Francisco Planning Department
1650 Mission Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94103

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