Comments on: SF’s Transit-Only Lane Network is An Incomplete Vision

By: CBrinkman

CBrinkman — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:11:17 +0000

All European Cities? The bus lanes I saw in Vienna 2 years ago were quite clearly marked and enforced and allowed the bus to get downtown much faster then the cars. Maybe if you had a more even mode share and it were more expensive to buy gas and drive a personal auto as it is in some European Cities it might work.

I shudder to think what my commute would be like if the bike lanes I use were gone.

I say mark the transit lanes better and enforce the heck out of them. And if you’re too confused to figure it out – don’t drive until you do.

By: fogcity

fogcity — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:15:10 +0000

I actually prefer to remove all restrictions. We are the land of the free yet we always add restrictions. Walk this way, ride there, keep out, this is mine and you don’t belong here!
Drive in the cities in Europe and the bikes, cars, busses and peds all use whatever space is available.
HAns Monderman, traffic engineer and visionary is right. Get rid of all the street signs and share the road. If we share the roadway all the time no one will assume a right of way and we will deal with each other.
It is counter-intuitive to us because we expect governemtn to keep us safe but danger creates caution

By: Wai Yip Tung

Wai Yip Tung — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:15:13 +0000

What’s unclear is:

1. Some lane is restricted only in certain hour, others are all time time. It is very confusing.

2. A lot of cars are travelling in the bus lane. For drivers this mean either there is no restriction or it is a restriction you can ignore.

Paint the lane is certainly a good idea that make things clear.

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:34:14 +0000

paint the lanes!

By: Jeffrey W. Baker

Jeffrey W. Baker — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:04:28 +0000

I see SFPD ticketing drivers in the bus lane on O’Farrell between Polk and Larkin quite frequently. That stretch and the complementary stretch of Geary seems to have pretty high compliance.

Personally I do not see what’s so confusing about BUS ONLY painted in 20-foot-tall letters on the pavement. That seems pretty clear.

By: Jamison Wieser

Jamison Wieser — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:54:23 +0000

SFMTA only has the authority to cite parking violations, not moving violations, so they can only ticket people parking in front of the busses, not driving in the wrong lane.

The SFMTA now has 30(?) SFPD officers reporting to it who could be assigned to enforcing transit only lanes.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:21:57 +0000

Happily, I rarely drive in SF — especially downtown. But on one of my rare trips yesterday, I went through the same struggle. I found myself in a bus lane, but confused about whether I was allowed to be there. After squinting at the second sign, I realized it was only M-F, so I was in the clear.

Still, the striping and small signing doesn’t help make this an easy thing for drivers to figure out.

By: mikesonn

mikesonn — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:00:59 +0000

Wasn’t there talk a year or so ago of adding cameras onto the buses for that purpose? What ever happened to that?

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:40:32 +0000

Complete agreement here. The problem is both lack of information and lack of enforcement. Drivers who aren’t used to San Francisco streets are confused as to whether they can drive on the Bus Only lanes, and those who are used to SF know that they’ll never get a ticket.

I don’t see why both can’t be easily fixed. Like the article says, let’s clearly demarcate the Bus Only lane. Could we even paint it a different color, or stripe or pattern it to indicate that normal vehicles can’t drive there?

As for enforcement, I don’t know what the laws permit here. Could we install cameras in front of buses to ticket drivers who ride in the Bus Only lane? I’d be strongly in favor of that. Whatever gets the buses moving faster.