Photo: Bike and Roll San Francisco

As for the potential one-dollar tax to be imposed at the point of bike rental, that discussion "is still in the infant stage," according to Sausalito City Manager Adam Politzer. There has only been one meeting and "this is a negotiated activity. The council is not talking about imposing a fee."

To put the potential tax on rental bikes in perspective, the typical parking space might generate about $3,500 a year in fees and fines; the tax on rented bikes would generate that amount in two days. The charge would come at the point of rental, not at the parking site.

The proposed tax has pleased city merchants, but locals frustrated by bicycle traffic complain that rental bikes clog sidewalks and add to commute times for ferry riders camped out for hour-long waits as the bikes are off-loaded from the boats.

Last year the rental companies, ferry operators and city staff, along with the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC), worked to add ferries at non-commute times and racks for 420 bikes donated by the rental companies. But that didn’t appease critics. The council is likely to be split, 3-2, in favor of the added parking, but it’s unclear what will become of the one-dollar fee negotiation.

"Rental bike traffic has increased every year," said David Hoffman, MCBC spokesman. "We’re trying to accommodate all points of view and come up with a solution the city staff, bike rental companies and residents can live with. The problem is some in the city leadership and some local residents are not satisfied with the progress," he said.

Next month’s council discussion may also deal with recently added signs directing cyclists to bike parking, warning them not to park on sidewalks, and directing them to ride single file through town.

"The reality is cyclists will not be going away. This is a paradigm shift and it will be real and a significant portion of the city traffic. The city has to think about how to accommodate the new shift," Hoffman said.

The new pavement markings make it much clearer where cyclists and cars are supposed to switch lanes on Market Street near 11th Street. Photos: Matthew Roth

The gradually evolving traffic rearrangement on Market Street got a boost yesterday as the MTA re-striped the bicycle and motor vehicle crossing zone at Market and 11th, clarifying how the vehicles are supposed to negotiate the street with bold new markings. In addition to clearer turn and merge arrows for motorists, there are numerous sharrows starting as far back as Van Ness and Market and extending through the intersection of Market and 10th streets.

Though it's not quite Copenhagen, where blue bike lanes run through intersections, Neal Patel of the SFBC noted that these are the first sharrows he is aware of painted in the middle of an intersection to give cyclists direction for how to navigate the lane shift.

"It's great to see the MTA continue to observe how people are using the street and make quick design changes," said Patel, who noted that the agency moved the original trial traffic diversion from 8th Street back to 10th to measure the impacts.

Patel also commended the agency for moving quickly to address the confusion among the street's users about how to negotiate the lane swap. "The new markings will hopefully solve that problem and get cyclists to the left of right-turning vehicles," he said. "I'm confident that if it doesn't appear to be working, the MTA will look for more ways to improve the situation."

Sharrows extend through the intersection of Market and Van Ness.

For cyclists riding the new configuration, the changes received rave reviews, though some were concerned that drivers were still splitting the soft-hit posts to access the bus-only lane, then being forced to turn right at 10th Street where the parking control officers are stationed.

"My big concern is drivers who don't really get what's going on there," said Ali Kirby, a recent transplant to San Francisco from Santa Cruz. Kirby said she made a point of riding on Market when she heard of the trial changes and said she felt most of the drivers who were confused by the change were not residents in the city. Despite the concern, she lauded the changes and the improvements for cyclists. "I love it so much. It's really wonderful."

Another regular Market Street bicycle commuter who declined to give his name agreed with Kirby. "I just think you have a high percentage of people who aren't from San Francisco who drive down Market Street, so it's confusing to them," he said. As for the sense of safety downstream of the traffic restrictions, he was thrilled, "I love it."

At least one cyclist thought the changes were still awkward, citing the confusion when vehicles in the left lane are forced to make a right turn at 10th Street. "Generally the changes are good," he said, adding that he liked "the reduction of traffic through this portion. I have noticed it and it has been a huge god-send." One suggestion he had for the MTA was to better alert motorists that they would have to turn right on 10th so more might turn voluntarily at 11th, as some already appear to do.

For Brad Jones, a San Francisco cyclist who had been traveling and hadn't ridden on Market Street in several months, the restrictions were a welcome surprise. Jones said any further improvements for cyclists and transit vehicles would do the city good. "The more the merrier."

Of course, some didn't understand why the cabs could go through in the middle lane. After cutting between the soft-hit posts, this car had to turn back right at 10th Street when the PCO blocked the way.

When folks from Acura called up and asked if your humble narrator planned on covering some sort of unveiling of their 2010 ZDX here in the city -- it was a thanks but no thanks moment.

As a courtesy to the out-of-town driver, we kindly suggested she "look out for bicycles."

Silence. Dead silence.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

(Buries head in hands). Welcome to San Francisco, PR person.

Photo: AgentAkit

Last summer, the bike rental companies donated enough racks to hold 420 bikes and also paid for a cycling coordinator for the city. But that wasn't enough to appease the critics, who helped elect City Councilwoman Carolyn Ford as their voice on the council. Ford, who made "bicycle management" part of her platform, didn't return a call seeking comment.

So far, the council is only pondering a plan to convert four auto parking spaces near the ferry into free bike parking. But the thought of giving up four revenue-generating parking spaces for the rental bikes has prompted talk of an excise fee of $1 or more on each rental bike. To put that in scale, a typical parking space might generate about $3,500 a year in fees and fines; a $1 tax on rental bikes could produce that much in less than two days.



Even if there is a proposal at the meeting, there is no certainly it would succeed. Councilman Mike Kelly told Streetsblog "someone brought up the idea" in the past, but it was dropped. He said he would oppose it if it came up now because of the city's success in resolving conflicts over the past two years.

"I would view that [a tax] as a failure proposal - that we've failed to find a solution to a problem. I don't think we're there yet," he said. Instead, he said he'd like the city to work with the companies "so that they're happy and we're happy." Kelly said Sausalito "welcomes" the cyclists and "just has to ensure they don't interfere with everything else going on" in town.

In the past, there has also been discussion of impounding bikes parked on sidewalks, but cooler heads prevailed. The city has worked closely with cycling advocates to add a new bike lane along Bridgeway and is still looking for an alternate route that could cut down on accidents. In return, MCBC has worked with the city to get high-speed recreational riders to slow down, observe traffic laws and to ride single file through the busiest parts of town.



While there is no formal proposal for a rental bike tax on the council's agenda, MCBC Planning Director David Hoffman expects a discussion about the tax to surface at Tuesday night's city council meeting. 

"I applaud the City of Sausalito's efforts to keep bike parking and bike traffic organized. Last year was a positive experience, and I'm also hoping this year is a positive experience," said Hoffman. "I'm really hoping some of the anti-bike sentiments don't get a foothold."

Kelly said if the idea does come up, he will ask that the matter be put on the agenda for discussion at a future meeting.

UPDATED: 3:00 p.m.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made a surprise visit to the closing reception of the National Bike Summit last night, speaking to a record crowd of bicycle advocates and industry representatives, many of whom spent the day swarming the halls of the Capitol as part of the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) annual lobby day.

"People get it. People want to live in livable communities," LaHood told the crowd, after hoisting himself atop a table in the Dirksen Senate Office Building room so the large gathering could see him. "People want streetcars that are made in Portland, Oregon. People want walking paths, biking paths, and opportunities for families to really do the things they do best, which is to hang together and have fun. You all created an opportunity for America with all of your hard work."

"I’ve been all over America, and where I’ve been in America I’ve been very proud to talk about the fact that people do want alternatives. They want out of their cars, they want out of congestion, they want to live in livable neighborhoods and livable communities." He added, to thunderous applause, "you've got a partner in Ray LaHood."

"Ray, we've got your back," said Congressman Earl Blumenaur, the founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus, who told attendees that they have made a difference but there are "a lot of people who don't get the big picture yet."

The reception ended the league's 10th annual summit, which saw a record number of attendees: more than 700 advocates from all over the country took part.

"From my perspective what has changed most dramatically is not just the numbers over the years, but our own belief in the ability we have to convince others this stuff actually works," said Andy Clarke, President of the LAB. "We've got examples in the field now in San Francisco, in Portland, in Chicago, New York City, where you can document a real change in behavior, and we've got mode shift going on and we can see why it's happened." 

The underlying theme, as it has been in years past, was the reauthorization of federal transportation law. Bike advocates also asked lawmakers to expand programs like Safe Routes to School and adopt new legislation to improve conditions for walking and biking.

"It's a challenging time to be asking for more funding," said Clarke. "But this isn't new money, first and foremost. There's money in the system that can be used that isn't being used on safety programs or bridges or congestion relief programs that can very legitimately be used for biking and walking."

That message, said Clarke, is what advocates were urged to tell their representatives.

"I was rather impressed with some of the speeches our people made," said bicycling pioneer Gary Fisher, who attended the summit for the first time. "We keep coming and coming and coming and it keeps getting bigger and bigger."

Fisher, wearing his usual tweed suit, joined other advocates in lobbying representatives and ran into Senator Dianne Feinstein in the hallway. Fisher said he thinks lawmakers got the message that the bicycle movement is truly grassroots.

The California delegation was the largest at the event, with more than 60 members. Later in the evening, a benefit at a Union Station restaurant for the California Bicycle Coalition raised more than $30,000. CBC President Dave Snyder says the organization hopes to use the money to hire an executive director.

"The reason I came here was to get national help to revive the CBC and it was gratifying to see the national bike industry and the California bike industry recognize how important it is to have a strong California bicycle voice with reauthorization coming up," said Snyder. "It surprised me to see how eager Californians are to see a powerful bike coalition in the state."

For more on the National Bike Summit, visit Bike Portland. Jonathan Maus cranked out some excellent coverage.

Congressman Earl Blumenaur. Photo by Jeffrey Martin courtesy of the League of American Bicyclists. 

A large crowd of advocates packed a room for the National Bike Summit closing reception in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Photo by Bryan Goebel.

Cycling pioneer Gary Fisher meets Transportation Secretary LaHood. Photo by Bryan Goebel.

Photos: Matthew Roth

After experimenting with one configuration for soft-hit posts for a few weeks along Market Street approaching 10th Street, the MTA has changed the configuration to give cyclists more room in approaching the intersection. The new soft hit posts extend from just before the intersection at 11th Street and Market up to 10th Street in the eastbound direction and the lane has a larger painted buffer.

As could be expected with any new treatment, users weren't exactly sure what they were supposed to do. A number of cars turned in to the bus, taxi, and commercial vehicle-only lane, only to adjust later by driving through the spaces in the soft hit posts, using the crosswalk to sneak in, or pushing their luck with the PCO stationed at 10th Street, who inevitably turned them anyway.

Many cyclists were confused as well, continuing into the right-hand turn lane before realizing a wide-open swath of pavement to the left that was designated for them (granted, a couple more "e"s are still needed). Most moved over between the posts before the intersection.

Of course, if it wasn't completely obvious to motorists that they couldn't proceed, this PCO was happy to direct them onto 10th Street. He told me he had been working the mandatory turn intersections off-and-on since September, when the trials first started. While some motorists were confused, he said it was a great help to be able to park his Interceptor and to be flanked by the big "Lane Closed" sign.

Given the very recent change, users should expect a transition period where the new configuration becomes more familiar. A traffic engineer rule of thumb is to wait at least thirty days before gauging the success of significant changes.

Some got it right away:

Some obviously need to take another lap:

Trial traffic diversions on Market Street. Photo: sfbike

Planners said they would focus on prioritizing the needs of pedestrians, transit riders, and cyclists, while allowing for necessary vehicular traffic, such as deliveries.   

"We want to increase transit performance and make bicycling comfortable for the 8 to 80 group," said Timothy Papandreou, Assistant Deputy Director for Planning and Better Market Street project manager for the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA). Papandreou's reference to the "8 to 80 group" alludes to former Mayor af Bogotá, Colombia, and livable city luminary Enrique Peñalosa's refrain that a city must design its bicycle network so an 8-year old child or an 80-year old senior would feel safe riding through it.

Though it would be premature to speculate whether cars would eventually be banned on Market Street or whether bus and transit lines would be moved to neighboring streets, Papandreou said the city team was looking at best practice examples from around the world, including Melbourne, Australia, where Swanston Street was recently re-designed as a transit and pedestrian thoroughfare without private cars or taxis. He also pointed closer to home and said they had been monitoring the success of similar experiments in Portland and Seattle.

Papandreou noted that one quarter of all transit trips in San Francisco either happen on Market Street or traverse Market Street, so the importance of the project from a transit perspective couldn't be underscored enough.

"Market Street really is the main everything," he said. "Whatever we do [there] is going to impact the whole transportation system. "

Another guiding principle will be improving the pedestrian experience and enhancing destinations along the corridor. As with the transportation trials, the public space interventions will inform the public realm changes that will be part of the long-term vision.

In addition to the Art in Storefronts initiative, the city has experimented with trial Green Pods, where tables and chairs have been set up on sidewalks surrounded by plants, and small open-air concerts Through the People in Plazas program.

"It’s not just about curb to curb," said Astrid Haryati, Mayor Newsom's Director of Greening, in reference to the repaving of the street between curbs. "We’re looking into the kind of consultant that would work with us comprehensively, not just mobility but all aspects of placemaking."

Art on Market Street Mural. Photo: Matthew Roth

Addressing Systemic Challenges on Market Street

Of course, the sum total of trials won't add up to an improved street and public realm without addressing vital questions about economic development and the negative public perception of the Mid-Market portion of the street between Van Ness and 5th Street.

Haryati said the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development was talking with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency about revisiting a redevelopment plan for the area, which would allow for increased bonding to spur development. Despite the difficult history and politics of redevelopment on this portion of Market, Haryati struck an optimistic tone, referring to the street and public space changes as a complement to "impactful development in the area."

Balancing development, streetscape beautification and transportation improvement with social issues like homelessness will likely be one of the more difficult challenges the planning team faces.

Dina Hilliard, Associate District Manager of the North of Tenderloin Community Benefit District (CBD), said that while she was encouraged by the Art in Storefronts pilots and the three People in Plazas jazz concerts the CBD funded, improving the lives of homeless people was a "root issue" that would be much more difficult to address.

"It is a balance and that’s why we’re saying let’s deal with the root problems," said Hilliard. "You can’t just put up a chair and a table and the issue is fixed."

Kit Hodge, Director of the San Francisco Great Streets Project, said the city was aware of the bigger challenges and would focus on them while making infrastructure changes.

"The city recognizes that this is a street with a lot of discussion about improvements," she said. The city is focusing "on the bones of the street, to some extent the blood, but recognizing that this project can’t solve all the issues with the street."

Though none of the planners said the process would be easy, they have taken heart with the general acceptance of the trial automobile diversions.

The Union Square Business Improvement District (BID), one of the groups wary of the traffic diversions last summer, was pleased that the changes hadn't hurt business.

"Our organization was concerned about what the diversion of automobiles off of Market Street might mean," said Linda Mjellum, Executive Director of the BID. Mjellum said her businesses hadn't noticed any negative impacts as a result. "We had no complaints," she said. "Zero."

Several interview subjects mentioned possible further additions to the traffic diversion trials, such as replacing the Parking Control Officers who have been directing private vehicles off the street at 10th Street with self-enforcing engineering changes that would further solidify the driving restrictions, though when that will happen is uncertain.

Mjellum noted that the merchants along Powell Street were also enthusiastic about the pilot that expanded pedestrian space, which is sorely needed, especially on weekends.

"I think the businesses on Powell Street are wide open to doing something more extensive," said Mjellum. "They would like to see the sidewalks widened on Powell, assuming we could accommodate passenger drop-offs."

Cyclists were also quite happy with the traffic diversions, which have made the experience of riding less stressful, according to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC).

"For a street as important and iconic for bicycles as Market Street we’re encouraged to see the city planning ahead for such a large project. This is the most important street in San Francisco," said SFBC community organizer Neal Patel,

In the end, the DPW will still repave Market Street in three years, regardless of the politics that help or hinder the design and implementation of the larger vision.

TA Deputy Director for Planning Tilly Chang said the weight of the decisions being made for the next few decades on San Francisco's most iconic street were not lost on anyone involved.

"We all know the expectation of the public, the advocates, the Board, the Mayor, is that we have to make the most of this opportunity," she said.

The wait for bicycle directions on Google Maps has finally ended as the company announced a beta version of its new bicycle directions feature at the League of American Bicyclists National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. this morning. The new mapping software includes an elegant overlay of bicycle routes based on priority bicycle streets and paths in the 150 cities where Google is debuting the service.

Streetsblog San Francisco Editor Bryan Goebel sat down with Google Engineer Scott Shawcroft today to discuss the new software and Google's plans for enhancing it. 

Scott Shawcroft demonstrates Bike Map for a summit attendee. Photo: Bryan Goebel.

Data gathering was a difficult part of the process, according Shawcroft, and he encouraged users to try the mapping service and give Google feedback on what works and what doesn't. Users can report problems directly to Google in a box on the left-hand navigation bar in the bicycle directions section of Google Maps.

You can listen to Bryan's full interview with Shawcroft here:

Download audio file (Google-Interview-2.mp3)

You can also watch Google's video after the jump:

Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) received the 2010 Campaign Award for its Bike Broadway campaign, which would add bike lanes to Broadway, Webster, and Franklin Streets, vital corridors for connecting Downtown Oakland with North Oakland.

"Walk Oakland Bike Oakland is extremely honored to be recognized nationally for our work," said WOBO Chair Carli Paine. "The Bike Broadway campaign has exemplified what it means to be people powered -- from merchant outreach to a three-day corridor bike traffic count, there have been dozens of volunteers on the streets getting the work done."

Paine said their success is due to the "tremendous pride that Oaklanders have in our city and the deep desire to see our streets transformed into welcoming, inclusive places."

Kate McCarthey. Photo: sfbike

"It's like the Oscars of bike and pedestrian advocacy," said McCarthy. "I think it's really cool because I'm not the typical policy advocate," she added, explaining that the SFBC is the largest bicycle member organization per capita in the U.S. "Membership gives us ambassadors, volunteers, revenue -- basically, everything we need to propel our cause," she said.

When McCarthy began working at the SFBC in 2006, the organization counted 6,000 members. Four years later, they are at 11,500, in no small part because of McCarthy's work.

When asked if her next move was to go to Disneyland, McCarthy said she was on her way to Guadalajara with Cheryl Brinkman from Livable City and Heath Maddox from the MTA's bicycle program for an international ciclovia tour hosted by Gil Peñalosa's 8-80 Cities.

"So, it is kind of like going to Disneyland in the advocacy universe," she said.

Last year, 11.9 percent of all trips were on foot or by bike, while 4.2 percent of trips were on transit. Both figures signify major increases.

The National Household Travel Survey, the source of the new stats, is the gold-standard for transportation data. As Mobilizing the Region reported, while the Census only tracks how people get to work, the NHTS gathers data on all trips taken. It also distinguishes between, say, driving to a park-and-ride bus area and walking to the local bus stop.

The downside to the NHTS is how infrequently the survey is conducted, which makes it difficult to determine how much the 2009 data reflects a larger trend, and how much may be due to temporary changes brought on by fluctuating gas prices and the recession.

Some cyclists are questioning why the opportunity wasn't seized to widen the bike lane as part of the reconfiguration. The narrowness and frequent occupation of the bike lane by cars waiting to turn right have led many cyclists to abandon the official lane in favor of the cross-hatched area to the left of the posts. In fact, a brief site survey found that over 80 percent of inbound Market St. cyclists chose the cross-hatched area over the official bike lane. There is concern, however, that those who continue to use the marked lane are putting themselves at risk of being doored by drivers dropping people off in the right lane.

On January 26th, due to conflicts between right turning cars and non-motorized traffic at 8th Street, the MTA moved the required right turn for private vehicles up to 10th, where the lack of a Muni boarding island means that there is (at least ostensibly) more room for cyclists and drivers to maneuver. In general, there has been widespread praise for the move, part of the ongoing Better Market Street traffic pilot program, which also includes a required right turn at 6th St. The move to 10th has decongested two additional blocks of Market, and has led to a noticeable improvement in conditions at 8th and Market, where there is heavy pedestrian activity around the entrances to the Civic Center BART/Muni station.

80 percent of cyclists, in a brief survey, avoided the designated lane and used the cross-hatched area instead.

"The city is looking to extend the safe-hit posts along Market St. bike lanes from 8th St. to Octavia soon, although loading zones and other conflicts may result in gaps in the protected lane," Papandreou told Streetsblog.

Neal Patel, Community Planner at the SFBC, said the new configuration is not ideal for cyclists but marks an improvement over the former configuration, with fewer cars farther down Market. "We continue to work with the MTA to identify solutions both in the short- and long-term and encourage all cyclists to make sure they continually provide feedback directly to the city."

As a temporary traffic experiment, the required right turns along Market are exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act until the end of March, at which time the city will assess the impact, and either remove the required turns, apply for an extension of the trial, or make it permanent. The city is looking into ways to make the required turn self-enforcing, without the presence of staff.

While short term improvements to Market are being implemented, a medium to long term visioning process is being carried out that will guide Market St. improvements over the next several years -- in particular, improvements to be carried out in conjunction with Public Works' scheduled repaving of Market from Van Ness to Steuart St. in 2013.

Those with comments about the new configuration at 10th or the Market Street trials in general are encouraged to provide feedback to the city at marketstreet@sfgov.org or by calling 311.

This city employee told us that he is more mindful of cyclists' needs since his niece started riding a bike. As for the bike lanes at 10th St., he asked "why can't they be to the left of the posts?"

Rendering of West Span bike path: Caltrans

Advocates on both sides of the Bay worked with Hancock on the legislation, according to Marc Caswell, the program manager for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

"For years, advocates have been pushing to bridge the gap, and now with the East Span under construction, it is important to line up the funding for the West Span pathway. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) derives its authority to use toll money from the state Legislature, and they currently aren't allowed to use toll money for anything other than earthquake retrofits," he said.

Last month, bike advocates turned out at a BATA meeting to urge MTC commissioners to use new toll money to help fund the path, but the agency's staff said it had no authority to do so. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who supports the path, has also asked for an opinion from the state Legislative Counsel. Bates could not be reached for comment.

Hans Hermann, Hancock's chief of staff, said he believes the bill has an excellent chance of passing. It has not yet been assigned a committee date.

Caswell pointed out that nearly one-third of all San Franciscans get shut out from using the Bay Bridge simply because they don't own a car. 

"We know the MTC wants to complete the pathway so all road users have access, and the advocates are working with staff and Senator Hancock on Senate Bill 1061 to give MTC the legislative authority to designate these funds for this good project."

The MTC is currently conducting a Project Study Report (PSR) on the path, which has already been studied by Caltrans. It's hoped the report, along with an EIR, will be completed late next year. 

The PSR, which Streetsblog noted last year, will help build on the massive Caltrans feasibility study nine years ago that analyzed all the options for constructing the path, which was originally projected to cost between $160-390 million in 2001.

"I'm excited to to have the chance to spend time and learn best practices in a city that has successfully prioritized smart transportation and livable streets, and I'm especially excited to be able to share what I learn with folks back in San Francisco by writing for Streetsblog," said Shahum, a former reporter for the Florida Times-Union and Mother Jones magazine.

"I think there are a lot of similarities between Amsterdam and San Francisco, and I'm eager to figure out how we can emulate the best of their successes back home."

Under her leadership, the 11,000-member San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has become the "loudest, most effective" advocacy group in the city, not to mention one of the largest bicycle advocacy organizations in the country. Shahum has been with the SFBC for 12 years, spending the last six as executive director.

"It's an understatement to say that we are still nowhere near Amsterdam's levels of bicycling greatness nor where San Francisco deserves to be. That's why I'm so excited by this opportunity to step away from the day-to-day for a while to think deeply about where we take our movement next," she said in a statement.

Shahum will be temporarily replaced by the very able Renee Rivera, the former chair of the SFBC Board of Directors, who lead the successful campaign to install bike lanes on Polk Street.

Please join me in wishing Leah the best. We look forward to her dispatches from Amsterdam! 

Click to enlarge. Bird’s-eye view of the hairball shows how much real estate it takes up and how it creates a daunting barrier between neighborhoods. Photo: mike.teczno.com.

Now, city officials are teaming up with residents to plan a redesign of the aging structure that could encourage neighbors to visit one another on foot and by bicycle. A Planning Department award, announced in September, will fund a study of the maze to tap into the ideas of locals who have to live with it. As the freeway approaches the end of its natural life, neighbors fear that without an alternative plan, Caltrans will simply replace the old freeway with basically the same design.

Potrero was reconfigured in 2005, from six car lanes to four, with new left-turn pockets, bike lanes, and crosswalk enhancements. Bayshore and eastern Cesar Chavez are both slated to be restriped with bike lanes as part of the citywide bike plan. Western Cesar Chavez has inspired an ambitious Planning Department redesign that will create a landscaped median and changes similar to those on Potrero. All four roadways, however, feed into the notorious churning maze, leaving cyclists and pedestrians dashing across on and off-ramps and skulking along dark, threatening pathways.

The hairball wasn't always so forbidding. Bonnie Ora Sherk, president and founding director of Crossroads Community (The Farm), recalls holding musical offerings, poetry readings, art installations, dance performances, and public gatherings there. She planted lush gardens with local school children in the 1970s in the belly of the maze, the site under which the Islais, Precita, and Serpentine Creeks converge. Crossroads Community was so named by Sherk to be a place for people from the four surrounding communities to come together where the freeway had severed them.

Adjacent to the freeway interchange were multiple gardens on state and private land. In the complex of The Farm buildings was The Raw Egg Animal Theater, the indoor/outdoor home of the farm animals who lived at The Farm and a spectacular school-without-walls for all ages. The Farm, including the interchange, was one of the first alternative art spaces in the country and also a thriving multicultural community environmental education center. It inspired Potrero del Sol Park.

"We have an excellent opportunity now to transform the current dilapidated, unsafe, and scary maze into a healthy place for people, other species, and even cars," Sherk said. "It can reconnect people to the currently hidden ecological resources so prevalent at the site."

An art installation tucked in the freeway maze last summer featured hidden objects, paintings, and these hand-sewn custom pink cushions on the bleak Bayshore/Potrero connector. By Cameron Kelly. Photo by Carrie Galles.

The maze, opened in 1974, was intended to connect with the proposed Army Street (old name of Cesar Chavez) freeway to the Southern Crossing Bridge. The freeway revolt stopped that project, but the design of the interchange still reflects the original intention, making it much more complicated and extensive than is necessary.

The Planning Department study funding comes from a pot of Caltrans environmental justice grants. Other similar grants address mobility issues on Indian reservations and low-income communities in small towns and cities throughout the state. The Cesar Chavez/hairball funding amounts to $250,000. Another grant of $247,050 funds environmental reviews for Eastern Neighborhoods transportation projects. Andres Power of the Planning Department expects community meetings to begin in spring 2010.

"We were all very excited to hear that the city had been awarded this important grant from Caltrans," he said. "The community and various agencies have been working tirelessly on a redesign for Cesar Chavez Street west of the hairball, but we always knew that a design that stopped at the freeway was not the best we could do. With these Caltrans funds, we'll be able to think about connections through the hairball for people, cyclists, and vehicles all the way to the Bay."

Homeless people have long found refuge under the freeway ramps, and advocates for a better hairball must grapple with the question of how a redesign would affect these residents. The presence of their encampments in the maze has already led to some false solutions. Just sweeping the area of campers won't make it more welcoming. A completely deserted dark walkway is hardly more inviting than a dark walkway lined with shopping carts and their owners.

Proposals that focus on removing homeless people also play into divisions between some neighbors who may demonize poor people and others who resent any changes that smack of gentrification. The issue of what to do with a wide swath of dead space hostile to non-motorized travelers gets lost.

The problem isn't the homeless encampment. It's the lack of foot traffic and the secluded nature of the pathways, which make walking or cycling through feel creepy and unsafe, especially after dark. Opening up the passages and encouraging their use for people traveling from one neighborhood to another would mean that, at last, you can get there from here.

The first lady visited "Sesame Street" last fall as part of her push to fight childhood obesity. (Photo: NYDN)

Mrs. Obama appeared with six Cabinet members, the Surgeon General, and several lawmakers and mayors to mark the president's official creation of a new Task Force on Childhood Obesity. As part of the first lady's new effort, the White House plans to expand the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, while setting up a Safe and Healthy Schools Fund during hte next reauthorization of federal elementary education law.

In her remarks to the press this afternoon, Mrs. Obama paid particular attention to the lifestyle shifts that have led many kids to a more sedentary routine -- and helped contribute to obesity rates of 17 percent for children and teens, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. (The same study found that one of every three U.S. kids are oversight.)

The first lady said:

In my home, we weren't rich. The foods we ate weren't fancy. But there was always a vegetable on the plate. And we managed to lead a pretty healthy life.

Many kids today aren't so fortunate. Urban sprawl and fears about safety often mean the only walking they do is out their front door to a bus or a car. Cuts in recess and gym mean a lot less running around during the school day, and lunchtime may mean a school lunch heavy on calories and fat. For many kids, those afternoons spent riding bikes and playing ball until dusk have been replaced by afternoons inside with TV, the Internet, and video games.

July 2009, Critical Mass circles Union Square

In the following months, the ride grew steadily, hitting a couple of hundred by February 1993, and still there was no police presence. I think there may have been one motorcycle cop who came upon us during those months and just rode on. In April 1993 it changed though. The ride had grown to several hundred cyclists, and those of us who were publishing the monthly "Critical Mass Missives" and preparing proposed routes with maps, writing flyers, handing out stickers (all under the happy neologism of "Xerocracy") were already worried about the culture of the ride. Too many people were bleating that Orwellian chant "Two Wheels Good, Four Wheels Bad!" and admonishing motorists in an entirely unpleasant self-righteous moralistic tone.

Behaviorally, we already had identified the "Testosterone Brigade" as a problem, young men who seemed to be looking for confrontation, perhaps exercising unresolved anger with their parents by taunting motorists or deliberately riding into oncoming traffic. Another group was dubbed the "snails" because no matter how often we stopped at the front to give everyone a chance to "mass up," a bunch of folks would just dawdle way at the back and never catch up. This led to long stretches of thinly-occupied streets, where just a few cyclists were noodling along. In April 1993 in just this kind of scenario, a motorist tried to cross Market to Guerrero and when cyclists surged in front to block him, he hit one girl. Her bike was totaled, ending up under his car, which careened into a hydrant on the corner while he was trying to escape. The girl was not physically harmed luckily, but her boyfriend, not knowing that she wasn't under the car, reached in and took the keys out of the ignition. The cops came up and arrested the girl and her boyfriend and let the motorist go, treating him as the victim, even though it was widely felt by all present, including bystanders on the street, that he had behaved with homicidal intent.

The 16th birthday ride in Sept. 2008, here on Polk Street.

In June 1997, rumor has it Mayor Willie Brown got stuck in his limo during Critical Mass. He was soon fulminating in the press about how something had to be done! He tried to bring Critical Mass representatives into a meeting (I was invited and refused to go) and managed to get some SF Bike Coalition board members to show up. His pet supervisor at the time was Michael Yaki, and it was Yaki who appeared on the steps of City Hall after the meeting impersonating Neville Chamberlain in 1938 ("peace in our time!"), waving a piece of paper which he claimed was an agreement with Critical Mass (impossible by definition) about how the ride would proceed on the following Friday.

What happened was beautifully documented in Ted White's documentary "We Are Traffic!" which you can see online. The police and Mayor Brown put up a sound system and stage and had the gall to welcome the riders to our own event. They were roundly booed. Brown, realizing that he had not managed to co-opt Critical Mass, decided to unleash the police. They were happy to oblige and a mini-riot took place in mid-Market where several cyclists were arbitrarily pushed to the ground, violently arrested, and their bikes impounded. Critical Mass had split into dozens of groups roaming the city's streets for hours, in what was probably one of the most chaotic evenings in Critical Mass history. The police could not get a handle on things, in spite of their license to repress, and it wasn't until very late that night that they corralled one of the mini-masses still riding, surrounding them in the financial district and arresting them all. The day after the Chronicle's false headline was "250 cyclists arrested!" The actual number was about 112, and most of them had been in the illegal roundup. Howard Besser, one of the arrestees, filed a suit against the police and won, and won a second time when the city appealed, and was awarded about $1,000 in damages. No one was ever convicted of any crimes that occured that night, because there had been no crimes!

The following month, August 1997, after a month of torrid bad press, online flame wars (much like you we still see on the SFGate) denouncing all bicyclists, and a remarkably one-sided representation of what had happened (no mention of Mayor Brown's land-swap shenanigans with the Transbay terminal property that was going on behind the scenes during the same summer), about 5,000 bicyclists showed up in defiant celebration at their own monthly gathering. This time, anticipating a very heavy-handed police presence, the plan was to follow the Good Soldier Schweik approach, that is, ride to rule. Each cyclist would ride as if it were a motor vehicle, obeying all laws, stopping at every light and sign, signaling every turn, etc. That held for the first hour or so, and the traffic downtown was MUCH WORSE than it had ever been before. Thousands of cyclists filling the streets, obeying the traffic laws, turned out to be much more disruptive than following the safe and predictable method of Critical Mass that had evolved over time. 

From that time forward, a kind of truce developed with the police. The ebb and flow of policing over the ensuing years has been unpredictable, going back and forth between angry belligerence and benign tolerance. Sometimes a bunch of bicycling cops joined us, sometimes there were hardly any police at all, and sometimes a whole bunch of motorcycle cops and paddy wagons would come. They've never made any mass arrests, but they do ticket riders on occasion, usually in a somewhat punitive fashion if they see someone they particularly want to inconvenience (it's generally for running red lights, or impeding traffic, or other normal Critical Mass behaviors). When they do, like a few months ago on Broadway coming east out of the tunnel, it led to a half hour traffic jam blocking the streets. Critical Mass riders don't always stop in solidarity with every rider who gets hassled by the cops, but when they do, it raises the costs to the city in terms of traffic blocked and the number of officers who gather to secure the area while a traffic infraction ticket is written.

It is a useful reminder to all that the best approach (usually the one taken by the cops when they're being reasonable) is to facilitate the ride moving continuously through the city until it's finished.

Police repression, when it comes, is part of a larger culture war between those who think the American Way of Life is fundamentally about cars, business, and private property (almost always a strong bias of individual police) and the growing movement to shift into a new way of organizing our lives, based on ecological principles, reduced resource use, and a more convivial, publicly-oriented cityscape. Most of us riding in Critical Mass are not out to break the law or antagonize anyone, but we do feel strongly that we have to demonstrate firmly and directly a different way of life. To those of us committed to a life with a greater sense of conviviality and a commitment to a public sphere, the childish and antagonistic behavior that a few cyclists bring to the ride has been dismaying.

Unfortunately, the old xerocracy mostly died out (with the notable exception of the 10th anniversary ride in 2002--four different beautiful posters were made and put all around town, dozens of stickers and flyers were distributed at the ride, a book was published). Once or twice a year someone shows up with a flyer addressing the culture of the ride, or prepares a suggested route, but in general, cultural production, once so essential to the experience, went into hibernation. After more than a decade the transmission of the culture from oldtimers to newbies has broken down. People riding in Critical Mass these days might have been infants when we started it 18 years ago!

Sadly, some people show up because they believe all the media lies about this big anarchistic confrontational experience, though they are tiny in number. Still, when they behave badly they get an inordinate amount of attention, not just in the media when it deigns to address this ongoing cultural phenomenon, but weirdly, from other cyclists. There's a mentality that has been shaped by our profit-driven media: when it bleeds, it leads. I'm afraid all too many people on all sides of Critical Mass tend to fall into this same mental trap, focusing their attention on the tiny few who behave like jerks, rather than the overwhelming thousands (and not just here, but across the planet in over 300 cities worldwide) who manage things well, extend courtesy and kindness to bystanders, have joyful interchanges with people briefly stuck in buses and cars, and are greeted exuberantly from neighbors in their windows as we roll through central city neighborhoods.

Now the police seem to be threatening Critical Mass again, but to what end?

It's a small thing, lasting 2-3 hours a month, inconveniencing lots of people for a short time, but keeping an important cultural space open. In that space, a different kind of life is in gestation, where new friends and networks continually discover one another, where we experience radical direct democracy, rolling through the streets. And it is available to all comers. Historically it's been self-managed, and recently a new website and discussion list have been started to remedy the fact that the culture hasn't been handed down well between generations of riders.

As for what could work, I'd suggest that Chief Gascon start by removing all motorized vehicles from accompanying the ride, send whatever police he deems necessary on bicycles, and reiterate that Critical Mass is a cultural fact of life in San Francisco. Anything else is likely to make things worse and cost the city a lot more money over the long haul.

Click to enlarge. Joshua West and his daughter Briana. Photo: Ashley Cushman

Kevin Darr of San Jose, the 50-year-old driver, was arrested and admitted to the custody ward of Valley Medical Center, where he was being treated for injuries sustained in the crash, according to the Mercury News.

A memorial fund has been set up to aid the daughter of Joshua West, the victim. West was raising his seven-year-old daughter, Briana, alone, according to family friends.

"They were like two peas in a pod, she loved him so much," Carolyn Campbell, his grandmother, told the Mercury News. "She was his world, anything she needed and wanted, that's all he lived for."

West lived car-free in Los Gatos. After walking his daughter to school yesterday morning, he set out on his bike to attend physical therapy class, when Darr veered onto the sidewalk where West was riding on Lark Avenue and fatally struck him.

A memorial fund has been set up that will aid West's daughter. The account has been registered under the name "Joshua West Memorial Fund" at Wells Fargo Bank. Contributions can also be made via PayPal. All funds will go to his daughter.

"She would be the first in her family to be able to go to college," said Ashley Cushman, a family friend. "Nothing more would I want than for her to be able to be successful after this tragic event."

Photo: Troy Holden

San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón vowed last week to implement significant crime reducing strategies through his Compstat system and restructured enforcement based on best practices from inside and outside of his department, including two measures that have pedestrian and bicycle advocates astir.

At a press conference with Mayor Gavin Newsom Friday, Gascón said he would reduce overall crime in San Francisco by 20 percent in one year, including a 10 percent reduction in Muni-related crime and a 10 percent reduction in collisions between cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.

When asked for more details about how the SFPD would reduce bicycle and pedestrian injury collisions, SFPD spokesperson Lt. Lynn Tomioka said Compstat would be a start, enabling the department to better analyze data collected about infractions so enforcement could be targeted to dangerous behavior. She also noted that Compstat alone would not be sufficient and that the department is in the process of restructuring its reporting and enforcement policies for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.

"It's an area that’s evolving," she said. "The whole report-managing system is being very closely scrutinized, because we track everything by our reporting system. There are a lot of changes that [Chief Gascón] has implemented and a lot more systems that he will change."

Tomioka said the department will look to various station captains for best practices, such as the crosswalk stings conducted by Ingleside Station Captain David Lazar. "Chief Gascón wants to see more visibility for programs that Captain Lazar has found effective and worthwhile," she said, adding that crosswalk stings are good at educating drivers about danger to pedestrians. She said they wanted to see "all stations, not just the pilot station" being more active with innovative enforcement.

"I appreciate Chief Gascon's initiative to reduce vehicle-pedestrian collisions," said Walk SF's Manish Champsee, noting that crosswalk stings were very effective. "By far and away the most common reason for a pedestrian-auto crash is when the driver does not yield the way to the pedestrian."

Tomioka also said they would meld enforcement with education campaigns. "We want to get across that people need to be safe and practice safety," she said, referring to motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. Among the dangerous behavior they would target, Tomioka cited drivers running red lights and turning on red without stopping for pedestrians, cyclists running lights and stop signs, and pedestrians crossing on red signals and jaywalking in general.

Champsee was concerned with over-emphasis on jaywalking, which he said, "isn't necessarily a large contributor to pedestrian/auto crashes."

He also noted that "The Netherlands legalized jaywalking several years ago and didn't find an increase in pedestrian injuries and fatalities." 

Bicycle advocates were slow to praise the department's moves, cautioning that enhanced enforcement without a reevaluation of stereotypes associated with cycling, driving, or pedestrian safety could prove ineffective at best.

"How will we bring a focus on the behavior that is most dangerous?" asked San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Program Director Andy Thornley. "It's not just focusing on ticketing people rolling through stop signs but on those behaviors that are truly injurious." When pressed for clarification if that was code for enforcing dangerous driving, Thornley said yes.

"If you walk or bike or take a bus in this city and you watch what happens, it seems pretty clear that most of the danger is coming from the operators of motor vehicles. We are keen to see that the efforts focus on the source of the menace."

Thornley also promoted the change in collision reporting and said that the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) often found cyclists equally at fault in collisions, despite recent studies from Toronto and London that found cyclists were at fault in the scantest of cases. Thornley also pointed to anecdotes of bias among officers against cyclists in reporting crashes, such as the incident Streetsblog reported last year with officer bias on clear display (Tomioka said there was fallout from that incident, but wouldn't elaborate).

"That’s not to say that cyclists shouldn’t be exempt from enforcement activity. I think we see, every day, cyclists behaving rudely and selfishly," said Thornley. "We want to emphasize before we go very far, it would be good for all parties to evaluate what really is happening on the streets. If we just go off of our prejudice, we may not get the effective, meaningful enforcement that we really need."

In addition to comments about general enforcement last week, Gascón said he would revisit his department's policy toward Critical Mass bicycle rides and suggested that if a measure banning Critical Mass were put on the ballot, it would pass easily.

Never mind the question of how arguably ineffectual it would be to put bicycle riding on a ballot measure, the threat of clamping down on Critical Mass had regular cyclists fulminating on listservs, and brought up memories of former Mayor Willie Brown's crackdown in 1997. With increased enforcement and hundreds of arrests, Brown only catalyzed cyclists around the resistance to heavy policing and made the rides much larger.

SFPD's Tomioka was cognizant of the ride's history and said her department didn't want to alienate the many people who support Critical Mass. "On the other hand there are those who hate it," she said.

Chief Gascón has tasked Assistant Chief Kevin Cashman to look at their current enforcement policies, particularly in light of budget constraints. She said one solution in addition to possible enforcement changes was the creation of community forums, which she painted as unofficial community advisory councils, where "any member of bicycle groups can inform the community relations unit and the Chief with ideas to make the city much more efficient and safe."

"We’re not naïve to think that everyone will be happy, but something needs to improve with Critical Mass," added Tomioka. "We want to allow people to ride on the streets but not have people stuck in their cars terrified by the riders or unable to get where they need to go."