Here's another installment in what could ideally become a series on how police departments are doing right by pedestrians and cyclists. We posted the Chicago bike video a couple of weeks back. We now present the Sacramento crosswalk sting. (Warning: Insufferable Geico commercial may precede video.)

Back in April, TV station KCRA filmed a plainclothes Sacramento officer busting motorists who couldn't be bothered to yield the right of way. Notice how, though they cite the potential amount of the fine, neither the anchor nor the reporter ever intimate that the operation is a money-making scheme? Instead of sticking a mic in a driver's face for a quick-and-dirty accusation of extortion -- a near-must in most any mainstream media story about traffic enforcement -- the reporter is completely sympathetic to the pedestrians in harm's way, and rightly credits the officer for putting his life on the line.

The lights on Market are timed so that Muni's buses and streetcars stop at red lights, load and unload passengers, and move on when the light turns green. But when cars stop in front of them on a red light, buses can't pull up to the island, and must wait until the light turns green to pull into the transit island. By the time they've finished loading and unloading passengers, the light is red again.

Such violations are rampant in San Francisco, based on interviews with Muni bus and streetcar operators, who insisted on anonymity, and observations by Streetsblog San Francisco.

Driving in a transit-only lane is an offense subject to a $60 fine, according to the city's traffic code. But ask a Muni driver whether they ever see cars in the city's 17 miles of transit-only lanes, and you'll likely hear an unequivocal response: "Oh yeah, all the time." That, more or less, is what nearly every Muni driver surveyed for this story said when asked whether private automobiles get in their way on stretches of streets like Market and Mission that have transit-only lanes. "That's the norm," said one operator.

Cars are in the transit-only lanes on "every run," said another Muni operator, who drives the 71-Haight and uses the transit-only lanes on Market Street. "People want to go on time. How we going to be on time? How can you be on time when all these people are in the bus lane?"

Many of the drivers attributed the rampant violations to a lack of enforcement. "There's no police around. They're supposed to be taking care of that, especially the motorcycle police," said one bus operator.

The San Francisco Police Department's Traffic Company and Muni Response Team are in fact responsible for enforcing transit-only lane violations by moving vehicles.

A bus trails a driver on Mission Street who has ignored the transit-only sign.

Muni operators we spoke to are split on whether they've ever actually seen a motorist ticketed or warned for driving in transit-only lanes. Many F-line historic streetcar operators said they had witnessed occasional stings on Market Street. Nearly all Market Street and Mission Street bus drivers said they had not witnessed officers giving tickets for such violations.

The SFPD does conduct "focused enforcement" operations "several times per year," in areas that receive the most complaints, said Sgt. Wilfred Williams, a police department spokesperson.

Tom Radulovich, executive director of Livable City, said Muni is dependent on the SFPD to enforce cars driving in the transit-only lanes. "Those are moving violations, and we don't know how big a priority the police make of enforcing those lanes."

The Municipal Transportation Agency, Muni's parent agency, is not authorized to ticket moving vehicles, but it has taken steps to crack down on vehicles parked in transit-only lanes. In January 2008, it began a pilot program that allows Muni to place forward-facing cameras on the fronts of its buses to detect parking violations in transit-only lanes, and issue $250 parking citations based on video evidence.

"The authority of the pilot is granted only until January 1, 2012 and requires that the City and County of San Francisco present an evaluation to the transportation committees of the Legislature on or before March 1, 2011," MTA spokesperson Judson True explained in an email to Streetsblog. As of June, 636 citations had been issued.

The MTA could not provide statistics on transit-only lane enforcement or violations, but former SPUR transportation director Dave Snyder said it isn't hard to see there's a problem. "Just based on what I see out there, I think it matters a lot on the street, like enforcing transit lanes on Market Street, where you can sit there and watch buses not get a chance to pull into the bus stop because there's cars illegally in the transit lane. That's obviously a problem."

In 2004, as part of its Market Street Action Plan, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (TA) recommended the bus-mounted camera pilot program, which is now underway, as well as transferring responsibility for transit-lane moving violation enforcement directly to the MTA by February 2006. That would require legislative action, and has yet to happen.

The good news for enforcement is that, as Streetsblog reported recently, the MTA and the SFPD recently came to an agreement giving the MTA more control over the SFPD's Traffic Company, meaning the MTA could prioritize transit lane enforcement, though it still cannot enforce moving violations directly.

Will transit-only lane enforcement become a genuine priority for the SFPD's Traffic Company? Flickr photo: Thomas Hawk

Tony Parra, the SFPD Deputy Chief and director of Security and Enforcement for the MTA, said he's given instructions to the SFPD's Traffic Company to regularly enforce transit-only lanes. "I have given direction to [Traffic Company Commanding Officer] Captain Gregory Corrales, that our officers, throughout their daily patrol and when traveling to their assignments, are to keep the transit-only lanes open for Muni, and to enforce it as often as possible."

"What I'm trying to achieve here is regular maintenance. So not just the focused, or a canvassing of certain areas one time a year. I would like this year-round type of coverage. This should be a regular portion of the traffic enforcement's duties, and not just some type of enforcement blitz, and then we lax up on it in between."

Parra said he hopes to improve the Traffic Company's record-keeping on transit-only lane enforcement. "I oversee the Traffic Company as of July 1st this year, so we're just starting this, and their statistical personnel are looking at some of the specific requests I've made and I'm waiting to do some comparisons, 30, 60, 90 day comparisons, prior to my taking over the unit."

Though transit-only lane violations clearly remain widespread, Parra said he's received some positive feedback. "I have heard some compliments from some of the bus operators that they have noticed a difference."

As a model for enforcement, San Francisco might look to the East Bay. The Alameda County Sheriff's AC Transit division has gotten attention lately for aggressively enforcing no parking rules along AC Transit routes, and issued over $2 million in tickets last year.

For now, bus drivers are not optimistic that cars will be consistently kept out of the transit-only lanes any time soon. Asked whether more consistent enforcement might keep the transit lanes clear, a 14-Mission driver on his break near the Ferry Building laughed and patted the reporter on the shoulder. "That will be the day," he said.

Yesterday: San Francisco's transit-only lane network is an incomplete vision. 

Cars block a bus' progress on Market Street near Kearny, several blocks east of where Market's transit-only lanes end. Photo: Michael Rhodes

The Transit First policy was adopted in 1973 and the crux of it was transit lanes. When it passed, "within six months, Muni was supposed to come back to the Board of Supes with a proposal for a comprehensive set of transit lanes," said Tom Radulovich of Livable City. "So, it's an old policy in San Francisco that transit should be given priority over traffic on city streets, and that means, in many instances, dedicated lanes."

Today, there are 17.41 miles of transit-only lanes in San Francisco (see the complete list in PDF format.) About two-thirds of that lane mileage prohibits private automobiles at all times, and the rest is peak-only. The result is a patchwork that is both essential to Muni's operation, but woefully incomplete and often times confusing.

"In practice, a lot of the Muni planners have always complained that the traffic engineers will not allow them to have transit-only lanes on streets," said Radulovich. This is "out of concern of actually keeping traffic flowing."

MTA spokesperson Judson said the Transit Effectiveness Project recently completed by the MTA "recommends transit-only lanes as one technique for reducing transit travel time. TEP market research found that after reliability, Muni customers are most concerned about travel times." If the transit lanes are not available to function as intended, he said, "then Muni service cannot benefit from them."

One F-line historic streetcar driver was not afraid to offer a transit-first suggestion for how tourists who are confused by San Francisco's signs should deal: "If they're confused, then they shouldn't drive," he said.

True said the agency "recently completed an upgrade of the transit lane signs, the traffic signs that in conjunction with the street painting alert motorists to the bus only lane."

But the Municipal Transportation Agency, Muni's parent agency, admits the signs on the road aren't always clear.

New transit-only lane signs are intended to be less confusing for motorists. Photo courtesy MTA.

While many motorists could still be seen straying in and out of the transit lanes on a recent weekday, True said the new signs have improved the situation. "The before and after study conducted by our traffic engineering staff at four key intersections showed transit lane compliance improved at those locations on average nearly 40 percent. The intersections monitored, 1st and Mission, Post and Grant, 4th and Mission and 3rd and Folsom, were all monitored during PM Peak hours on weekdays."

Market Street's transit-only lanes may be the most troubled of all. They run in the center lanes from 12th Street to 5th Street inbound, and 8th Street to South Van Ness outbound. On a recent day, not only were many motorists in the transit-only lanes illegally: east of where the lane restrictions end, many motorists still appeared confused about whether they could drive in Market's center lanes. In the short period observed, many motorists swerved out of the center lanes soon after entering them, apparently believing it was unlawful to use them. This last minute swerving created a dangerous situation for other vehicles.

It also raised a question: Why aren't Market Street's center lanes transit-only all the way to the Embarcadero? "It might not be the obvious reason, which is because they didn't want to restrict cars, because they were being too friendly to cars," said former SPUR transportation director and Streetsblog contributor Dave Snyder. "It could be that they have a lot of buses in the right lane as well, and they thought it would be better to spread the cars more than shove them all in one lane. To my eyes it makes more sense to shove them all in the one lane, because they back up both lanes completely, so you might as well have one lane free."

Even though taxis are allowed to use transit-only lanes, and Market's transit-only lane ends several blocks west of here, this cab driver swerved out of the way at the last moment, apparently playing it safe. Photo: Michael Rhodes

The MTA didn't indicate any plans to add such features to Market Street, but it noted that planned Bus Rapid Transit lines on Geary Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue will be physically segregated from lanes open to private automobile traffic.

Whether the city is successful in implementing bolder transit-only lanes will depend on political leaders' support for transit over automobiles, which has long been shaky and conditional. "It goes back to that old debate: we're a transit-first city in a policy sense, but are we a transit-first city in practice?" Said Radulovich. "And that is an open question."

Tomorrow: Drivers face little risk of getting ticketed in SF's transit-only lanes.

Valencia Street at 15th Street. Flickr photo: Iznot

Project area. Image: DPW

The $6.1 million project is funded through a combination of federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA) funds as well as two Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) federal grants with local matching funds.

The final design is largely the result of neighbors' input, says Livable City's Tom Radulovich, who also lives in the neighborhood. "I and a bunch of neighbors went to some of the meetings," said Radulovich. "We designed the street we wanted, mostly. There's still some things missing from the street, but the good news was we had a design and then a few pieces of funding that nobody had anticipated came forward."

One feature of the project will be unfamiliar to most San Franciscans: mid-block bicycle oases. "On the mid-block bulb-outs and a few of the other corner bulb-outs, we've actually planned bike oases," said Opbroek. "There's an example of this up in Portland, where they've done a space on the sidewalk with rows of bike parking."

If the bicycle plan injunction isn't lifted before the project is completed, however, there's a chance the bike oases could be jettisoned. In that case, "they'll have to be installed at a later date," said Opbroek. "If for some reason that didn't happen - I expect that it will, but if it didn't - that space could also be used for tables and chairs or additional merchants spilling out."

Click to enlarge: Valencia plan for 16th Street to 17th Street. Image: DPW

In other locations, the extra space created by bulb-outs and widened sidewalks will be left with "informal programming," said Opbroek. "Because of the heavy pedestrian activity here, we're not putting in additional landscaping. We're leaving the space kind of free for merchants to use."

Radulovich was hopeful that Valencia could serve as a model for many of the ideas that are in the Better Streets Plan. "We're really hoping we can point to Valencia as, 'well, here's our new standards, here's the city's new commitment to better streets, and here's what a neighborhood commercial street ought to look like," said Radulovich.

Some concerns remain, however. Chief among them are loading zones and enforcement. "It's a poorly-enforced street now, there's a lot of double-parking in the bike lanes, there's a lot of double-parking in the median," said Radulovich.

"We're getting rid of that median, replacing it with left-turn pockets in a few locations, so definitely there's going to have to be an emphasis on enforcement. I'm a little more worried about double-parking than I am about speeding, just seeing how the street works now."

Radulovich would also like to have seen more bulb-outs added, though he said that traffic engineers are reluctant to make improvements that would make it difficult for deliveries by large trucks and trailers. "That kind of giant trucks obsession that a lot of the traffic engineers have compromised the design somewhat," said Radulovich. "We feel like it's a missed opportunity to have done them on the numbered streets."

On the whole, though, the project should bring a streetscape virtually unrivaled in San Francisco, and one that can serve as a model for future design. In the meantime, however, bicyclists may have to contend with intermittent bike lane interruptions.

Rendering of proposed treatments for Valencia at 16th Street. Image: DPW

During other construction projects, DPW's response to bike lane obstruction has "largely been complaint-driven," says San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Community Planner Neal Patel.

Valencia Street will require extra vigilance, because it's one of the most popular routes in the city for bicyclists. "We really need to make sure that it's not a complaint-driven requests, and the city and contractors understand that they need to maintain the bicycle right-of-way. They seem to be on par with that, they agree. DPW has had special talks with the contractors to say, 'make sure that you do everything according to the law.'"

During construction, crews are legally required to maintain all existing bike lanes, or to post signs stating "Bicyclists Allowed Use of Full Lane" or "Bicycle Route Detour" when the lane must be obstructed.

Alex Murillo of DPW vowed to keep the lane open as much as possible and to stay in touch with the SFBC. "Our goal is to keep it open 24/7," said Murillo. "There may be a time or two where we need to detour traffic on that block. I can assure you that we are going to keep it open as much as possible."

Murillo said that any bicyclist who finds that the lane is closed or obstructed without proper signage should call him immediately: "I will be on it like you have no idea, because, trust me, my goal is to keep that lane open."

Bicyclists are encouraged to contact both DPW's Alex Murillo and SFBC's Neal Patel if they encounter an obstructed bike lane without proper signage during the nine months of construction. Murillo can be reached by phone at (415) 437-7009 or email at alex.m.murillo (at) sfdpw.org. Patel can be reached by phone at (415) 431-BIKE x312 or email at neal (at) sfbike.org.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, in a press conference today with most of the elected and appointed political class, named former Mesa Arizona Police Chief George Gascón to the top job in the SFPD. The mayor said the police commission had conducted 49 public outreach sessions and reviewed 88 total candidates for the job before sending the top three picks to his office.

Newsom highlighted Gascón's bonafides, particularly stressing his 24 years of experience in the Los Angeles Police Department, including two years as Assistant Chief to William Bratton, who is famous for implementing "broken windows" crimefighting tactics under former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"Chief Gascón has a keen understanding of the public safety issues facing San Francisco, whether its foot patrols, sanctuary city, or gang violence," said Newsom. "I have no doubt that he will do a fine job and I look forward to him rolling up his sleeves and getting to work."

Gascón said that he was committed to honoring the needs of San Francisco's diverse public while ensuring public safety. He also had positive words for police officers in general, saying:

I believe that good, hard-working, ethical police officers are some of the most honorable human beings that walk the face of the earth. If you're a hard-working, ethical police officer, you will have my support. If you're not, we will have to talk. For those people who are committed to public safety, they will be very pleased. It will be an incredible ride for them. For those that are committed to parking under a tree and marking time, they're going to be very unhappy. We don't have time to look the other way, we only have time to look forward... to ensure that San Francisco becomes the safest large city in the country.

While he struck several positive notes on public safety and despite being touted by many elected officials at the announcement for his embrace of COMPSTAT and other technology innovations in LA, Gascón was not specific on issues of safety for street users nor methods for improving traffic enforcement. When Streetsblog asked how in general he would preserve and enhance pedestrian safety, he responded:

I believe as we continue moving forward with many of the reforms that have already started and we continue to enhance the quality of public safety in the city and working with all the stakeholders...because public safety by the way is not all the responsibility of the police, it's the responsibility of everyone including you in the media. I'll be reaching out to you on a regular basis for help in communicating our message. We will be working together to determine how we can use the resources we have available and work with different problems.

When asked if he would adopt systems for collecting traffic crime data like the COMPSTAT spin-off TRAFFICSTAT used in New York City, he said, "In my opinion COMPSTAT is about assessing the operations, so not only do we look at crimes, but we will look at traffic, and we will also look internally.  We're going to be looking at discipline, we're going to be looking at administrative systems, we look at the entire operation."

Board of Supervisors President David Chiu hoped that the recently established MOU was only the beginning of enhanced accountability and cooperation between MTA and SFPD. "It's only the first step of ensuring that we are using every penny in our police department to ensure safety around our traffic and transit corridors.  We will be monitoring that, we will be looking at expenditures, as well as performance of the police officers that are working with our MTA, and really holding the MTA and the police department accountable to that."

Streetsblog asked Chiu if he thought the new police chief would use better data analysis to target areas of rampant failure to yield to pedestrians violations or if he would literally ticket those who were "committed to parking under a tree" on sidewalks.

"I certainly hope for our pedestrians and our cyclists and our transit users that there is a focus on our street crimes, because literally what you're talking about is street crime."

Ingleside Station's new captain, David Lazar, has renewed stings on motorists who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections and crosswalks in his precinct, a popular practice among neighborhood residents that hasn't been employed since a previous captain left years ago, according to witnesses of the sting.

"Fantastic, fantastic! We're just so happy they're doing it we're cheering," said David Schermerhorn, owner of a motorcycle shop, who was walking with his wife Lea and their dog to a deli at Mission Street and Highland Street. "We're thrilled - all the neighbors are thrilled."

Lea Schermerhorn added, "This is a really bad intersection. We've tried for years to get them to put a signal here and they won't do it. It's very difficult to see traffic coming up the hill."

Captain Lazar said they wrote 123 citations and towed 10 cars for driving without a license or with a suspended license. Of the total, 52 citations were issued and 8 cars were towed at Highland and Mission alone.

"It was a very successful operation," said Captain Lazar. "This is about the three Es: Education, Enforcement, Engineering.  Today it was enforcement, but maybe we need to look at engineering too. I think we see sometimes the city can look at this and say we have to put a signal up or change the engineering somehow."

Captain Lazar added: "It's our goal to ensure that pedestrians are safe in the Ingleside district when crossing a crosswalk. Our efforts are to prevent pedestrians from getting hit."

Lt. Cherniss walking across the street and making eye contact with a driver.

When asked if he had heard good things from the public about the operation, Lt. Cherniss said, "It's a mixed bag. For every ten people that like it, there's one person that's really angry. They don't really know the definition of entrapment and they really feel like we're setting people up.  I tell the cops, if you don't like the violation, you don't have to cite. I'm just pointing at them to let them know they had enough time to stop or they are going too fast to even make that decision."

Rocio Martinez, who lives a few doors down from the intersection of Mission and Highland, said she and her husband were complaining about the problem the day before. "My husband and I are always crossing here. There have been a few times where he's come back and told me 'I almost got killed out there.' People just don't care. I see people almost getting run over every day. I'm so happy they're here."

When asked if she realized Lt. Cherniss was an officer, she said not at first, but then she saw all the patrollers and motorcycles on Highland waiting to be deployed. "I didn't know he was a decoy and I was like 'Oh my god, they almost ran over him!' But then I saw a cop chasing--finally a cop is nearby when it's happening. I'm just happy."

Another man who wished not to be identified was pleased with the enforcement, though he wasn't optimistic it would change driver behavior that much. "I think it's a great idea. Long overdue. People don't pay any attention to that sign when you're in the crosswalk; buses don't either, they just go right through. I'm halfway through the intersection and they just fly by."

"I strongly believe that this helps," argued David Schermerhorn. "It has empowered me to know that I own the intersection so that when I walk out into the intersection [I make] eye contact. I look down the street in a way now, that this is mine, you stop for me. I'm not asking permission. I feel like I do get more respect than I used to, but this is what it takes."

Pointing at the officers, Schermerhorn added, "I feel like I'm being backed up. I own the intersection when I'm in it and these guys here are backing me up."

Several neighborhood boys walking by this stop exlaimed, "There are cops everywhere!"

Flickr photo: myelectricsheep

Asked to explain the sting, Lazar said, "I'm the new Captain here and this is one of the enforcement strategies that has proven successful; people get the idea when they see a sting like this."

When asked whether there was a particular incident motivating the sting, Captain Lazar said, "Our traffic collisions have been low and our pedestrian fatalities have been low and I want to keep it that way.  We want to make sure it's not acceptable for people to just blow through intersections."

"A lot of the police captains are getting religion on this," said Walk SF President Manish Champsee. "The traffic company does it when they have time, but it's great to see captains using their personnel to contribute to it."

Champsee added that when captains conduct these stings they get a lot of tickets and that's a good thing "or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it." Captain Lazar echoed Champsee's sentiment and said even if with advance publicity on our blog or otherwise, they would have ample scofflaws to choose from.

"You could do a big announcement right now and we're still going to write a hundred citations. People are not stopping for pedestrians, it's dangerous."

Ingleside Station officers will be joined by the citywide traffic company and will target:

• The Cortland St corridor, from Mission St to Gates St
• Mission St and Highland Street
  
• Allemany Blvd and San Juan Ave
  
• Geneva Ave and London St
  
• Bosworth St and Arlington St
  

Flickr photo: Thomas Hawk

The plan, first reported in the Chronicle this morning, was formed in discussions between the Mayor's office, Supervisor Bevan Dufty and the MTA, which is facing a $129 million budget deficit, and considering fare hikes and service cuts: 

The SFMTA will share a greater role in management of the SF Police Department's Traffic Division. The Traffic Division will now be under SFPD Deputy Chief Tony Parra, who already works closely with the SFMTA. This will ensure the Police Department's traffic enforcement functions are coordinated with the SFMTA's goals for safe streets and accident reduction. 

The SPFD has been under a lot of scrutiny lately over of its work orders to the MTA. Dufty held a Budget and Finance commitee hearing recently in which he blasted the SFPD for billing Muni a whopping $19 million, mostly to fund its traffic functions.

The plan also calls for the implementation of "a new, more highly structured management program for its Muni Response Team and Bus Inspection Program (BIP)" on the T-Third line which the document claims will save $1.2 million. Muni has been getting hit with bills for overtime for officers who are supposed to patrol the T-Third line but rarely do.

Ford is no stranger to managing a police force. In Atlanta, he oversaw a staff of 300 police officers at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and said in a recent interview that he often heard the same concerns voiced in San Francisco that police are rarely seen on buses. "That was the number one complaint," he said.

So far, we haven't heard of any opposition to this plan from supervisors who were very critical of the SFPD and the MTA at that hearing. "It's a good first step," said Dufty's legislative aide, Boe Hayward.

The changes would allow the Department of Parking and Traffic officers to conduct late-night parking enforcement, a function currently held by the SFPD. And it addresses 311 inefficiencies, by "changing the methodology that "311 uses to allocate costs to the SFMTA, which will result in a savings to the SFMTA of about $800,000."  311 bills MTA on average $1.96 for every bus schedule call it receives, and total MTA-related calls account for 63 percent of all 311 call volume.

Anthropologists and transit advocates have long bemoaned the rise of The Sacred Rac, its subsequent worship by the majority of the people of the Asu tribe, and the attendant demise of bipedus norteamericanus, or the common pedestrian.  But new evidence appears every day that the once-endangered pedestrian may be seeing a resurgence in urban habitats throughout the nation.  

Cities around the country have committed to recovering habitat for the pedestrian, with reduced Rac speed limits, bans on Racs in certain tracts of metropolis, extensive traffic calming, zebra crosswalks, and pedestrian countdown signals.

Last week billionaire conservationist Michael Bloomberg vowed to open a large swath of former Rac territory to the pedestrian in New York City, a move not without its detractors.  Following on the heels of his Summer Streets initiative, there is great hope this pilot reclamation will be a success.

Though it celebrated a temporary habitat recovery last summer for Sunday Streets, San Francisco lags far behind other cities in restoring the delicate biomes that support the safety and health of the pedestrian.  According to a report from an agency that monitors Rac safety, San Francisco ranks in the top-five most dangerous large cities for pedestrians.

Though San Francisco has plans for pedestrian priority and complete streets, clearly much work remains to be done to ensure the survival of bipedus norteamericanus.  We look forward to San Francisco's announcement of the new Sunday Streets schedule for this year, which we hope will rival Seattle's own Summer Streets program.

Last September, San Francisco's city attorney asked Judge Peter Busch to allow an exemption to the long-standing bicycle injunction so the MTA could improve the city’s second most dangerous intersection for cyclists, where Fell Street meets Masonic Street.  Even after the MTA adjusted signalization and gave cyclists a separate green light, cars are running the red light and hitting cyclists.

The latest collision happened Saturday, around 4pm, to Cindy Asrir, as she was riding bicycles with her 10-year-old daughter on the Panhandle Greenway after spending the afternoon in Golden Gate Park.  At Fell and Masonic, they waited for the bicycle light to turn green and then started across the street.  

In an interview, Asrir described what happened as she and her daughter entered the crosswalk. She said there were also several pedestrians crossing when a white SUV pulled through the red light, but stopped short of them.  A second car ignored the red signal and darted around the SUV, slamming into Asrir, knocking her up on the hood of the vehicle, and launching her to the pavement.  Asrir hit her head hard, though she credits her helmet with preventing further injury.  

According to witnesses, the driver had been talking on her cell phone. Later, she was not allowed to leave in her car.

A police report has yet to be filed in the case and Park Station police would not release any details about the crash, including possible citations and charges.

Though obviously shaken from the event and upset that the new light hasn’t improved things, Asrir was grateful that her daughter, who trailed behind her by a foot, had not been the one struck, nor a mother with a child in a stroller who was just behind them.

“I used to always be scared of that intersection,” said Asrir. “But I was so happy when they put in the light.  Now I’m scared of the intersection again.”

The Fix Masonic neighborhood coalition has long sought improvements to the intersection and better enforcement of traffic laws to change driver behavior.  According to members of the coalition, at their last meeting, a representative of the MTA who has been observing Fell and Masonic since the bike light went in reported seeing numerous instances of cars deliberately ignoring their red left-turn arrow and turning against the cyclists' green.   

“You don’t need to spend more than twenty minutes standing at the intersection to see the violations, especially at 5 pm on a weekday,” said Fix Masonic Founder Mark Christiansen

MTA spokesman Judson True assented that the intersection needs more enforcement and added, “It’s important for all users to obey traffic signals.  The whole point of the new signal is to separate vehicle movements from bicycles and pedestrians.”

True said there had been one previous crash between a cyclist and vehicle since the light was added.  In an interview a couple weeks ago, senior MTA traffic engineer Jack Fleck told Streetsblog that one or two crashes a year at an intersection could be coincidence, but that three or more was unacceptable and that the MTA would try to change such an intersection (as they have proposed doing with the eastbound bicycle lane at Market St. and Octavia Blvd.)

The SFBC has made numerous requests to the SFPD to increase enforcement at Fell and Masonic, as well as other dangerous intersections.  In a letter sent to Chief Heather Fong last June (PDF) they demanded a “well-publicized campaign focusing on motorists’ violations of vulnerable users’ right-of-way” similar to a recent initiative in Chicago.

“This intersection needs focused enforcement attention, right now and until motorists understand that the red signal arrow means STOP,” said SFBC Program Director Andy Thornley.  “Citywide, we need a renewed commitment to enforcement of basic traffic violations to address those behaviors that most often result in injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists.”

Cindy Asrir, meantime, is vowing to become active in the Fix Masonic coalition once her wounds heal. She also plans to lobby the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to remedy the problem at Fell and Masonic.  

“That should be a safe zone; that’s how people get to the park,” said Asrir.  “If you can’t bike to the park safely, we have a big problem.”

Flickr photos: Alex Choi and Shmooth

You see them everywhere. Drivers yakking on their handheld cell phones despite a California law that's been on the books for more than six months now that makes it illegal.  So, is anyone getting ticketed? Yes, but unfortunately it's a toothless law.

Drivers who use handheld phones can be pulled over for violating the law. No other reason is needed. The California Highway Patrol has issued over 47,000 tickets since it went effect last July. The Golden Gate Division, which oversees the nine county Bay Area, has written 8,300 of those tickets. It's hard to tell how the law is being enforced in San Francisco because SFPD does not track the number of citations its officers have issued.

As much as I would like to think a cell phoning driver involved in a crash will face consequences, or at the very least be forced to pay a hefty settlement, liability and damages are two different things, according to Greg Brod of the Brod Law Firm.  There would still need to be proof the driver was negligent but a jury could weigh in the fact that a driver was using a handheld in liability cases. Greg blogs about these issues and recently wrote about the new texting ban that took effect this month.

The National Safety Council just called for a nationwide ban on using a cell phone while driving, either handheld or hands-free, and a law that follows their recommendation could have real safety impacts. Brod said there are school districts all around the country that still don't have a policy preventing school bus drivers from talking on a cell phone or texting while driving.

What makes the California law toothless is that a ticket given for violating the law is not a moving violation, and doesn't go on your driving record as a point.  DUI is a two-point violation, speeding a one-point violation. If it doesn't go on your record your insurance company doesn't know about it, and it doesn't raise insurance rates, according to the Insurance Information Network of California.   It is possible that drivers will pass off the $50 ticket as the cost of doing business.

Flickr photos:  Andrew Ciscel and Jonny Garlic

At-grade pedestrian crossing on Geary Blvd

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.

Though papers like the Examiner aren't likely to be sensitive to subtleties, it added insult to death by running an online poll with the article asking readers whether the police should crack down on jaywalkers. 

The jaywalker in question was an elderly man who used a walker, both of which were strewn in the middle of the street in the original grisly photo run by the paper.  No attention was paid to why Cinti would have calculated that the risk of crossing the busy street was preferable to using the pedestrian bridge over Geary Boulevard at the scene of the crash.

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.

Flickr photo: awcole72

On a recent Tuesday morning, at Folsom and 25th streets in The Mission, I watched one of the more bizarre street-cleaning rituals I've ever seen in any city. I know San Francisco drivers get a free parking pass in front of numerous churches on Sundays (just check out Valencia Street), but I had never seen car owners squat on the sidewalk for street cleaning.

A local business owner who didn't want to be identified approached me as I was taking photos and growled, "One guy owns at least nine of those vehicles." 

When I explained they would be published on a blog to encourage people to call the abuse into the MTA he was elated.  "More power to you," he said, "somebody needs to do something.  They make it very hard to get my deliveries some days."

Moments before snapping these photos an enforcement vehicle drove down Folsom ticketing vehicles that hadn't cleared out of the street, ignoring the countless violators of California Vehicle Code (CVC) 22500f, which explicitly states:

No person shall stop, park or leave standing any vehicle whether attended or unattended, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a peace officer or official traffic control device... on a sidewalk, except electric carts when authorized by local ordinance, as specified in Section 21114.5

As I took the pictures, it became clear that several of the people who moved vehicles either had a whole fleet of their own cars or they were moving them for friends and family (or for a fee?).  This guy moved several vehicles:

Picture taken from the first vehicle he parked as he exits the second

To my dismay, two of the vehicles near the intersection of Folsom and 25th didn't even start--their stewards popped the clutch into neutral and heaved them back into place from the sidewalk to the curb!

When I went back five days later to get a pic of the street sign, the box truck and suburban were in almost the identical positions.

Advocates for the disabled and the elderly have campaigns to keep cyclists off sidewalks and raise awareness among motorists for pedestrians in crosswalks, but I can't imagine they have the resources to spend time watchdogging these bad neighbors.

The good people over at Pedestrianist have recently posted photos of sidewalk parking abuse and from the comments, it has at least made the neighbors feel better, whether or not they have seen any action.  They also have this good advice:

To report sidewalk parking in SF, call DPT at (415) 553-1200
Hit 1 for English (or choose your language)
4 for "more options"
3 for "sidewalk parking"

Streetsblog San Francisco encourages you to contribute! Submit your pictures for our Eyes on the Street feature, as well as video and links at the following: http://sf.streetsblog.org/contribute/. 

While we're at it, a reminder: We want to know what you're reading and seeing out there in the world and on the internet. Add to our feed by tagging bookmarks in del.icio.us with for:sf.streetsblog, pictures in Flickr with sf.streetsblog, or videos in YouTube with sf.streetsblog.

Photos: Matthew Roth

The Municipal Transportation Agency's federally-funded parking experiment, SFPark, is shaping up to be the most powerful tool remaining in the city's traffic-busting toolbox considering the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's criticism of congestion pricing and Mayor Newsom's recent tempered support for the plan.

SFPark is the largest dynamic parking demand management project in the world, with 6,000 curbside parking spaces and 11,500 off-street spaces in city-owned garages. The pilot will last for a year-and-a-half and focus on seven target areas, most in the downtown business district and tourist areas along the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf.

Assuming the time line isn't delayed, the MTA will release a request for proposals by the end of January for vendors to install the technology required to map parking patterns in the pilot areas.   With $19.8 million in federal funding from San Francisco's Urban Partnerhip Agreement set to roll into city coffers in February, the MTA will install meters, sensors and networks within two months and start collecting baseline data in May.  After sixty days, parking managers will start adjusting parking rates, which by law can be raised by no more than $.50/hour every 30 days in the pilot zones; the control zones will not see any change in pricing throughout the trial.

Jay Primus, the MTA's SFPark project leader, believes the public outreach that has already occurred with businesses, transportation experts, environmental advocates, and community stakeholders will facilitate its acceptance. If the pilot works as projected, Primus said the MTA expects the rate of parking fines will be reduced.  Though San Francisco's parking fines are 57% of parking revenues (PDF, page 3)--a far cry from New York City's parking woes, where parking fines are half a billion dollars annually and more than 500% of parking revenues--the agency hopes to fulfill its mandate to voters to improve the management of city streets

"Part of [SFPark] is to continue to realize the original promise of the MTA," Primus said.

Better parking data should reduce traffic from cruising.

The theoretical framework of dynamic parking management was popularized by Donald Shoup in 2005 with The High Cost of Free Parking, a nearly 800-page parking and land use bible.  Shoup’s dynamic management principles borrow from the example of telecommunications systems operating during peak load capacity periods.  Like telephone lines, parking in a city is essentially a fixed supply, though demand can fluctuate wildly by time of day and location.  When there is more demand for parking than supply, drivers waste a great deal of time and fuel looking for scarce spaces. 

Shoup argues that parking managers should price parking in accordance with market demands, raising the cost during peak usage periods and lowering it when there are surplus vacancies.

Shoup demonstrated that because of curbside saturation from under-priced parking, drivers in a 15-block area in Westwood, Los Angeles, traveled the equivalent of two round trips from the Earth to the Moon and burned over 47,000 gallons of fuel each year looking for parking.  In Park Slope, Brooklyn, Transportation Alternatives found that  45% of traffic is circling the block looking for a place to park.

Most advocates, like Tom Radulovich of San Francisco's Livable City,  hold out hope SFPark will deliver as advertised:

The way we manage on-street parking creates shortages and the political response is to create a lot more off-street parking.  It doesn’t fix the on-street problem, but drives up the cost of building, makes housing less affordable, and generates more traffic.  Hopefully SFPark will show San Franciscans that the solution to the problems with on-street parking is not to require more off-street parking but to manage on-street parking better.