Year: 2009

It's a familiar scene for many Muni riders: standing in a huge crowd on a Muni Metro station platform, scrutinizing the archaic-looking map on the mounted LCD, hoping for a two-car LL or a one-car J. Since those displays first went up at Embarcadero station in the late 1990s, and the other eight stations in 2007, they've given waiting customers something to ponder while waiting for a particularly tardy train, but have been far too cryptic to reach their full potential in keeping riders informed. Within the next few months, however, displays in all nine Muni Metro stations will switch over to a much more legible map.

At an early morning rally before school started today, students from San Francisco's Longfellow Elementary School in the Excelsior district gathered to celebrate Walk to School Day and the launch of the Safe Routes to School program.

"Take a merry ride over the bridge to the Headlands Center for the Arts and drop in on their fall Open House. Meet HCA's Artists in Residence and Affiliate Artists in their studios, see and discuss current works-in-progress, and check out this very groovy scene nesting in the former Fort Barry site."

"Buy, sell & trade new and used bikes, parts,gear, equipment, clothing and any thing bicycle related. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition will be on hand with resources for biking in San Francisco and to tell you about our work to make San Francisco a city where anyone from 8 to 80 can safely ride a bicycle. Become a member and support our work to improve San Francisco streets for biking."

"This ride is a pedal-powered introduction to San Francisco's avian life. Riders will look for some of the more than 300 resident, migrating and overwintering bird species that can be found in SF, proceeding at a relaxed pace around Lake Merced, to Ocean Beach, the Cliff House and Golden Gate Park. The tour will finish at Crissy Field in the Presidio where riders will look for ducks, waders and shorebirds. All skill levels are welcome, and please bring binoculars."

"The SFBC wants to help more people substitute just one short car trip with a bicycle trip just one day a week. So, encourage a friend or coworker to pedal with you to an SFBC Energizer Station on Gas-Free Fridays and fuel up on coffee and snacks. In San Francisco, half of all driving trips are under two miles in length, a distance easily traveled by bicycle."

"This trip through San Francisco's lost sand dunes, ponds, creeks and coastline will focus on the city south of downtown and SOMA, traversing the Mission, Mission Bay, Potrero Hill, Bayview, and the southeast coastline, including several new public parks. It's a social, historical and critical 4-hour tour through the city's ecological past and present."

Trips for Kids is opening its San Rafael warehouse to the cycling community.

"Practice what you learned in the Intro to Safe Cycling class. This Street Skills Primer class follows a comfortable progression onto city streets. After a basic bike maintenance session, riders will practice their bike skills in a car-free practice area before taking it to the streets in small groups led by their instructors. Riders will gain experience riding alongside moving traffic in different traffic conditions, and apply the safe riding techniques practiced in the car-free space into real-life situations. Adults and anyone over 14 years of age are welcome; bicycle, helmet and preregistration required. Please bring your lunch."