How Do You Share the Wiggle?

With a growing number of new bike commuters on the Wiggle — and more on the way with the imminent arrival of separated bike lanes on Fell and Oak Streets — the route is a kind of petri dish for a maturing culture of respect between people walking, bicycling, and driving.

In a new video, a group called Neighbors Developing Divisadero surveyed some regular Wiggle users at last month’s Sunday Streets in NoPa about what they see as the etiquette for each mode of travel.

While the Wiggle is actually very safe, with relatively calm traffic and very few crashes, negotiating intersections can get hairy when people are in a rush. The SFMTA has been adding green-backed sharrows, continental crosswalks, and daylighting treatments this year in a bid to improve visibility and navigation along the route. And reducing through car traffic would no doubt provide more breathing room for pedestrians and bicyclists as well. But sometimes, it seems, people simply just need to be more considerate.

I can certainly get behind the message of the woman who says, “When you’re going around a corner, what I would really like other bike riders to do, is that if there’s someone walking, you always want to make sure that that person who’s walking feels safe, and that you’re not doing something unpredictable, or they’re at risk in any way. So even if you can make it, and you can clip it, don’t. Just slow down, and let them come around.”

For drivers, Sunday Streets organizer Susan King pleads: “Use your blinkers, please! I just need to know where you’re going.” (Another interviewee suggests avoiding the Wiggle by car altogether.)

Have any suggestions to add? NDDivis wants to hear ideas “for how to promote the flow and safety for all modes of transportation on the Wiggle…whether it’s a tip, your own video response, or an idea on how to expand this campaign.”