Today Mayor Ed Lee and city officials announced a five-year plan to implement pedestrian safety upgrades at 170 priority intersections. The city also launched its "Be Nice, Look Twice" PSA campaign today.
The 170 locations in the WalkFirst Capital Improvement Program [PDF] were determined using injury data and public input. These improvements will be funded by $17 million set aside over the next five years, according to the SFMTA. If voters pass the three transportation funding ballot measures proposed by the mayor's Transportation 2030 Task Force in November, the city will have an additional $50 million and could pay for safety fixes at 265 intersections.
"We've been saying 'sorry' for" pedestrian crashes, "when we ought to be saying, thank you for yielding. Thank you for not running red lights. Thank you for not speeding," Lee said in announcing the WalkFirst plan and pedestrian safety awareness campaign.
The awareness spots, which can already be seen on Muni buses, come in several different versions, with text saying, "Drive like: your [friend/mom/family] is in the crosswalk." Some versions show drivers yielding before the crosswalk, and at least one, posted by a Twitter user, depicts a truck driver violating the crosswalk and slamming into a pedestrian.
"I'm asking my officers to not be so nice when they see persons not yielding, when red lights are run, and when speeding occurs," said Lee, pointing to a recent 12 percent increase in the SFPD's Traffic Company staff. "Enforcement is about that discipline that we have to have for people's behavior."
"Year-to-date, we've had more people killed on the streets of San Francisco in vehicle collisions than we have by homicide," said SFPD Chief Greg Suhr, noting that in February, the city saw no homicides for a month for the second time in 50 years. Suhr attributed improvement in that area to police efforts, and said the department "intends to attack" traffic violence "in the exact same way that we did in trying to get a handle on gun violence and violent crime."
"That's through smart strategy, use of technology for deployment of a finite amount of resources, and certainly enlisting the help of our community," said Suhr, pointing to the SFPD's Focus on the Five campaign to prioritize traffic enforcement on the five most common violations cited in pedestrian crashes, all driver violations.
The SFPD, along with District Attorney George Gascón, has announced policy reforms under the rubric of Vision Zero, the goal of eliminating traffic deaths within ten years. Supervisors Jane Kim, John Avalos, and Norman Yee introduced a Vision Zero resolution which was approved today by the board's Neighborhood Services and Safety Committee.
"We are looking to forward to showing Sweden that we can achieve Vision Zero," said Walk SF Executive Director Nicole Schneider, referring to the first country to adopt the goal.
The WalkFirst plan targets the 6 percent of streets where 60 percent of the city's pedestrian injuries occur, most of which tend to be designed for high vehicle speeds and lie in Districts 3 and 6, the city's densest areas. Lee highlighted a few spots included in the five-year plan: Sutter Street will get bulb-outs, signal timing changes and continental crosswalks at Polk, Larkin, Taylor, and Stockton Streets. Ninth and Folsom Streets will get bulb-outs, a closed crosswalk will be re-opened at Pine and Stockton Streets, and Mission and Silver Streets will get bus bulb-outs and "roadway striping changes."
Supervisor John Avalos, the chair of the SF County Transportation Authority Board, said that to streamline the city's traditionally slow delivery of improvements for safer streets, "We need new ways of doing business."
"We have been tied, held back by dysfunction, not being able to work collaboratively together," said Avalos. "That can no longer happen."
Below this image, see the full list of the 170 intersections funded in WalkFirst, categorized by supervisorial district. Locations that fall on the border of two districts are listed in both.
District 1
1 30TH AV GEARY BL2 GEARY BL ARGUELLO BL3 GEARY BL 6TH AV4 GEARY BL 15TH AV5 GEARY BL 33RD AV6 POINT LOBOS AV 42ND AV7 TURK BLVD MASONIC AV
District 2
1 BEACH ST HYDE ST2 DIVISADERO ST SUTTER ST3 DIVISADERO ST LOMBARD ST4 FRANKLIN ST GEARY BL5 FRANKLIN ST BUSH ST6 FRANKLIN ST PINE ST7 GEARY BL ARGUELLO BL8 LOMBARD ST STEINER ST9 LOMBARD ST SCOTT ST10 TURK BLVD MASONIC AV11 VAN NESS AV CALIFORNIA AV12 VAN NESS AV BUSH ST13 VAN NESS AV PINE ST14 VAN NESS AV BROADWAY ST15 VAN NESS AV POST ST16 VAN NESS AV PACIFIC AV17 VAN NESS AV JACKSON ST
District 3
1 5TH ST MARKET ST2 BAY ST KEARNY ST3 BROADWAY ST SANSOME ST4 BROADWAY ST BATTERY ST5 BUSH ST POLK ST6 BUSH ST HYDE7 CALIFORNIA ST HYDE ST8 CALIFORNIA ST TAYLOR ST9 COLUMBUS AV VALLEJO ST10 COLUMBUS AV BROADWAY ST11 COLUMBUS ST STOCKTON ST12 EDDY ST MASON ST13 GEARY KEARNY14 GEARY ST LEAVENWORTH ST15 GEARY ST TAYLOR ST16 HYDE ST PINE ST17 KEARNY ST CLAY ST18 KEARNY ST WASHINGTON ST19 MARKET ST 4TH ST20 MARKET ST 2ND ST21 OFARRELL ST STOCKTON ST22 OFARRELL ST POWELL ST23 POLK ST PINE ST24 POLK ST SUTTER ST25 POLK ST HEMLOCK ST26 POST ST POLK ST27 SACRAMENTO ST KEARNY ST28 STOCKTON JACKSON29 STOCKTON ST PACIFIC AV30 STOCKTON ST POST ST31 STOCKTON ST SUTTER ST32 STOCKTON ST SACRAMENTO ST33 STOCKTON ST UNION ST34 SUTTER ST LARKIN ST35 SUTTER ST TAYLOR ST36 TAYLOR ST NORTH POINT ST37 TAYLOR ST PINE ST38 VAN NESS AV CALIFORNIA AV39 VAN NESS AV BUSH ST40 VAN NESS AV PINE ST41 VAN NESS AV BROADWAY ST42 VAN NESS AV POST ST43 VAN NESS AV PACIFIC AV44 VAN NESS AV JACKSON ST
District 4
1 19TH AV ORTEGA ST2 19TH AV NORIEGA ST3 19TH AV JUDAH ST4 SUNSET BL QUINTARA ST5 SUNSET BL VICENTE ST6 TARAVAL ST 19TH AV
District 5
1 DIVISADERO ST SUTTER ST2 DIVISADERO ST GEARY BL3 FILLMORE ST GEARY ST4 FRANKLIN ST GEARY BL5 GEARY BL WEBSTER ST6 IRVING ST 7TH AV7 MARKET ST GOUGH ST8 MARKET ST VANNESS ST9 MASONIC AVE HAIGHT ST10 MCALLISTER ST WEBSTER ST11 MCALLISTER ST VAN NESS AV12 OAK ST MASONIC AV13 OCTAVIA ST HAIGHT ST14 POST ST WEBSTER ST15 TURK BLVD MASONIC AV16 TURK ST WEBSTER ST17 VAN NESS AV POST ST18 VAN NESS AV GEARY ST
District 6
1 10TH ST MISSION ST2 10TH ST HOWARD ST3 2ND ST BRYANT ST4 4TH ST KING ST5 4TH ST BRANNAN ST6 4TH ST BRYANT7 5TH ST MARKET ST8 6TH ST HOWARD ST9 6TH ST STEVENSON ST10 6TH ST TEHAMA ST11 6TH ST MISSION ST12 8TH ST HOWARD ST13 9TH ST MARKET ST14 EDDY ST POLK ST15 EDDY ST MASON ST16 EDDY ST JONES ST17 EMBARCADERO SOUTH HOWARD ST18 FOLSOM ST 6TH ST19 GEARY ST LEAVENWORTH ST20 GEARY ST TAYLOR ST21 GEARY ST LARKIN ST22 GOLDEN GATE AV HYDE ST23 GOLDEN GATE AV JONES ST24 GROVE ST HYDE ST25 HARRISON ST 3RD ST26 HOWARD ST 9TH ST27 HOWARD ST 5TH ST28 HYDE ST GEARY ST29 JONES ST ELLIS ST30 JONES ST TURK ST31 LARKIN ST GOLDEN GATE32 LEAVENWORTH ST EDDY ST33 MARKET ST GOLDEN GATE AV34 MARKET ST GOUGH ST35 MARKET ST VANNESS ST36 MARKET ST 4TH ST37 MARKET ST 2ND ST38 MARKET ST 7TH ST39 MCALLISTER ST VAN NESS AV40 MISSION ST 8TH ST41 MISSION ST 1ST ST42 MISSION ST MINT ST43 MISSION ST 9TH ST44 MISSION ST 11TH ST45 MISSION ST DUBOCE AV46 MISSION ST 7TH ST47 MISSION ST SOUTH VAN NESS48 MISSION ST 5TH ST49 NEW MONTGOMERY ST MISSION ST50 OFARRELL ST JONES ST51 OFARRELL ST POLK ST52 POLK ST TURK ST53 POLK ST GEARY ST54 POST ST POLK ST55 TAYLOR ST ELLIS ST56 TAYLOR ST EDDY ST57 TURK ST TAYLOR ST58 TURK ST HYDE ST59 TURK ST LEAVENWORTH ST60 VAN NESS AV GEARY ST
District 7
1 19TH AV ORTEGA ST2 19TH AV NORIEGA ST3 19TH AV JUDAH ST4 19TH AV JUNIPERO SERRA BL5 CIRCULAR AVE BADEN ST6 OCEAN AV PLYMOUTH AV7 OCEAN AV MIRAMAR AV8 TARAVAL ST 19TH AV
District 8
1 16TH ST GUERRERO ST2 18TH ST GUERRERO ST3 BOSWORTH ST DIAMOND ST4 CASTRO ST 18TH ST5 MARKET ST 14TH ST6 MARKET ST CHURCH ST
District 9
1 16TH ST HARRISON ST2 17TH ST SOUTH VAN NESS3 22ND ST SOUTH VAN NESS4 24TH ST POTRERO AV5 BACON ST SAN BRUNO AV6 BAY SHORE BL PAUL AV7 CESAR CHAVEZ ST MISSION ST8 MISSION ST 23RD ST9 MISSION ST 16TH ST10 MISSION ST 19TH ST11 MISSION ST VIRGINIA AV12 MISSION ST 22ND ST13 MISSION ST 18TH ST14 MISSION ST 14TH ST15 MISSION ST DUBOCE AV16 MISSION ST 29TH ST17 MISSION ST 21ST ST18 SAN BRUNO AV SILVER AV19 SOUTH VAN NESS AVE 16TH ST
District 10
1 24TH ST POTRERO AV2 3RD ST PALOU AV3 BAY SHORE BL PAUL AV4 BAY SHORE BLVD BACON ST/EGBERT AVE5 BAYSHORE BL SILVER AV6 BAYSHORE BL ARLETA AV7 ESQUINA DR GENEVA AV8 GENEVA AV BROOKDALE AV9 WEST POINT RD MIDDLE POINT RD10 WILLIAMS AV 3RD ST
District 11
1 19TH AV JUNIPERO SERRA BL2 ALEMANY BL NIAGARA AV3 GENEVA AV BROOKDALE AV4 GENEVA AV MISSION ST5 MISSION ST PERSIA AV6 MISSION ST EXCELSIOR AV7 MISSION ST SANTA ROSA AV8 MISSION ST ACTON ST9 SAGAMORE ST/SICKLES AVE SAN JOSE AV10 SAN JOSE AV FARALLONES ST11 SILVER AV MISSION ST
