Waymo, Uber, and Lyft are now cleared to run on Market Street. For the moment, their hours and drop-off locations are limited. But the roll-back of car-free Market Street is now in overdrive.
Advocates are hosting a protest rally Tuesday/today at the intersection of Market and Montgomery Streets from 5-6 p.m.
Streets Forward's Luke Borheimer had this to say:
Mayor Daniel Lurie is taking a high-stakes gamble with Market Street and Downtown’s recovery by unilaterally allowing private cars on Car-Free Market Street—the section of Market Street between The Embarcadero and 10th Street—baselessly claiming it will boost economic recovery. With this dangerous private car policy, Mayor Lurie will decrease the number of people who can safely and efficiently get to Market Street, induce car traffic, make Muni slower and less reliable, and increase roadway crashes, fatalities, and injuries.
From a Walk San Francisco statement about today's protest:
Advocates will take action to demand that Mayor Lurie reverse this decision and keep Market car-free. Carrying signs and banners for “Market Street for the People”, pedestrians and transit riders will continually cross around the Market and Montgomery Street intersection while bicyclists ride up and down Market Street nearby.
And the San Francisco Transit Riders Dylan Fabris writes:
The mayor's escalation of his plan to add even more cars to Market Street while cutting Muni service will hurt public transit riders and downtown recovery alike. If the mayor wants to be taken seriously on his commitment to help Muni's–and San Francisco's–recovery, he should be looking for ways to get cars out of the way of transit rather than inviting luxury chauffeurs into the heart of our city's transit network.
Again, the rally is Tuesday (today!) August 26, 5-6 p.m. You can also email Mayor Lurie via the "Keep Market Street Moving" website.
