2025 End-of-Year Post: Great Milestones Despite a Tough Year

To our readers:

I don’t know about you all, but as we close out 2025, I’m feeling a bit beat up. There was the story about AC Transit closing its one-week, performative non-investigation into one of its drivers who was caught on video driving in the bike lane and punishment passing a cyclist. And there was the confirmation that District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong, who was appointed to finish Joel Engardio’s term, is gunning for Sunset Dunes. And there was the loss of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge bike path.

And let’s not even get started on Trump and Co. and their assault on transit, bicycling, and the environment, not to mention the U.S. Constitution and basic human decency. Streets around the Bay Area and elsewhere in the state were focal for the resistance movement.

But remember that 2025 also saw important safe-and-livable streets milestones in the Bay Area.

Perhaps the biggest was the roll-out earlier this month of Clipper II. Finally, the Bay Area has direct payment and discounts across the major systems. This was a huge victory resulting from over a decade of hard work by advocates and supportive officials. There’s still a long way to go towards making it feel as if the Bay Area has one, rational transit system, but this was a huge step.

In Alameda, the last little segment of the cross-Alameda trail was opened, finally giving cyclists a safe way to get east-west across the island city. At last, the long-fought-for curbside protected bike lanes on Valencia opened. Work continues on several great projects in Oakland (see the lead image). Berkeley cut the ribbon on its Bankcroft protected bike lane and bus lane project. Speed cameras rolled out in San Francisco. High-speed rail got the dedicated funding it needs to finish the first leg. Caltrain ridership continued to grow. The SMART train extension to Windsor opened. And advocates got the governor to sign SB-63, so a ballot measure to fund transit can appear on the 2026 ballot. Of course, now advocates have to work like crazy getting the signatures required.

In other words, the fight continues. And Streetsblog will be there reporting on the highs and the lows for as long as it can still pump a bike pedal, walk, and/or slap a credit card directly on a transit fare gate reader. Speaking of credit cards, here’s something else to consider: a donation to Streetsblog so we can keep reporting on it all:

Streetsblog SF is signing off for the winter break, returning January 5. Enjoy your holidays and we’ll see you next year.

Best wishes,

Roger Rudick, Editor, Streetsblog San Francisco