Board of Supervisors

Every time a Muni train breaks down or a bus is stuck in car traffic, San Francisco pays big time.

It looks like Supervisor Eric Mar is ready to make some noise about the need to fund the SFMTA's vision for a major expansion of bike-friendly streets -- which Mayor Ed Lee hasn't prioritized at all since the agency released its Draft Bicycle Strategy earlier this year.

Elected officials and thousands of commuters took to two wheels for the 19th annual Bike to Work Day, welcomed by the new protected bike lane on Oak Street and the city's first bicycle counter on Market Street. As in the past few years, the mayor and city supervisors gathered on the steps of City Hall to give speeches cheering bicycling, with some calling for the implementation of more bike lanes.

Mark Farrell and Malia Cohen emerged as the most vocal proponents of free car parking on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors at a hearing on parking meters last week. Farrell called the hearing in February based on an admittedly "unfounded" suspicion that the SF Municipal Transportation Agency was planning to install parking meters in District 2, which he represents.

Supervisor Scott Wiener is sounding the alarm that Muni, already the slowest transit system in the country, will only get worse over the next ten years unless officials at City Hall take the initiative to devote more resources to the city's decrepit transit vehicles and infrastructure.

The San Francisco Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee has some seats to fill. If you live in District 3, 4, 5, 9, or 11, you can apply for an appointment by the Board of Supervisors to be the official voice for pedestrian safety issues in your district.

On Walk to Work Day, touted as the first official event of its kind in the nation, city officials strolled to a press conference on the steps of City Hall, where Mayor Ed Lee promised to implement the city's Pedestrian Strategy [PDF].

In November, a handful of opponents filed a CEQA appeal against the Fell and Oak Street bike and pedestrian improvements after construction on the project had already begun. Fortunately, the Board of Supervisors dismissed their claims that the project required a full environmental impact report under the California Environmental Quality Act, and the appeal didn't delay work on the project. But that's not always the case with projects that improve street safety.

The bureaucratic red tape encumbering the city's progress on life-saving pedestrian safety measures is the target of a new legislative package set to be introduced by Supervisor Scott Wiener at today's Board of Supervisors meeting.