Bicycle Infrastructure

Over the past year driverless cars have been promoted as a panacea for livable cities. The storyline is that driverless cars will help reduce car ownership, free-up urban space for walking and biking, and help reduce death and injury. The USDOT has joined the parade with its “smart city challenge,” awarding Columbus, Ohio a $40 million prize to implement a demonstration project that includes incorporating driverless cars.

The deaths of Heather Miller and Kate Slattery highlighted the obvious: San Francisco is not on track to Vision Zero, a commitment to eliminating all traffic deaths by 2024.

Wednesday evening, some 200 cyclists assembled around the William McKinley Monument in the Panhandle to begin a ride and vigil to remember Heather Miller and Kate Slattery, two cyclists killed in separate incidents one week ago. The ride was organized by the San Francisco Bike Party (SFBP).

The deaths of Heather Miller and Kate Slattery, two more people killed riding on San Francisco's dangerous streets, has left the entire safe-streets community rattled and heart broken. Cycling advocates took San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and SFMTA head Ed Reiskin to task for a tone-deaf press conference held Thursday about the carnage. The mayor said he was "outraged" at the deaths. Reiskin said to the Examiner that “the best bike infrastructure in the world would not have prevented these collisions.”

Editor's note: it's positively numbing that I can't finish writing a piece about two cycling deaths in 24 hours, when a third cyclist is killed, this morning, this time in Pleasanton. 

Menlo Park's plans to fix El Camino Real's safety hazards were postponed yet again by a city council that is now split on whether to go ahead with the installation of even a bike lane pilot project. Proponents continue to demand that the city take action to prevent injuries suffered by residents in traffic collisions.

Earlier this week, the SF Bike Coalition announced it is tapping its development director, Brian Wiedenmeier, as its new executive director. Wiedenmeier takes the reigns from Margaret McCarthy, who had served as the organization's interim director during a search to replace Noah Budnick, who resigned last year.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Board of Directors has selected Brian Wiedenmeier as the organization's next executive director. Wiedenmeier is not a newcomer to the SFBC. He spent the last two years as the organization's development director. "Brian's professional accomplishments and experience really stood out throughout this hiring process," said Brianne O'Leary Gagnon, president of the SF Bicycle Coalition's Board, in a prepared statement. "He's committed to people biking and the city of San Francisco."

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)’s half-cent "Envision Silicon Valley" transportation sales tax is now headed to the November 8 general election ballot in the county, after receiving the unanimous approval of the transit agency’s Board of Directors on June 2.