Bike Lanes

We've written before about obstructions caused by motorcycle cops parked in the bike lane (and the SFPD generally doesn't have a good reputation among cyclists), but yesterday around 4:30 p.m. -- a few hours after Sunday Streets wrapped up -- I spotted a cop parked in the bike lane on Valencia Street just before 16th for a good reason: to shoo away a motorist who was double parked.

SFBC Program Manager Andy Thornley had the sinking feeling, following an MTA Traffic Engineering meeting last Friday, that the agency was not serious about its commitment to moving as many of the priority 56 bicycle projects forward as it should. According to Thornley, at least three projects were moved off the green light list pending further review by traffic engineers, for little more than minor and tired complaints about losing curbside parking spaces.

We’ve been waiting for years now to see some physical changes to accommodate the huge increase in daily bicycling. We did get an odd set of painted bike lanes and green bike route signs, and a significant number of bike racks for parking, before it all came to a halt due to the injunction three years ago. After perusing the much-anticipated Draft Bicycle Plan and its dense bureaucratese, full of overlapping redundant promises, I’m afraid we’ll be waiting a good while longer to see the kinds of changes that we ought to be getting.

San Francisco's annual Bike to Work Day drew a record 200,000 bicyclists this morning, according to early estimates, making it the most successful bike to work day since it began 15 years ago. Crowds of cyclists took advantage of the SFBC Energizer Stations to get food and coffee and make new friends in what has become the most exciting and politically important year for bicycle improvements in the city.

With excitement building over the anticipated lifting of the Bicycle Injunction this summer, and hope that crews will soon begin work on priority street improvements throughout the bicycle network, advocates in San Francisco are expecting record numbers for the 15th annual Bike to Work Day tomorrow.

It’s Bike Month – which means there are scads of neophytes out there nationwide giving cycling a try.  Oh goody! But, oh baddy – it also means more improper locking – and we all know there are predators just licking their chops at the thought of stealing all or part of your bike. So we … Continued

San Francisco's most dangerous intersection for bicyclists was the scene of yet another crash this morning, caused by a driver making an illegal right turn onto the freeway on southbound Market Street at Octavia Boulevard. 

Editor's note: While changes appear to be in the works in London on the public space realm (check out our latest Streetfilm posted today), Chris Carlsson got a slightly different take when he visited there last week.