Bike Lanes

Lest it appear that Streetsblog doesn’t support bike-sharing in San Francisco, I should say from the outset that I love the successful bike-sharing programs that I’ve used, believe they are one of the more innovative new transit models available, and know that San Francisco is ripe for the roll-out of a large-scale program of its own.  But I am also among the large majority of Americans that Republican Pollster Frank Luntz found support infrastructure improvements and believe getting the job done right is more important than ribbon cutting and shovel readying.

One of the unintended consequences of San Francisco’s bicycle injunction, which Rob Anderson and fellow NIMBYs will likely rue for some time to come, is the arduous thought and labor that advocates and professional planners have invested in doing away with LOS all together.  

Though Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch ruled the MTA will not get an immediate exemption to the bike injunction to remove the eastbound segment of the bike lane at Market and Octavia because he didn’t think an “adequate case has been made that there's a public safety crisis,” when the hold on the bike plan is lifted as early as this spring, the agency will likely try to remove the lane anyway.  

In a ruling cheered by bicycle advocates, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch today rejected the MTA's request to modify the bike injunction to allow the removal of the eastbound Market Street bike lane and concrete island at Octavia Boulevard, the city's most dangerous intersection for bicyclists. 

A San Francisco judge, in a tentative ruling issued this afternoon, agreed to a portion of the city attorney's request (PDF) to modify the bike injunction to "enhance markings on already existing bike lanes," but will move forward with a hearing tomorrow before deciding on an MTA plan to remove a portion of the eastbound Market Street bike lane and concrete barrier at Octavia Boulevard.

In a powerful show of opposition to a plan that calls for removing the eastbound Market Street bike lane and concrete island at Octavia Boulevard, hundreds of bicyclists, their supporters and local and state elected officials gathered today at the dangerous intersection to loudly urge the MTA to scrap its idea for a shared lane.

The Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) traffic engineer proposing the removal of a portion of the eastbound bike lane and concrete barrier on Market Street approaching Octavia Boulevard insists safety is his primary goal in merging car and bicycle traffic at the city's most dangerous intersection for bicyclists.

Looking to circumvent a citywide bike lane injunction or avoid bike lane-related Community Board histrionics? Alex Tee and Evan Gant from the product design firm Altitude Inc. have a novel solution for you: Use laser beams to project your own lane from the back of your bicycle. Gant tells me that he and Tee developed their LightLane concept for a design competition aimed at encouraging bike commuting. For now, the idea exists only on paper but the duo has received so much positive feedback, they are planning to build a prototype.