TIMESFALL 2018 ISSUE 165 · OCTOBER, NOVEMBER & DECEMBER OUR ENDORSEMENTS 5 EMBARCADERO UNVEILED PAGE 7 NECTAR OUR BIGGEST BIKE GIVEAWAY PAGE 9 CO EDITOR DISTRIBUTION Rachel Dearborn Zack Lipson ASSOCIATE EDITOR DESIGN Howard Levitt Veronica Newell COPY EDITOR Letter from the Christopher White The Tube Times is a quarterly publication of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, a member-based advocacy organization transforming San Francisco’s streets into Executive Director more livable, safe places by promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation. ADVOCACY DIRECTOR Love them or hate them — and people have lots of opinions on the topic Janice Li, x302, [email protected] — shared electric scooters are returning to San Francisco’s streets. Many COMMUNICATIONS DESIGNER of you have asked what the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s position on Veronica Newell, x317, [email protected] e-scooters is, and it’s a timely question. We are thinking not just about COMMUNITY ORGANIZER e-scooters, but about what’s at stake for people who bike as our entire Andy Gonzalez Cabrera, x321, [email protected] transportation landscape changes before our eyes. COMMUNITY ORGANIZER When scooters first appeared, unpermitted, on San Francisco’s streets and Charles Deffarges, x313, [email protected] sidewalks, we deferred to our friends at Walk SF and senior and disability COMMUNITY ORGANIZER advocates. These SF Bicycle Coalition allies had legitimate concerns about Kristen Leckie, x312, [email protected] e-scooters creating safety problems on our city’s sidewalks. Under the California Vehicle Code, e-scooters and other “electrically motorized DEPUTY DIRECTOR Rahul Young, x304, [email protected] boards” belong in the street or in a bike lane. But if scooters (like bikes) shouldn’t be ridden on the sidewalk, what happens when folks on boards are suddenly sharing the bike lanes we’ve worked so hard DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE to create? Gina Schumacher, x320, [email protected] EVENT PLANNER I believe there are three broad standards that should be used when evaluating any new form of Susan Gallentine, x318, [email protected] transportation. These apply to all existing types of vehicles and technologies, including autonomous vehicles, Transportation Network Companies like Uber and Lyft, and whatever new technology may EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Brian Wiedenmeier, x305, [email protected] cause additional challenges in the future. FAMILY & SCHOOLS COORDINATOR Safety: Is it safe for all road users? New mobility technology and services must move us closer to Janelle Phung, x324, [email protected] achieving Vision Zero, and we should not compromise on this standard. FAMILY & SCHOOLS PROGRAM MANAGER Sustainability: Does it reduce emissions? The ultimate sustainability goal for all modes of Nancy Buffum, x314, [email protected] transportation should be fewer automobile trips. INTERIM COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Rachel Dearborn, x308, [email protected] Equity: Is it accessible and affordable? San Franciscans must not be further divided along lines of race, class, gender, and geography. MEMBERSHIP MANAGER Kelsey Roeder, x310, [email protected] SFMTA announced that two companies, Scoot and Skip, will be permitted to launch a one-year pilot OPERATIONS MANAGER on October 15. It is possible for me to imagine companies operating in ways that score well by all Janelle Wong, x311, [email protected] three of these measures, but we will be watching carefully in order to hold Scoot, Skip and the SFMTA accountable. PHONE BANK COORDINATOR Juli Uota, x319, [email protected] As I look back on the past decade of bike advocacy in San Francisco, it’s clear that we didn’t fully PROGRAM COORDINATOR anticipate or understand the impact of Uber, Lyft and related delivery services on the experience of Christopher White, x322, [email protected] biking. We stayed in our bike lane, minding our own business. Pretty soon we had lots of Uber and Lyft drivers illegally picking up and dropping off passengers and putting our safety at risk. We can’t make the PROGRAM COORDINATOR Miles Stepto, x315, [email protected] same mistake and ignore e-scooters or autonomous vehicles. PROGRAM DIRECTOR That means we will both advocate for regulation and work proactively with the companies that operate Ana Vasudeo, x301, [email protected] these services. VOLUNTEER AND MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR As we engage these companies, we will never compromise our values or mission. In many ways, Chris Bannister, x316, [email protected] e-scooter companies are potential allies. They have a clear business interest in seeing more protected BOARD OF DIRECTORS bike lanes in San Francisco. Safety, real or perceived, is likely the biggest barrier they face to getting Nicholas Aulston (President), Rocky Beach, Mary Kay Chin (Secretary), Chema Hernández Gil, Amandeep Jawa, Shirley Johnson, more people to use their product. People who bike and those invested in e-scooters both benefit from Marie Jonas, Jean Kao (Treasurer), Adam Keats, Jane Natoli, Lindy the same safety improvements to our streets, so we stand ready to collaborate when these companies Kae Patterson, Jeremy Pollock, Andy Thornley, Jiro Yamamoto make a genuine commitment to champion positive changes. BICYCLE EDUCATION OUTREACH SPECIALISTS Adrian Cardenas, Molly Champlin, Rourke Healey, Nick Marti, José I’ve tried riding a scooter. It was fun. But I’ll still be riding my bike every day. Likewise, your San Vargas Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s mission and values won’t change. We welcome scooter riders to join our VALET BICYCLE SUPERVISORS Nahid Abunama-Elgadi, Nicolas Anderson, Zach Bondurant, Adrian organization and fight with us for the improvements that will benefit us all. Cardenas, Geoff Fletcher, Xiomara Grande, Kate Hanus, Devon Hayden, Caley Heekin, Richard Kesler, Jessi Lawrence, Nick Marti, Maggie McGarry, Matthew McKenna, Elisa Meza, Molly Riddle, facebook.com/sfbike instagram.com/sfbike Angelina Romano, Alexis Wallace, Tracy Weiss twitter.com/sfbike INTERNS BRIAN WIEDENMEIER Adrian Law, Whitney Libunao, Emily Rudger, Diana Suarez, 1720 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Alexandra Von Klan, Haoyang "Harry" Zhang Executive Director tel: 415-431-2453 (BIKE) San Francisco Bicycle Coalition [email protected] Support our work for more welcoming, more bikeable streets with a gift today: sfbike.org/donate. Safe Routes to School: A Program Focused on Equity By Nancy Buffum San Francisco kicks off this year’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program with International Walk & Roll to School Day on Wednesday, October 10, when thousands of kids and their families will commute to school on foot or by bike, scooter, bus, wheelchair, stroller, or little red wagon. Your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition works with all of the many SRTS partner organizations in low income neighborhoods so that families feel supported and empowered to walk, bike, carpool, or take transit to As a proud SRTS partner, the San Francisco Bicycle school. Convening Neighborhood Task Forces is a new Coalition is best known for organizing the enormously approach we use to bring together parents, staff, and popular Bike & Roll to School Week in April and the school community members. Through a Neighborhood family learn-to-ride events with the YMCA’s YBike Task Force, parents and caregivers can share school Program. We are proud to be a part of a program that transportation-related concerns and directly address for ten years has encouraged active transportation to representatives of city agencies. Next year, we plan on schools throughout San Francisco and, more expanding the Neighborhood Task Forces to more San importantly, helped us address the transportation Francisco communities. concerns of many low-income communities. This school year is a great time for parents and Safe Routes to School Today volunteers to start getting involved with the program In San Francisco, the SRTS program prioritizes and receive resources for their schools. Please visit engaging schools with large numbers of families that sfsaferoutes.org to learn more. live within walking distance of school, and communities that are within Vision Zero’s High Injury Network — the 12% of streets where over 70% of Thanks to Dolan Law Firm for supporting the Tube Times collisions occur. Many children in neighborhoods served by the program, such as the Tenderloin, Bayview and Excelsior, are likely to encounter issues with personal safety as well as street safety on their way to school. FALL 2018 2 members who have spoken up for near-term Quick Releases protected bike lanes on Howard and Townsend Streets. Both projects are expected to be approved this fall, and construction will begin by Endings and Beginnings the end of the year to bring safe, welcome bike connections through SoMa. Want to get the on Masonic latest? Email [email protected] for more. With Mayor London Breed and new Supervisors Catherine Stefani and Vallie Brown in attendance, City officials and SF Bicycle Coalition members cut the ribbon on an improved Masonic Avenue. The occasion invited reflection on the decade-plus of hard work by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition members and advocacy group Fix Masonic. It was also an opportunity to acknowledge parts of the design that still need work: further separation between auto traffic and the raised bike lane, as well as safety issues at the Fell/Masonic intersection. All who spoke pledged to address the shortcomings, and the SF Bicycle Coalition will be working with Supervisor Brown and the SFMTA to find quick solutions. The improvements on Masonic Fond Farewell & Hearty also serve as a monument to the memory of Nils Yannick Linke, who was killed while biking on Welcomes Masonic in 2010. We have more to do on After nearly three years on staff, Masonic, but we are now well on our way. Communications Director Chris Cassidy has stepped down as he and his family made a move to Mexico City. We will deeply miss the professionalism and passion Chris brought to his work here at the SF Bicycle Coalition. He wrote with style and precision, and helped represent our work in media across the world.