On Tuesday, some 40 protesters briefly occupied the controversial Valencia center bike lane outside Blondie’s Bar, just south of 16th and Valencia streets.
The crowd, composed of business owners, local residents, and a handful of cyclists, took turns decrying the lane as people on bikes shuffled around them. Several brandished signs calling on Jeff Tumlin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), to resign. The occasional car honked its support.
“We’ve been in business for 33 years, and this was the worst six months we’ve ever seen,” said Nikki DeWald, owner of Blondie’s Bar and a director of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association. “We love bikes, but not this bike lane.”
Anger at the trial lane, which spans from 15th to 23rd streets, has been brewing since before construction began in April. Business owners have expressed frustration at the loss of roughly 70 parking spaces, and new limits on turning for cars. Some cyclists are also upset, saying that the design turns the road into a “bicycle freeway” that is difficult and unsafe to navigate.
And store owners have begun to organize: Walk along Valencia Street, and you will likely spot several pink-and-white posters emblazoned with the message, “This Bike Lane is Killing Small Businesses and Our Vibrant Community.”
“If this continues, I am in danger of losing my business,” said Eiad Eltawali, owner of the Mediterranean restaurant Yasmin at Valencia and 19th streets. He said that foot traffic has fallen 30 to 40 percent since the bike lane was installed, and that he has been paying business expenses out of pocket for six months.
“I see elderly customers circling the block, looking for somewhere to park,” said Eltawali.
It is hard to verify how foot traffic on Valencia Street has changed since the bike lane was introduced. The SFMTA is collecting data on foot traffic, street safety, and other metrics to assess the success of the bike lane, which is in its 12-month trial period. But, while the department originally intended to present its initial findings this month, its report has been delayed.
“The data gathering started later than anticipated,” said SFMTA spokesperson Erica Kato. “However, it is nearly complete, and we’re scheduled to present a thorough package of three months’ of data to the Board in early 2024.”
Studies of protected bike lanes elsewhere have generally found positive effects for local businesses: A 2012 case study in New York found that retail sales increased by 49 percent for businesses along the bike lane, compared to 3 percent across the borough; a 2019 study from Portland State University investigated six cities and found that most bike lanes yielded positive retail results, with a few mixed; and a 2020 literature review from the University of California, Davis, of 23 studies found “positive or non-significant economic impacts on retail and food service businesses” near bike lanes.
But, anecdotally, business owners say they have not been feeling the benefits. On top of declining foot traffic, some have said they are facing difficulties with unloading supplies along the commercial corridor. Eltawali said that he has racked up some $2,495 in parking tickets because he can no longer legally unload supplies in front of the restaurant.
Connie Wong, who works at the family business Santora Apartment and Building Supplies at 19th and Valencia streets, said that she had not noticed any change in foot traffic, but that deliveries have become more problematic.
“We get deliveries from big 16-wheelers,” she said. Wong said there is not always room for the trucks to pull up outside the store and, at other times, the trucks could only pull up in such a way that they partially block the store’s loading dock.
Objections continued at SFMTA meeting
The Valencia Street protest was followed by an SFMTA Board meeting, where public comment was filled with frustration directed at the center bike lane. But although many voiced their objections, there was little consensus on what should be done to remedy the situation.
Several local residents suggested that the street should “revert to exactly what it was.” DeWalde, of Blondie’s Bar, argued that the bike lane should be moved from Valencia Street to a residential street, like Harrison Street or South Van Ness Avenue.
Transit advocate Luke Bornheimer suggested that the center bike lane should be replaced with protected bike lanes at the sides of the street. Others suggested that pedestrianizing the street entirely would be a better solution for bikes and businesses.
“We are frustrated that the SFMTA hasn’t given us, or members of the public, the evaluation data they committed to sharing at the quarterly milestones of the pilot,” wrote Claire Amable, director of advocacy at the San Francisco Bike Coalition, over email.
“We have many members who appreciate the new center-running bike lane, and many members who vocally oppose it, so it’s clear to us that people who bike are divided on this issue — and, in the absence of real evaluation data from SFMTA on usage, vehicle speeds and safety, any assessment of impact has been based on anecdotal evidence and individual experiences.”
“Removing the bike lane and reverting back to unprotected curb-side bike lanes is not a viable option,” she added, citing safety concerns.
Kevin Ortiz, co-president of the Latinx Democratic Club, said that the issue of the bike lane is indicative of SFMTA not listening to community input. He said that if the bike lanes are not removed, “we will organize the small businesses and other interests to form an exploratory committee to reform the SFMTA,” said Ortiz. This could mean advocating for elected positions, or splitting appointments between the supervisors and the mayor, he said. (A measure that would have given the Board of Supervisors three appointments to the SFMTA Board was spurned by voters in 2016, in a 55-45 split.)
SFMTA director Tumlin said at the Board meeting that the bike lane plans had been chosen to try to support businesses while also reducing injuries and deaths on the dangerous corridor.
Valencia is part of the high-injury network, meaning it sees a higher-than-average rate of traffic-related injuries and deaths. So far this year, two people have died on Valencia Street: In January, 64-year-old Wan Mei Tan was struck and killed by a driver near 16th Street, while 80-year-old Jian Huang was killed by a driver while crossing the road at Valencia and 18th streets in September.
“We know that there are a thousand details that need adjustment,” said Tumlin. “And that’s why we’ve been spending this period of time doing a lot of listening and making continual adjustments.”
Updates on the bike lane trial can be found on the SFMTA website.
The original plan was for the city to build parking-protected bike lanes all along Valencia. We already have them near 14th and Valencia, and they are fantastic, but local merchants complained that finishing the parking-protected bike lanes project might take away some parking spots, the city compromised by making a center-lane bikeway instead. It’s a crappy compromise for cyclists and the merchants still aren’t happy.
If we want to make Valencia feel vibrant, let’s start by making it a safe place to walk or ride a bike without being killed by a driver. There were already two pedestrian deaths on Valencia this year, one happened less than a block from where these merchants are standing. Cars are killing our vibrant community.
Why would Valencia or Mission Street need any help from urbanists to be “vibrant?”
If the law against double parking would have been enforced, we wouldn’t be in all this mess. The bike lane on the sides became dangerous because bikes had to merge into traffic to avoid the many double parked cars blocking the way. I’ve been biking on Valencia for more than 10 years, and I remember it started becoming dangerous when Uber and Lyft drivers began the trend of bending traffic rules in the city, including double parking. If there is no accountability to traffic laws, everyone does as they please without any regard for the consequences.
Totally agree. Convenience capitalism trumped the law.
Would the street be “vibrant” without businesses? And would the businesses and shops function without inventory? Be careful what you wish for.
I am pro-business but anti the lazy people who don’t visit businesses in person and therefore support the car-delivery chaos Ana referred to above.
yep. i think the car-delivery biz is way worse for making it hard for the rest of us to park. these merchants don’t counter talk of declining foot-traffic with any mention of take-out action, either, i’m noticing …
here’s what i just posted elsewhere where someone had this story on view:
Sorry, not buying it. How were 70 parking spots lost, as claimed here? I’m dismayed that Amado’s has closed, and those folks are part of this chorus, but … of course, more bikes=better, to me in general, though those electrics are, um, pushing the envelope some. But i also drive around there sometimes, and have found that, for parking, the long-term towaway zones for construction that may or may not be happening, more recently added to by the off-limits except for take-out order delivery pickup zones outside restaurants, is more problematic for finding a place to park — and really, who drives to a restaurant on Valencia anyway? and how would parking be easier if the middle of the street was suddenly open again? Don’t make no sense. Sorry the merchants are singing the blues, but i’m not seeing cause-and-effect here. Angling for MORE curbside pickup spaces maybe? Calling BS on this 1.
I’ve switched to cycling as my main mode of transportation in this city for the last three years or so and the city has done a lot to improve cycling infrastructure. I genuinely love biking here and for most part feel like there are a lot of options for relatively safe passage through the city on a bike.
This bike lane, however, is a complete abomination and a huge step backward for every group. Cyclists, drivers, pedestrians, small business owners, etc. have all had their quality of life worsened by this unprecedented, untested, and unfamiliarly designed bike lane. I know businesses bitching about bike lanes are historically just “old man yells at cloud” levels of outrage, but this is legit. The street just feels hostile to bike down, walk down, and drive down. I used to love Valencia st when they would close down whole blocks and people would meander through the streets stopping at bars and restaurants, now this isn’t an option. The SFMTA has done a huge redesign on a historically successful corridor that only needed a minor tweak and effectively broken its legs. Get bent Jeff Tumlin, you self serving near-sighted idiot.
The sentiment that the lane feels like a bike freeway rings true to me – even with the cutouts, you’re reliant on bike behind you seeing your slow down signal and not crashing into you, plus you then have to go over a lane of car traffic. It’s not really conducive to popping into places the way I’d like to.
The suggestion from Blondie’s to put it on SVN is dumb – that and Mission are the streets I have the least desire to ride on a bike. People speed like hell on them.
Couldn’t agree more
This bike lane should never have been put in the center of the street. In countries where bike ridership is high and accidents are low, bike lanes are next to the sidewalk and not mixed with traffic or parking cars. The lower end of Valencia near Market has bike lanes like this. I don’t know whose idea it was to do something that has proven to be less safe, but they should be fired. Certainly, reverting back to how it was is not a good idea. I’ve almost been killed several times by motorists in the old bike lane on Valencia. There has to be physical barriers to stop cars from entering the bike lane or they will pull in wherever they feel like, even when there’s an actual parking space available, cos that’s just too inconvenient. There was never any enforcement of the rules.
Also, I don’t buy the anecdotal evidence from retailers who can’t seem to distinguish correlation from causation. I would like to see actual evidence. More and more people shop online now, so brick and mortar retail has steadily been on the decline for years. Get used to it, cos it’s only going to get worse.
Folks who are running businesses that have gone into the red month in and month out are not going to take too fondly of hearing how they should wait for a study wiggling causation from correlation.
their businesses are not failing because of the bike lane.
Well it would be nice if the City did her part for the taxes paid. Clean up the street scene: Remove encampments, going up in flames at the occasion. Open air drug dealing and use. Pick up trash blowing down the street and empty the trash bins. Stop adding new burdens every year.
Valencia is cleaner than most streets in the city and there are zero encampments.
bike lanes along the sidewalk, protected from traffic by parked cars, makes sense to me. Then, especially if we’re talking about keeping it safe for kids, maybe do something about those electric motorcycles passing — and i do mean passing! — as bikes in those ‘bike lanes,’ wherever they are. the way they’re driving ‘em these days .. they oughta be in with cars. any more questions?
Agree 100%
For what it’s worth, as someone who lives just off Valencia and bikes the center bike lane at least twice a day (4x/day if you count each direction as once) to take my kid to school, I like the center bike lane. It feels a lot safer than having to ride into traffic around cars in the bike lane. I’d be much more comfortable letting my child bike in the center bike lane, which I couldn’t have done before, and I see more kids biking there, which is great. I’d be open to protected lanes on the sides too. I want to support the small businesses on Valencia. Studies in the past here in SF have found that small businesses tend to dramatically overestimate how many of their customers drive, and how many walk or bike. I agree with the previous commenter that there are a lot of opinions and hobbyhorses and anecdotes; I hope we can see some good data soon.
““Removing the bike lane and reverting back to unprotected curb-side bike lanes is not a viable option,” she added, citing safety concerns.”
This is the problem right here – a lot of cyclists would like a different approach to the lane as well, but the Valencia business owners have been objecting to absolutely any and every effort to reduce injuries and deaths here. They’re going to have to accept _something_.
What has really changed is the businesses lost the option to use the old bike lanes as their private parking lots, for customers, delivery services and dropoffs. What the SFMTA did wrong was not add the dedicated dropoff and delivery spaces 10 years ago, but they were left with no option but to change the infrastructure when DoorDash and the businesses made it untenable for a cyclist to use the old bike lanes. I’ve yet to see businesses acknowledge that they were part of the problem with their fragrant violations of the law. And some of the businesses are within a block of a giant parking garage. Arguing that customers aren’t willing to pay for parking is not a legitimate argument. No one has a right to free parking. Even now, cyclists are not favored. If SFMTA or emergency personnel go down Valencia, they use the bike lane. Cyclists are always inconvenienced before drivers, when Dolores, Guerrero and S. Van Ness exist solely for cars, and are much better options than Valencia to get across the Mission.
You are 100% correct. These restaurants want their doordash pullup zone restored, which essentially was the old bike lane.
LOL! No one has a right to free parking? But some have a right to free camping space. Cognitive dissonance. Look it up…
You are misattributing this quote. It was Claire Amable of the SF Bike Coalition that gave this backwards take.
I’m misattributing nothing, and she is correct. I would prefer a protected bike lane by the curb, and many cyclists would as well. What is _not_ acceptable is the prior status quo, which was very dangerous and would lead to even more injuries/deaths.
Valencia business owners may not care if people are getting killed on the road – and one reason I’ve spent less time at Valencia businesses more recently, as a resident, is that it’s increasingly clear they don’t – but we’re not going back to what was there before. They will need to get behind a plan that is safer for all involved, not just blindly object to any bike infrastructure whatsoever.
the merchants are a raving mad crowd who have zero evidence of lost business due to the bike lane specifically. they also fought better designs that are globally successful. bunch of whiners who don’t gaf about our safety.
Indeed, I take my kid to school on a bike along Valencia some mornings, and there are a lot of businesses on this street that I had long been a regular patron of. I’m thinking about some of those places _very_ differently now.
The litmus test is businesses pulling up the sticks and shutting down. Take a walk around Union Square and how that place looks like these days. It’s not a too far off possibility for Valencia. Are we saying we should be taking it this far on Valencia as well?
Eat the merchants!
By that logic, the city should close off every street. You can frame this as a life and death matter, but this lane is clearly of interest only to the 1% or 2% of residents who ride bikes.
2%? In 2008, the SFMTA estimated that “16% of San Francisco residents are “frequent cyclists”, defined as cycling two or more days per week.”
https://www.sfmta.com/reports/2008-san-francisco-state-cycling-report
Imagine how many more there would be – and how much less traffic/parking competition the remaining drivers would have to deal with! – if more people could bicycle through SF without fear of drivers killing them.
Those restaurant extension-things that take up public parking spaces aren’t helping, either.
Those for-profit food-consuming spaces are a corrupt land-grab. Like to see an audit of the permitting process. LOL,
RE: bike lanes: With the current configuration, when the car/truck lane experiences a single stopped vehicle (EMS/Fire/Police, rideshare, food pickup, breakdown, random jerk) the whole system fails and people drive in the center bike lane to get around it. ‘Bikes’ themselves have become a minority on the Valencia Electric Superhighway. I bike commute daily but hit the side alleys at 15th where it begins on my southbound commute. Just not worth being a part of that mess for me. I am also a senior citizen.
Does anyone remember how bad Valencia was before. This bike lane is great compared to the old days. Sure it has its problems but be careful what you ask for because the next lane will be worse. And these business owners think that Valencia is for their food deliveries to double park there and block the lane, I just don’t get it. The 70 spots are for their deliveries!!
I do remember the “old days,” (6 months ago?) and prefer the bike lane from those ancient times.
You really think the double parking issue is somehow better after this bike lane? The whole street gets backed up for blocks if just one person tries to double park, or parallel into a spot. Emergency vehicles and delivery trucks use the bike lane as a thoroughfare. Our foot traffic has dropped almost 40% this year because our customers can’t pick up their phone orders (we are not a food establishment). Safety for bicyclists sure, but not at the cost of the jobs that feed this area!
You are literally saying that two fatalities is acceptable if your customers can park easier.
“Safety for bicyclists sure, but not at the cost of the jobs” Really?
The situation on Valencia, from 15th St to 19th st, is that the sidewalk was widened 13 years ago. As a result, curb protected bike lanes don’t fit where parking is allowed, unless the bike lane is in the middle. From 15th to 21st st, has been bad for 15 years. The increase in delivery services, Uber and Lyft made it awful and quite dangerous. The lack of enforcement of laws against double parking has shown that the only thing that stops parking, double parking, loading, drop offs etc from completely obstructing cycling is curb protected bike lanes. Bike lanes, to be free of common motorists (not the psychotic ones) must be curb protected. To do that next to the sidewalk eliminates more parking places, and increases conflict with inattentive pedestrians and people leaving cars. I ride Valencia several times a week. I enjoy the visibility of the center bike lane and the relative absence of pedestrians, cars turning into garages, etc. It would be nicer if it were repaved, and even nicer if I thought all the motorists would be able to figure it out.
My girlfriend and I, who frequently ride our bikes along Valencia, were very disappointed to see the anti-bike-lane poster on Puerto Allegro, as we eat there all the time before going to a movie at the Roxie or the Alamo Drafthouse. As if only drivers patronize businesses—in San Francycle, no less! What a slap in the face.
The safety of cyclists might is more important than the parking spots. All of these people blocking the lane in protest were against the parking protected lanes that were proposed before, and they are the reason we have this BS running down the middle to begin with.
This was the compromise solution that kept the most delivery and parking spots at the request of business owners. So of course they hate it too.
Only thing that’ll make these people happy is no bike lanes at all. That’s not acceptable.
Pedestrianize the street and set aside mornings for truck access to deliver goods to businesses. Pedestrianizing street will make it a more attractive destination and draw foot traffic to businesses. Open up city college Valencia campus garage for those arriving by car and allow double parking on Guerrero and Dolores Streets for business patrons to Valencia restaurants and stores (as is allowed for church attendees each sunday).
Current central lane has helped move skateboards and scooters and even bicycles off sidewalk and that is a welcome benefit. However central bike lane speeds of e-bikes, e-skateboards and e-unicycles are higher than the 20 mph allowed for cars and makes crossing the street perilous and not safe for others using the dedicated central bike lane.
Every block of the green wave section of Valencia includes buildings that have off-street parking. What do we tell residents who live in buildings that have parking? Or people who need to get their car repaired?
A Murray – that’s all fine if you live a block off Valencia, but many people want to come to the Mission and support these businesses from other neighborhoods. If you cut the parking spots and slow driving to a trickle it helps no one. Just move that bike lane to another street (as suggested by other posters here) and bring Valencia hustle bustle commerce back. You can still close it on Saturdays for outdoor dining, pedestrian’s, and other street activities etc. we don’t need to kill the commercial corridor going all foot traffic. Definite no to pedestrian only.
The actual WORST idea! The day it’s pedestrianized is the day it becomes the larges encampment corridor in the nation
Valencia St has always been my go to street for everything. I’ve lioved in SF since 1983. I’m no longer able to go as I literally spend all my time looking for parking so I don’t have to walk so far as my knees are not what they were in 1983! I end up leavimng and going to another part of the city. I miss Valencia st this is just terible!
Why don’t you just ride a bike there?
Or use the parking garage.
I’m sure it’s because of parking and not because of the creeps hanging around at Valencia and 16th or the encampments in front of One Medical
The real story here is these business want a one long continuous pickup zone for food delivery apps on Valencia. Only a fool would drive to a restaurant on Valencia street expecting to find parking on Valencia Street itself. One of the business owners referring to South Van Ness as “residential” is hilarious. SVN is the major north/south thoroughfare in the city. It is NOT residential. I empathize with the businesses wanting to earn a living, and no doubt their landlords have not adjusted for the doom loop era. That won’t happen until everyone is gone and it’s tumbleweeds, unfortunately. SFMTA ought to make Valencia all pedestrian/bike/transit and reserve private car traffic for Mission and SVN. As a cyclist, pedestrian, and car owner, I leave the car in the parking spot I’m lucky to have at my apartment. I’m not crazy enough to actually drive unless I want to go somewhere far over a bridge that BART doesn’t reach.
The argument that the businesses make less money due to the central bike lane sounds like baloneys to me.
The bike lane on the sides of Valencia (the way it was up to 6 months ago) had become a nightmare. The biggest problem was the door dash and UberEATS cars sitting on the bike lane almost constantly, which caused great danger to bikers who then had to use the car lane.
This central bike lane may not look great but at least it makes it safer to ride your bike down Valencia.
Basically the main issue is that there is not enough room for parking, bike lanes, unloading trucks, food deliveries, etc. The solution then is simple: make Valencia a one way street. Seems so obvious to me..
“door dash and UberEATS cars sitting on the bike lane almost constantly, which caused great danger to bikers who then had to use the car lane”
Of all of the injuries and deaths on Valencia, what percentage were due to cyclists having to take the car lane to go around an obstructed bike lane? Cycling with traffic for a moment does entail “great danger.”
Almost all car/bike crashes take place in intersections, rarely along block frontages.
Neighbors,
All lane redesign ends at 4 Barrels where old green lanes that sent cyclists into traffic have faded. Two people have been hit at that corner of 14th and Valencia under my window.
Ideal setting is in my block next to Quakers/Levis school across street from Greek Orthodox school where the bike lanes are at the curb and there are narrow raised concrete islands for dropping kids off and parking on either sides of drop-off.
I love bikes and I love cars. I need a car. I am too old to ride a bike. I need a car to get groceries and to go places that won’t take all day on muni. Please folks, consider us old timers. we need cars on valencia st. as we go there for business. thank you.
The center bike lane is much safer to cycle on than the previous configuration. For drivers, there are several parking lots close to the Green Wave section of Valencia. If drivers can’t find parking in them it seems unlikely that would find any available on Valencia, regardless of the bike lane position. I feel badly for the business owners, but part of moving the bike lane was adding loading zones. It was extremely dangerous for cyclists previously, in part because some businesses were using the bike lane as a loading zone.
Are you sure Connie Wong said “We get deliveries from big 16-wheelers,”? I suppose it is possible to have a 16 wheel tractor trailer, but I have never seen one…
As someone who is not a regular in that neighborhood, I found the bike lane confusing — and I wasn’t the only one. I had trouble figuring out how to navigate through the area. I saw a delivery truck try to stop in the driving lane to unload instantly honked at as it blocked traffic. I saw a bike turning right from the bike lane and a car turning right from the driving lane almost collide. Driver was looking to his right at peds crossing the street and didn’t expect a bike coming from his left. It was a mess!
The center of street bike lane is not a really good solution. I live across from a building where almost daily ambulance runs occur. They have to park the SFFD vehicles and ambulance in the center bike lane. When they don’t, traffic is blocked in the street lane. Dumb! Also, there should be a mandatory bike/traffic license requiring knowledge of traffic laws as applied to ALL vehicles using public streets and, illegally, sidewalks. Yes, bicycles, scooters, etc. ARE vehicles! It should also require ALL vehicles have headlights and tail lights. All non-automobile riders should also be cited for violation of traffic laws, for example, running red lights and failure to signal turns. Despite it all, IMO the previous arrangement worked best.
It is not like the center running bicycle lane facility can be tweaked here and there to make it work as the design is fatally flawed from inception, not fit for purpose.
The previous configuration of Valencia has been the most workable so far. Delivery vehicles parked in the median. Cyclists went around obstructions instead of being pinned down by bollards and curbs. A parking separated bike lane would only shift the conflict from car->bike to bike->pedestrian, especially during drinking hours.
Since there is a SFPD station on the bike route, and since victim cyclists complain about having to go around obstructions blocking bike lanes, we can conclude that SFPD had no interest in enforcing the the bike lane along Valencia.
An activated sidewalk and a parking separated bike lane are not compatible, especially during drinking hours. Separated bike lanes likewise fail with the preponderance of e-bikes, electric mopeds that are heavier and run faster than real bikes.
The only reason why Valencia was deemed a high injury corridor is because of the sheer number of cyclists who use it. SFMTA needs to consider the injury/death RATE not raw prevalence in determining which corridors require intervention. The whining of victim cyclists who lost it at the prospect of ever sharing the road is what drove SFMTA to pursue diminishing returns through engineering. If we’ve learned anything over the past few decades with Vision Zero is that we cannot engineer our way to safety.
And most damning, SFMTA has facilitated speeding commuters through the Mission commercial corridors, both in Mission Street Muni and Valencia’s center running bike lane because Mission residents are not deemed to “count” politically. These interventions reconfigured our neighborhood as a byway for others, ignoring the organic needs of those with skin in the game on both corridors.
SFMTA needs reform.That process will require the heaviest of political lifts, starting with building consensus for what form should replace it. Was the combining DPT + Muni + Streets a good idea? If not where should these departments go and why? In a climate of strong mayor revanchism and gigabucks in play, it should be interesting to see how proposals for an elected or split appointment SFMTA Board fare.
We looked into fixing this in 2010 (see BofS file numbers 100982 and 100637). Once the charter amendment was moving towards a vote at the Board, Newsom yanked the prog nonprofits leash and they stood down rather than face losing funding. I got a call from a nonprofiteer warning me as much. Eric Mar then folded as he proceed to his ground state of being unable to fog a mirror.
If memory serves, split appointment charter amendments have gone down in flames twice after making the ballot. The Mayor’s machine will not let go of lucrative contracting opportunities on capital projects like Central Subway and BRTs that are dragged out to maximize take without a fight.
SFMTA has a lot of bright ideas. Another one is to extend parking meter hours. It’s like they want to do everything they can to discourage people from coming to the city to spend money.
Why are people so adamantly opposed to metering? It ensures there’s always a spot, saving gas and time, plus mitigating the kind of tension that leads to a few people getting killed a year over a spot
Because the City wants to charge you from 9am-9pm. It’s pretty outrageous.
I’ve stopped going to Filmore St because it costs $7 just to park.
Metering does not ensure a spot. Not remotely. It’s just cha-ching for The City. Extending metering hours means that your nice relaxed dinner becomes very expensive.
Don’t listen to these ravenous capitalists! All they care about is money! Anyway, if they go out of businesses, these spaces wasted on capitalism could be directed to a better higher use as homeless housing. They are ground floor and we should not expect the disenfranchised to climb stairs.
Thanks for this article. I called the SFMTA to complaint that the bike lanes in the middle of Valencia are dangerous and difficult to drive through.
I mean, they are *intended* to be difficult to drive through, that’s what makes it a good bike lane ;p
Please put Valencia back the way it was. We need parking too. Crazy time to spend that much money on something it was good already.