Walk to Work Day Doubles in Size
More than 4,500 San Franciscans participated in the second annual Walk to Work Day on Friday, April 11. Commuters took to the streets by foot, stopping by one of the 13 participating Hubs citywide to power up with free Clipper cards, reusable totes, Clif Bars, “I Walk SF” decals and more. Participation more than doubled since last year’s inaugural event, in which there were five hubs and approximately 2,000 walkers.
Walkers shared their experiences and competed for the “Longest Commute,” “Best Shoe Bling,” and “Most Interesting Sight” contests, while employers competed for the “Golden Millipede” to earn bragging rights for the most employees walking to work.
Congratulations to this year’s winners:
- Jeffrey Remer, for longest distance walked (13 miles)
- Joseph Greenwell, for the most interesting sighting (of a mannequin, AKA “Market Street Barbie”)
- Forevamor, for the best shoe bling
- McKesson Corporation, for the Golden Millipede
As a walker’s city, San Francisco was the obvious choice for hosting the country’s first Walk to Work Day and celebrating the most healthy, sustainable form of transportation.
Report Grades San Francisco Streets for Pedestrian Safety
However, Walk to Work Day is more than just a fun, festive day of encouragement for walking — it’s also an important day for highlighting the critical need for safer, better streets in San Francisco.
To call attention to the number of preventable injuries and deaths on the city’s most dangerous streets, Walk SF marked Walk to Work Day, with a press conference with District Supervisors and city agency heads including the Police Chief, the Fire Chief, Directors of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the Department of Public Works, and members of the Vision Zero coalition to release of the first report card on walking for San Francisco.
Street Score 2014, Walk SF’s report card on walking measures the progress on Mayor Lee’s Pedestrian Strategy, a plan with clear, measurable goals to cut severe and fatal pedestrian collisions in half by 2021, which was released at last year’s Walk to Work Day. The report card on walking, provides the public with an easy-to-understand evaluation of the City’s progress on the Pedestrian Strategy and its commitment to Vision Zero – a goal to eliminate all traffic deaths in ten years.
The report card evaluates the City’s performance against the milestones in the Pedestrian Strategy, and the performance of other top U.S. walking cities. With the disproportionately high percentage of traffic fatalities that are pedestrian-related, the recent increase in total fatalities, and the current lack of adequate funding for critical, roadway improvement projects, the City earns a C+ in the report card for its progress towards Vision Zero.
Learn more about San Francisco’s Street Score grades across categories including walkability, pedestrian safety, funding engineering, enforcement, and education; read the full report card.
To help make Vision Zero a reality, join or renew as a Walk SF member.
