Walk San Francisco » Actions

News from Walk SF’s Feb newsletter

member intern — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:18:19 +0000

The House just passed a transportation bill that slashed funds for biking and walking — and actually repealed Safe Routes to School. Thanks to everyone who spoke up — Representatives received thousands of calls. But the bill still squeaked by; now the fight moves to the Senate. Stay tuned.
More from the February Walk SF newsletter:

An Open Letter to Mayor Lee from Walk SF:

How Mayor Lee Can Make Smart Investments in Safer Streets in 2012

At Walk San Francisco’s member bash last month, Mayor Ed Lee celebrated making San Francisco the first big city in the state to help kids walk to school by creating 15-mph zones at 60 schools, out of 180 to come.

“We will, in our lifetimes, get to zero pedestrian deaths,” declared the Mayor, calling for “experimenting out of the box with every possible idea to make streets safer.”

The mayor set a bold vision for San Francisco, and an “out of the box” approach may be just what we need to reach it. But to stand by his commitment, Mayor Lee must provide the leadership our city needs to make smart, immediate investments to improve pedestrian safety in 2012.

Read on for Walk SF’s 5 Steps to a Better City

Vote Yes on B for Safer Streets

elizabeth — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:32:34 +0000

Yes on B! Prop B includes over $70 million for pedestrian safety improvements: wider sidewalks, “road diets” to calm traffic, new curb ramps for wheelchairs and strollers, and more.

Why a bond? These improvements are exactly the kind of permanent infrastructure investments that are an appropriate use of bond funding. Prop B will make our streets better for the long term. Walk SF also supports dedicated, ongoing additional funding, of course, but this up-front investment is needed now to make our streets safer and more walkable. Safety shouldn’t wait.

Read the San Francisco Chronicle story on Prop B, with a quote from Walk SF executive director Elizabeth Stampe.

Walk SF’s ballot argument for Prop B:
The City’s dangerous streets put children, people with disabilities, parents with strollers, and seniors at risk. Every year, 800 people are hit by cars in San Francisco. Seniors are four times as likely as others to be killed this way.

Prop B will make the investment we need in safer streets for everyone.

The poor condition of San Francisco’s streets, sidewalks, and crosswalks is a serious problem. Prop B will help fix the most dangerous streets to make them walkable, improve sidewalks and crosswalks, and repair and strengthen stairways and bridges.

Safe, walkable streets help you travel easily and arrive on time. They help neighbors know each other and keep neighborhoods safe from crime. They reduce carbon emissions from driving and support local businesses with foot traffic.

Prop B is a smart investment in the safe, sustainable transportation San Francisco needs. Vote Yes on B.

- Walk San Francisco

More info at the Department of Public Works website. To join the campaign: Like Prop B on Facebook

Be sure to vote on Tuesday November 8!

Haight Street redesign approved!

elizabeth — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:29:19 +0000

Thanks to everyone who wrote in and spoke up at the hearing in favor of a two-way Haight with a transit-only lane and lots of improvements for safer walking. The MTA Board approved this unanimously!

More below, including the designs, and a Streetsblog story here.

Haight Street goes before MTA Board

elizabeth — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:20:01 +0000

Walk SF supports the Haight Street project, which focuses on the stretch from Laguna to where Haight meets Gough and Market. The project will:

Improve pedestrian safety by adding countdown signals and wider sidewalks at street corners — “bulbouts” — to calm traffic, help pedestrians and drivers see each other, and shorten street crossings.
Help calm traffic by making a one-way street into a two-way street.
Improve the speed and efficiency of Muni by creating a more direct route with a new bus-only eastbound lane on Haight.

On Tuesday October 18, this project goes before the MTA Board.

Municipal Transportation Agency
Board of Directors Meeting
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Room 400, City Hall
1:00 pm

Check out the designs and email the MTA Board to support the project:

Haight/Market/Gough:

Haight/Octavia:

Haight/Laguna:

Walk SF in the New York Times – Fund Safe Walking

elizabeth — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:06:36 +0000

UPDATE: Protect pedestrian funding in the transportation bill – call or email Senator Barbara Boxer and urge her not to cut funds for safe walking! You can call Senator Boxer at (415) 403-0100 or (202) 224-3553.

Did you see the front-page story in the New York Times on Monday, June 27, titled “Across Europe, Irking Drivers Is Urban Policy“? Last Friday, the Times printed Walk SF’s letter correcting the article’s claim that Market Street is “pedestrianized” (not yet!) and calling for pedestrian funding in the new federal transportation bill.

To the Editor:
San Francisco is a delight to walk in, but even here, cars rule the roads. Market Street has not yet been “pedestrianized,” and many people are hit every year on the wide, dangerous streets that cross our city’s main boulevard. We’ve ceded our public space to the private vehicle, and we’re all paying the price.

An American is struck by a car every seven minutes. What a waste. Redesigning streets would be a lot cheaper and kinder than what we’re doing now: paying emergency-room costs for tragedies that could have been prevented.

As the Zurich official in your article said about other cities’ policies, “I can’t get used to the idea that I am worth less than a car.”

Here in America, the new federal transportation bill should finance “complete streets” where everyone can walk safely and with dignity. Aren’t we worth that much?

ELIZABETH STAMPE
Exec. Dir., Walk San Francisco
San Francisco, June 27, 2011

Support safe speeds around SF schools!

elizabeth — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:20:01 +0000

Help Walk SF make San Francisco the first big city in the state to create safer school zones!

We are excited to announce the first step toward 15-mph zones around all San Francisco schools!

The first 100 new school zones have been mapped by the Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA), which has requested funding from the County Transportation Authority (TA). On June 28, the Authority’s board – also known as the Board of Supervisors – will vote on that request.

Come on out to support safe speeds around SF schools! Or if you can’t make the meeting, email your Supervisor.

TA Board / Board of Supervisors meeting
Tuesday June 28, 11am
City Hall Room 250

And mark your calendar for SFMTA’s public hearing on the locations of the first new school zones:

SFMTA public hearing
Friday July 1, 10am
City Hall Room 416

Get involved with pedestrian advocacy in May

Josh — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:51:12 +0000

There are some great events surrounding pedestrian advocacy coming up in May! Check out how you can get involved:

Continue Support for a Safe Masonic
Better Market Street Workshops
Learn to Audit the Street
Please Take the National Walking Survey

Continue Support for a Safer Masonic

Thanks to everyone who wrote in and came to Friday’s hearing to speak up for the “boulevard” option on Masonic Avenue — it was approved! This redesign will narrow the street to calm traffic, widen sidewalks at bus stops, install tree-planted medians, and improve crossings. It goes next to the MTA Board.

This plan could dramatically improve the safety of the notoriously dangerous street, where just last week 61-year-old James Hudson was killed. In addition to supporting the redesign, Walk SF is advocating for more law enforcement to protect pedestrians in the near term to continue the important work around Masonic we kickstarted in 2008.

Better Market Street Workshops, May 17 and 24

Walk SF held a workshop on Market Street in January — now the city is holding two more to get ideas about how to revitalize Market Street from Octavia to the Embarcadero. The goal of the project is ambitious: to reestablish the street as the premier cultural, civic and economic center of San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Share and discuss your ideas with urban designers and transit, bike, and pedestrian mobility experts. How can we make the backbone of our city into a place that is green, welcoming, lively, and easy to get around?

Workshops:
Tuesday May 17, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
The Warfield, 982 Market Street at 6th

Tuesday May 24, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Hotel Whitcomb, 1231 Market Street at 8th

Can’t attend the workshops? Sign up for a webinar at www.bettermarketstreetsf.org

Webinars:
Thursday, May 19, 12 – 1 p.m.
Wednesday May 25, 12 – 1p.m.

Learn to Audit the Street, May 21 and 25

See the street in a whole new way! The San Francisco Department of Public Health has created a new and improved Pedestrian Environmental Quality Index (PEQI). At this workshop, participants will learn about the PEQI tool, then spend the afternoon collecting data about SF streets. The data will be used to refine the tool and participants will learn to become sharp-eyed advocates for better pedestrian conditions.

Saturday May 21, 9:00am – 2:30pm
1390 Market Street, San Francisco, CA

Wednesday May 25, 9:00am – 2:30pm
1390 Market Street, San Francisco, CA

RSVP at http://gopeds.eventbrite.com/

Please Take the National Walking Survey

America Walks has created a short survey to learn more about our walking habits. It’s anonymous and will just take 5 minutes.

Take the survey!

The results will help walking advocates understand what motivates avid walkers, and what keeps others from walking more. Thanks for participating!

Masonic Avenue is tragically unsafe. You can help.

elizabeth — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:06:57 +0000

UPDATE: The redesign was approved by SFMTA staff and goes next to the board! Thanks everyone for speaking up in support!

Last Friday morning, 61-year-old James Hudson was killed while walking in the crosswalk at Masonic and Turk. The driver was drunk and going over twice the speed limit. The crash was very similar to the one that killed Nils Yannick Linke while he was riding his bike on Masonic last August.

TONIGHT: Neighbors have organized a vigil as a memorial for James Hudson
6:15pm, meet on the sidewalk in front of San Francisco Day School, 350 Masonic
Safety and strategy conversation to follow
7:15pm, Blood Center of the Pacific, Masonic and Turk

Masonic Avenue’s design encourages speeding and results in deadly crashes like these. Last month, a woman was hit while jogging on Masonic; she sustained head and internal injuries and a badly broken leg.

In our city, 100 people are seriously injured or killed by cars every year. One of the most powerful things we can do to change this is to reduce traffic speeds on “arterials” like Masonic. These wide fast streets are where the worst crashes occur, and where we have the most potential to save lives.

This Friday, SFMTA will hold a hearing about Masonic. It’s time to speak up!

Walk SF is supporting the “boulevard” option (read our letter), which includes:
- A road diet, removing lanes to narrow the street and reduce speeding
- A tree-planted median; the trees will visually narrow the street
- Expanded sidewalks (bulb-outs) at corners and bus stops to shorten crossings and increase visibility
- More visible crosswalks to improve pedestrian visibility and encourage yielding
- Separate cycle tracks to provide a buffer between cars and pedestrians

Please help change this deadly street:

THIS FRIDAY: SFMTA Hearing on Masonic – Support the boulevard option!
Friday May 13, 10am, Room 416, City Hall
If you can’t come, please write to SFMTA (sustainable.streets AT sfmta.com) today or tomorrow.

It’s time to fix Masonic, and this is our opportunity.

Hearing on Pedestrian Safety in District 6

elizabeth — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:27:20 +0000

UPDATE:
Thanks everyone for speaking up and emailing the supervisors!
The hearing was packed with over 100 people, many of whom gave very moving testimony about the dangers they face every day from cars on Tenderloin and SOMA streets.

If you missed the hearing you can catch up:

District 6 is SF's most dangerous area for pedestrians by far. Data: SFPD

Supervisor Jane Kim has called a hearing on pedestrian safety in District 6, in Board Chambers before the Public Safety Committee, April 7 at 10:30am.

District 6 includes the Tenderloin and SOMA, two of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods for pedestrians (see graph at right).

Do you have a story about the perils of walking in SOMA or the Tenderloin? Speak up!

Come to the hearing if you can. There should be time for public comment at the beginning of the hearing (and the end).

Or send an email to Supervisors Mirkarimi, Cohen, and Campos. Please CC Supervisor Kim and Walk SF.

Volunteer with Walk SF at Sunday Streets!

Josh — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:41:34 +0000

We’re looking for volunteers to help at Sunday Streets, this week and throughout the year.

Oh yes, balloons!

This Sunday, we’ll don our “I Walk SF” t-shirts, grab some balloons and a boombox, and stroll along the route, talking with folks about the work we do and why we love to walk!

This Sunday, March 20, is the first Sunday Streets event of 2011 — the Embarcadero will be freed of cars and opened up for pedestrians, bicyclists, and a variety of activities. This month’s event will run from Fisherman’s Wharf to Mariposa Street, passing Pier 39, the Ferry Plaza, and AT&T Park along the way.

To volunteer or find out more, email volunteer@walksf.org

Sign up for a 2-hour shift and get a free t-shirt to wear at the event!

Spread the word about Walk SF and make San Francisco a better city for walking!