Let’s pass ‘Yes on A’ on June 7 for safer streets and better transit

The lifesaving safe streets projects we need across our city can’t happen without sufficient funding.

That’s why yesterday, Walk San Francisco’s executive director Jodie Medeiros stood with city, labor, and community leaders in support of the “Yes on A” campaign.

The Proposition A Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond that will go before San Francisco voters on the June 7 ballot is a chance to win needed funds for better transit service – and also safe streets projects.

When this bond measure was developed last fall, Walk San Francisco fought for and won a 32% increase in funding dedicated to street safety projects within Prop A (to $114 million).

Here’s why “Yes on A” is “Yes on Safe Streets”

Prop A will fund safety projects on the most dangerous streets. When we say “safe streets” projects, we’re talking about projects like updating traffic signals so blind and low-vision people know when it’s safe to cross. We’re talking about the SFMTA’s major street safety projects that change the design of a street so drivers go at slower speeds and turn more safely, plus boost visibility and protection for people in the crosswalk. And when we say “dangerous streets,” we’re talking about the high-injury network: the 13% of streets where 75% of crashes occur. About 80 miles of high-injury streets have yet to receive any meaningful safety fixes.

Prop A will fund new, comprehensive work to bring down dangerous speeds. Last year, we pushed hard with the Vision Zero Coalition for the City to commit to taking on dangerous speeds in a comprehensive way. If Prop A passes, $30 million will go toward funding the new plan, and bringing much-needed focus on the #1 cause of severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco.

Prop A pays for ‘Complete Streets’ projects – projects that make Muni faster and walking safer. Prop A will fund projects to improve transit service that also make needed street safety improvements. For example, the Geary Rapid Project completed last year, created bus-only lanes – plus concrete bulb-outs and pedestrian refuge islands at every dangerous intersection along it. This means 20% faster bus times and also dramatically safer crossings (including more time to cross).

By creating this local source of funding, Prop A also makes San Francisco competitive in winning hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding from new state and federal sources, like the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

We need your help to pass ‘Yes on A’

Prop A has a lot of support: unanimous support from our Board of Supervisors plus dozens of community organizations and leaders. But as a bond, it will need to win support from two-thirds of voters, which is never easy.

That means getting the word out on #YestoMuni really matters.

We’re organizing volunteers to share info on ‘Yes on A’ at community events and farmers markets in the weeks leading up to June 7. Each shift is easy, short, and we’ll train you on everything you need to know. You can also sign up to walk a neighborhood near you to ask businesses and merchants to put up a Yes on A sign in their windows.

You can also request a window sign from the campaign directly.

Thank you for your help with this crucial campaign.

Questions? Contact Brian Haagsman, Vision Zero Organizer.