Defending car-free Market Street: what happened (PHOTOS) and what’s next
On Tuesday during rush hour, I was so glad to see the faces of so many people who joined us to protest the arrival of Waymo, Uber, and Lyft on car-free Market Street.
But I also saw how Mayor Lurie’s decision opens up the gate for more vehicle traffic on Market Street. Already some drivers are already feeling emboldened to drive illegally on Market Street; a number of them passed in the hour we were out there.
While Mayor Lurie’s announcement came with promises of increased enforcement of this, this means fewer police to enforce dangerous driving elsewhere. Yet another way that this whole thing feels counterproductive for safe streets.
We don’t want to go back to a chaotic, noisy street where traffic crashes happen on the regular and Muni buses are stuck in traffic. We don’t want to go back to having five of the city’s ten most dangerous intersections on this one street.
The leading cities around the world are embracing car-free spaces in their downtowns – not adding more vehicle traffic.
That’s why Walk SF is part of the Keep Market Street Moving Alliance. It’s why we’ll be at the SFMTA Board meeting on Tuesday, September 2 to urge Directors to do all they can to defend car-free Market Street – and making a stop at Mayor Lurie’s office to deliver a letter from the Alliance.
If you haven’t emailed Mayor Lurie yet, do it today. Let’s be clear: the future of our city means moving forward, not back.
