PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 16, 2025
CONTACT: Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617.833.7654
The Board of Supervisors unanimously passes the San Francisco Street Safety Act
Senior, transit, and safety advocates celebrate bold blueprint for traffic safety
San Francisco, Calif. – Earlier today, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the San Francisco Street Safety Act, bringing new action and accountability to traffic safety.
Authored by District 7 Supervisor Mynra Melgar, the Street Safety Act recommits the City to Vision Zero and includes targeted actions for City agencies to design and enforce streets to keep all road users safe. District 3 Supervisor Sauter, District 5 Supervisor Mahmood, District 6 Supervisor Dorsey, District 9 Supervisor Fielder, and District 8 Supervisor Mandelman all cosponsored the resolution. Link to complete language in the Street Safety Act.
“The Street Safety Act is a blueprint for getting our city to design and enforce streets that truly keep everyone safe,” said Marta Lindsey, communications director of Walk San Francisco. “Today’s unanimous vote sends a message: traffic safety needs to be a priority, and we need real action and accountability by City agencies to deliver safer streets.”
“San Francisco has been making progress in making streets safer, but it needs to scale up and systematize its approach,” Lindsey continued. “The Street Safety Act takes Vision Zero into the next decade, bringing the most effective solutions citywide.”
“Seniors and disabled people are some of the pedestrians who are most at risk of death or injury when cars, scooters or bikes hit pedestrians,” said Shaya French, director of organizing of Senior and Disability Action. “We need a San Francisco where we can go about our daily life moving around the city without fear of being hit. This legislation moves us towards that goal.”
“The Street Safety Act revives the city’s commitment to rapidly improving street safety with better coordination, greater independence, and a data-driven approach, said Claire Amable, director of advocacy of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. “We are excited to see strong guardrails in the resolution that minimizes political interference on projects that will save lives and make our streets a safe place for children, families, and seniors.”
“We applaud the Board of Supervisors for standing with the majority of San Franciscans who want safer, more livable streets,” said Robin Pam, executive director of Streets For All San Francisco. “Now is the moment for Mayor Lurie to match that commitment, and marshal the city’s resources toward making sure kids can walk to school, seniors can cross the street, and everyone can get where they’re going safely.”
“Nobody should ever fear for their life while crossing the street, riding their bike, or waiting for their bus. Only through comprehensive, inter-agency action can we make our streets truly safe and ensure that nobody is the victim of life-altering traffic violence in San Francisco,” said Dylan Fabris, community and policy manager of San Francisco Transit Riders. “San Francisco Transit Riders is grateful that the Board of Supervisors has taken this crucial step to aligning the city on a vision for a future free of traffic violence.”
Supervisor Melgar’s resolution reaffirms San Francisco’s expired Vision Zero commitment to end severe and fatal traffic crashes – and has a suite of targeted actions for key agencies to design and enforce streets for safety.
The Street Safety Act includes:
- Planning for and completing a suite of ‘Quick Build’ safety treatments on forthcoming newly identified high-injury and high-risk streets
- Adding ‘Complete Streets’ infrastructure improvements (like pedestrian bulb-outs, turn calming, hardened daylighting, and pedestrian safety islands) anytime a high-injury or arterial street is repaved or updated in other ways
- Replacing the Residential Traffic Calming Program with a proactive approach for adding speed humps and cushions across neighborhoods with data-driven, pre-approved design standards so these can be installed quickly
- Planning for bringing ‘hardened daylighting’ to the high-injury network (once all intersections citywide are painted), plus establishing a process for community groups or residents to enhance daylit corners
- Establishing a public dashboard updated quarterly with outcomes-based metrics to assess progress toward ending severe and fatal crashes, plus more regular updates of the high-injury network and crash data analysis
- Increasing and focusing SFPD traffic enforcement on the driving behavior most likely to result in a traffic crash, plus conducting monthly strategic enforcement operations on speeding to complement the locations and effectiveness of the speed camera program
- Prioritizing the use of automated enforcement, including speed cameras and red light cameras, including pursuing more legal authority to expand the use of speed cameras
- Establish street design standards and maximum review periods for approval by the Fire Department so safety projects are implemented faster.
“San Francisco can and should lead the nation with safe streets,” said Lindsey. “The Street Safety Act is the roadmap to get there. Now it’s up to City leaders to turn this act into action.”
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
24 people were killed while walking in San Francisco in 2024, the highest number since 2007. A total of 42 people were killed in traffic crashes in San Francisco in 2024, the highest number in a decade.
In 2014, the City of San Francisco adopted Vision Zero, a data-driven, preventative, and interagency approach and commitment to end severe and fatal traffic crashes. This commitment expired at the end of 2024, while San Francisco’s last interagency action plan for traffic safety is from 2021.
While the City has made important progress in redesigning streets to improve safety in support of Vision Zero, severe and fatal crash numbers have yet to go down. But for Vision Zero to succeed requires significant interagency cooperation and accountability, systemic changes, and layered solutions.
The Street Safety Act builds on the most successful approaches and also includes many actions that address the #1 cause of severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco: dangerous speeding.
# # #
Walk San Francisco (‘Walk SF’) advocates for safe streets for everyone who walks, which is everyone. Since our founding in 1998, Walk SF has been leading the way to make San Francisco a pedestrian-first city where people of every age and ability can walk safely. Learn more.