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MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR RELEASE: April 8, 2019

CONTACT: Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director, Walk SF, jodie@walksf.org, 415-596-1580 (cell); Marta Lindsey, Communications Manager, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617-833-7654 (cell)

Mayor Breed and City Leaders Will ‘Walk the Walk’ on Walk to Work Day

Wednesday, April 10, 2019 is San Francisco’s seventh annual Walk to Work Day. Walk to Work Day celebrates our walking city – and everyone who walks!

This year, city leaders are stepping up in a big way for Walk to Work Day. Mayor London Breed, five Supervisors, and other agency officials will walk to City Hall from various parts of the city on the morning of Walk to Work Day. The longest walk will be by Supervisor Sandra Fewer, walking about 2.5 miles from the Richmond District. Supervisor Matt Haney will walk a large stretch of Market Street, where 500,000 people already walk each day and plans are in the works to make it much more pedestrian-friendly.

Meanwhile, Walk SF invites anyone walking all (or part) of their commute to stop by one of the five downtown Walk to Work Day Hubs open from 7:30-10:00 AM for a free goody bag and coffee, plus a chance to win Hamilton, Giants, and Warriors tickets.

At 9:00 AM, Walk SF will hold a rally on the steps of City Hall with city leaders. The rally’s core message is that we are all pedestrians, and we all deserve safe streets. Tragically, six pedestrians and one person on a bike have been killed in traffic crashes already this year in San Francisco. Walk SF is urging leaders to take fast action to fix the most dangerous streets, and make San Francisco a pedestrian-first city where people of all ages and abilities can walk safely.

MEDIA EVENTS

1. Mayor Breed Walks from Hayes Valley to City Hall: 8:30 AM

Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Vallie Brown, and Walk SF executive director Jodie Medeiros will depart from the Hayes Valley Playground (Buchanan & Hayes) for City Hall at 8:40 AM.

2. Other City Leaders Walk to City Hall: Starting at 7:15 AM

  • Supervisor Sandra Fewer (District 1)
    7:15 AM at Velo Rouge Cafe (Arguello & McAllister)
  • SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin
    7:30 AM at Martha and Brothers Coffee (5th & Irving)
  • Supervisor Gordon Mar (District 4)
    7:30 AM at Andytown Coffee (3655 Lawton Street)
    (Supervisor Mar will be taking the N-Judah Train to Church & Market Street, then joining Supervisor Mandelman on the walk to City Hall).
  • Supervisor Rafael Mandelman (District 8)
    8:15 AM at Duboce Park Cafe (Duboce & Sanchez)
  • Supervisor Matt Haney (District 6); SF Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru
    8:15 AM at Market & Battery Walk to Work Day Hub
  • Supervisors Yee, Ronen, Walton, and Safai will walk from the SFMTA Hub starting at 8:50 AM.

3. Rally at City Hall: 9:00 AM
All the elected and agency officials listed above will speak about pedestrian safety issues on the steps of City Hall. Walk SF Executive Director Jodie Medeiros will also speak.

Also in attendance will be Deputy Police Chief Michael Redmond; SFCTA Director Tilly Chang, SF Environment Director Debbie Raphael; SFMTA Board Member Cristina Rubke; District Attorney, George Gascon; and MTC Commissioner Nick Josefowitz.

The final speaker of the Rally is Jenny Yu with San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets. Jenny Yu’s mother stepped into a crosswalk at Anza Street and Park Presidio Boulevard in 2011 and was hit by a speeding car. Though Yu’s mother ultimately survived, her life and the lives of her children are forever changed.

Rally participants will hold a large banner and signs in support of safe streets for pedestrians.

4. Walk to Work Day Hubs: 7:30 – 10:00 AM

Anyone walking all (or part) of their commute is invited to stop by one of five Walk to Work Day Hubs. Hubs are where participants pick up a goody bag of freebies, free coffee, an “I Walked to Work” sticker, and enter a raffle to win Giants, Hamilton, and Warriors tickets.

The 2019 Hubs are located at:

  • Folsom Street & The Embarcadero hosted by Google
  • Battery & Market Streets hosted by San Francisco Public Works
  • Mid-Market: 1155 Market Street hosted by the Mayor’s Office on Disability
  • The HUB at Market & Van Ness Streets hosted by SFMTA
  • City Hall hosted by Walk SF

5. Golden Millipede Award

Later in the day, we will be announcing the “Golden Millipede Award” for companies with the most employees walking to work on Wednesday, April 10th.

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More than 884,000 residents, 265,000 weekday commuters, and 24.6 million visitors walk in San Francisco each year. Walk to Work Day is led by Walk San Francisco, a nonprofit organization. Walk SF works to make our streets safe for everyone who walks… which is everyone! Walk SF also leads the Vision Zero Coalition. Learn more at walksf.org.

Social media hashtags for Walk to Work Day: #walktoworkday and #IWalkSF.

The 2019 Walk to Work Day is presented by: Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger and Walk SF.

Thank you to our corporate sponsors for supporting Walk SF events: SFMTA; Walkup Melodia Kelly & Shoenberger, Lendlease; Bay Area Air Quality Management District; Google; Recology; ParkLab.