This podcast about the #ValenciaStreet bike lane, and the hissy fits some business owners are throwing, is a must listen.
BikeCurious and @notjustbikes covered this story better than most of our local news outlets did. If course this type of story isn't unique to #SanFrancisco, but businesses stop complaining when the new lanes bring more business.
The lesson from the #ValenciaStreet center bikeway debacle: when you "compromise" in such a way that you lose the confidence of the people you're building FOR—cyclists, in this case—you fail.
While some of us now defend this bike lane as a partial improvement, no one loved it. It didn't boost bike riding, and made it hard for cyclists to pull over and stop at a business. So businesses got all the downsides and no upside. It didn't have to be this way.
I filmed the intersection at 23rd and Valencia for fifty minutes on a Wednesday morning. It's more dangerous than you can imagine. https://youtu.be/s1XSS4Y0dDk
Drivers running red lights or driving into bike lanes are common occurrences all along #ValenciaStreet. We need physical changes to our streets to make them safe for everyone.
I support the BetterValencia.com plan. Add curbside protected bike lanes and take steps to pedestrianize Valencia Street.
Based on Reddit/Youtube comments, I'm surprised at how many people think drivers only run red lights at 23rd & Valencia. You are just as likely to see a driver running a light on Mission & 23rd as you are to see it on Valencia. The difference is that we aren't asking cyclists to travel across a car lane at those other intersections.
Love to see the Valencia Street Bike Lane getting used by skaters, cyclists, joggers, micro-mobility users, wheelchair users, and more. Makes you wonder if calling it a “bike lane” undersells the different ways people use it. #SanFrancisco#ValenciaStreet
Even dancers seem to be enjoying the Valencia Street bike lane. Bike riders weren’t thrilled about the lane being obstructed, but to me it shows that people yearn for more spaces to exist in #SanFrancisco. Imagine how much better #ValenciaStreet would be if we opened the whole thing up to people, not cars.
8am on a Wednesday and I’m out here counting bikes and cars and seeing which group runs red lights more. So far, three northbound cars have run this red, while only one cyclist has. I’m assuming those numbers will shift. Oh wait, make that six cars. This truck ran it while I was typing that last sentence (and two more ran it on a previous cycle).
This intersection is scary as shit for cyclists and pedestrians. People blame it on the #ValenciaStreet bike lane, but the bike lane ain’t out here running red lights.
If you think a big red light at an intersection is too confusing for drivers, I have bad news for you about how the rest of this city’s streets are designed.
...And here’s another car (second photo) running through a red light seconds before a cyclist was about to cross. The driver just got tired of waiting at the light.
I finished documenting this intersection at 9am, but I'm still feeling creeped out by how many close accidents I saw in one hour. I set up a GoPro and filmed for about 50 minutes. I'll have to watch the video to get a more accurate count, but I saw around 8 vehicles run red lights WHILE cyclists/pedestrians were legally crossing.
Two pedestrians were killed by drivers on this street last year. The problem is cars; not bike lane placement. It's time to open #ValenciaStreet to people.
A few months ago, a few local reporters made the wild claim that the #ValenciaStreet bike lane "cost the street over 70 parking spaces". I reached out to those news organizations with quotes directly from the SFMTA that said that number was wrong.
ABC7 ignored me.
KTVU said "were not the first outlet to report that number, so it is highly unlikely that other outlets are spreading it".
I’ll be honest, even as an opponent of Tumlin’s asinine idea of a center running bike lane, I’m surprised the numbers are this bad. There is no spinning a 50% decline in biking on the corridor. #ValenciaStreet#BikeSF#BikeTooter
I overspoke. Of course SFMTA is spinning the 50% decline in biking on Valencia, calling it “out of context”; those who shared the figure are not being “collaborative and thoughtful.”
The real results, according to them? A “promising” 3% increase.
Let’s put aside this itself being out of context as they provided no dates. That’s statistically no change. That’s not a success. #ValenciaStreet#BikeSF
Turns out Streetsblog SF asked SFMTA for comment on the 50% decline in biking, MTA ignored the request, and then issued its veiled attack on Streetsblog for publishing the number... which came from MTA's own data.
All of this would be unnecessary if MTA hadn't hidden the data. As Damien writes, "if transparency is the stated goal, it shouldn't be necessary to make a public records request in the first place." #ValenciaStreet
I'm sorry for all this #ValenciaStreet bike lane talk y'all, but it's getting nuts out there. A local gallery owner is saying that the new bike lane was responsible for the deaths of two pedestrians.
The people he is referring to were both killed by reckless drivers a few blocks from his business. One of them was killed months before the bike lane had even been built!
A few #ValenciaStreet merchants still have those anti-bike-lane signs in their store windows, so I designed an updated version they could use instead.
Rather than blaming bike lanes, it would be nice to see #SanFrancisco merchants support the https://bettervalencia.com/ plan. Safer streets drive higher foot traffic and more repeat sales. Plus, we all know that SAFER STREETS SAVE LIVES, so why do we have to frame this as an economic issue in the first place?
Plot twist! One of the merchants at today's protest of the #ValenciaStreet bike lane is from Copenhagen, and would be fine with a normal, side-running protected bike lane. Let's do it!
Last night, a group of pranksters (from the Raining Chainsaws collective) dressed up as traffic witches and cast holding spells on autonomous vehicles.