8/16/11 — Today Mayor Edwin M. Lee and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced the completed installation of 50 percent of the bike network expansion, including the completion of 17 bike lane projects, since last August when the four-year Superior Court injunction of the Bicycle Plan was lifted. Numerous innovative projects have been installed and planning continues to make San Francisco a world-class bicycling city.
 
“Whether commuting to work, running errands or taking a family outing, more and more San Franciscans are choosing to bicycle,” said Mayor Lee. “With more than 50 percent of the bike network expansion completed, I want to encourage those who have yet to try it to experience for themselves the benefits of this healthy, fun, low-cost transportation option.”
 
“San Francisco continues to see an increase in bicycling. Even during the injunction bicycle trips increased 58 percent,” said SFMTA Board of Directors Chairman Tom Nolan. “The City’s Bicycle Plan continues to add mile after mile of bike lanes, implement innovative projects such as the green bike boxes and work closely with businesses and neighborhoods to help them bring bicycle facilities to their doorsteps.”
 
“We know that improvements to San Francisco’s bike network encourage bicycling citywide,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Edward D. Reiskin. “Since last August, the SFMTA has built on a strong foundation of planning to implement a myriad of bicycling infrastructure improvements.”

The SFMTA has made significant progress toward full implementation of the City’s Bicycle Plan. Since last August, SFMTA has:

•  Completed 17 projects adding bike lanes to 14 miles of streets. 19 miles (over 50 percent) of the bike lanes laid out in the Bike Plan have been implemented.
•  Installed about 2,800 shared roadway bike markings (sharrows) along 124 different street segments totaling about 38 miles.
•  Installed about 500 bike racks providing 1,000 bicycle parking spaces.
•  Installed eight on-street bike corrals to accommodate high bike parking demand in commercial areas. The City now has a total of 14 bike corrals, and plans to install 11 more by the end of 2011.

SFMTA also implemented several innovative bikeway improvements, including:

•  Improvements to Market Street including five green bike boxes, green-backed sharrows and expanded green paint and safe-hit post buffers.
•  Bike lanes buffered with safe-hit posts on Alemany Boulevard, Division Street, Laguna Honda Boulevard and Portola Drive, with plans to add additional safe-hit post buffers to bike lanes on Monterey Boulevard San Jose Avenue in August.
•  Traffic signal changes at Fell and Scott Streets to improve bicycle safety.
•  Green treatments along the Fell Street bicycle lane near the Divisadero ARCO station.
•  Testing of “door zone” treatments and “right-hook” treatments along 17 th  Street.

 
Other significant accomplishments during this period include:

• Announced a regional bike sharing program last Fall and approved an interagency agreement in June supporting the scheduled project launch in spring 2012.
•  Implemented a policy change to allow folding bikes on Muni vehicles.
•  Completed conceptual design for the Masonic Avenue streetscape project.
•  Completed planning and design for a two-way cycle track on Cargo Way – this project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011 and will be San Francisco’s first two-way cycle track.
•  Continued planning, design and community outreach for parking-buffered cycle tracks on John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park. This project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011 and will be San Francisco’s first parking-buffered cycle track.
•  Secured funding for planning and design of bikeway improvements along Fell and Oak Streets to improve this key connection along “The Wiggle” bike route.

As a key component of San Francisco’s Transit First policy as well as the City’s Climate Action Plan, increasing bicycling will reduce San Francisco’s reliance on private automobiles and further the City’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012. Redesigning streets along the bicycle route network so that they are more inviting to bicyclists will be one of the key ways that San Francisco can attract more people to ride bicycles for their everyday transportation needs. Improved streets and pathways, coupled with high-quality bicycle parking, along with a continued focus on education, encouragement and enforcement, will help San Francisco become a world-class city for bicycling.
 
The SFMTA’s bicycle program does much more than create bike lanes. The program supports bicycle education for adults and youth, installs bike racks at popular destinations and central locations, identifies locations for better signs, improves off-street trails, and provides outreach—including safety gear and information (such as maps)—to encourage safe and courteous bicycling. As part of the SFMTA’s balanced approach to transportation in San Francisco, the bicycle program, which oversees the Bicycle Plan, ensures education and safety for cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.  More information on the San Francisco Bicycle Plan, including specific projects, can be found at www.sfmta.com/bikes.

“City leaders recognize that better bikeways are helping more people choose to bike for more trips — ranging from parents riding with their kids to school to lawyers, techies, and waitresses pedaling to work to tourists exploring our diverse neighborhoods by bike,” said San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Leah Shahum. “We look forward to the day when anyone from the ages of 8 to 80 feels comfortable bicycling on inviting, well-connected, crosstown bikeways that, literally, connect our City.”