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SFBC Biker Bulletin

September 8, 2009

"It will provide us with a curb-to-curb perspective. Every idea, every project will be knitted together in terms of bikes, pedestrians, parking, traffic, taxis, transit -- all aimed at the city's long-established transit-first policy to reduce reliance on the private automobile."

-- by Nathaniel Ford (Municipal Transportation Agency chief), City aims to cut car use in half, SF Chronicle, September 2, 2009

 

Table of Contents

  1. Thanks for a Great Sunday Streets Season
  2. Mural Unveiling, Party and Fundraiser
  3. Action Alert: Protect Funding for Regional Bike Network
  4. Enjoy the View from the Orange SFBC Tent: Volunteer
  5. Tour de Fat: Trade In Your Car for a Bike
  6. Update: Valencia Street Construction and Improvements
  7. Reclaiming Parking Spaces on Park(ing) Day
  8. Be Part of the Best Bike Party of the Year
  9. SFBC Bike Buddies Lead the Way to the Big Red Bridge this Saturday
  10. Video: Park(ing) Day in San Francisco
  11. Upcoming Events

Love Art, Bikes and Great Streets?
Come to an exclusive mural unveiling and party this Thursday.
  sfgreatstreets.org

Thanks for a Great Sunday Streets Season

This year, San Franciscans enjoyed over 18 miles of car-free streets on six Sundays, in four San Francisco neighborhoods, from East to West! Upwards of 20,000 adults and kids came out for each event enjoying healthy activities from bicycling to dancing, rollerskating to yoga and hula hooping.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) was proud to play a big part in the success of Sunday Streets by coordinating and training more than 600 volunteers. A huge shout out to the volunteers who protected the car-free streets, helped Sunday Streets attendees safely cross intersections and made sure everyone had a great time! Another huge thank you to our Sunday Streets Volunteer Coordinator, Jen Toth, and our Sunday Streets interns, Angela Cheung, Christy Osorio, Sherry Shannon and Lisa Taylor for their excellent leadership and hard work! We couldn't have done it without such an amazing team of dedicated supporters.

The SFBC helped dozens of youngsters learn how to ride without training wheels at the Sunday Streets events through our Freedom from Training Wheels program. More than forty other groups provided free programming for the Sunday Streets events including bicycle rentals, free bike repair, youth bike safety skills and more!

On Friday, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that Sunday Streets will be a permanent program in San Francisco. With the enormous success of Sunday Streets in 2009, organizers would like to see more Sunday Streets events in 2010. If you would like to see more Sunday Streets events in 2010, extended hours or would like to see the event come to your neighborhood, email Mayor Gavin Newsom and your City Supervisor.


Mural Unveiling, Party and Fundraiser

David Baker, local architect and SFBC board member, is hosting "art.streets.life" to unveil a new mural by highly regarded local artist Andrew Schoultz (whose murals grace alleys and buildings all across San Francisco). This exclusive unveiling and fundraiser will be at David Baker's Mission District home with all proceeds benefiting the San Francisco Great Streets Project.

Enjoy a great evening -- September 10, 2009 6-9:00pm -- and learn more about the SFBC's latest initiative, the SF Great Streets Project. Space is limited, so buy your tickets today for a donation of $20, $50, $100 or $200. Tickets include entry into the party, free beer, valet bike parking and music. Food will be available for purchase. All contributions for this event are tax deductible. To volunteer as a bike valet email LisaRuth.


Action Alert: Protect Funding for Regional Bike Network

When the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) adopted the 2009 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) this spring, we applauded them for taking climate change seriously and recognizing bicycling as a central part of the solution. Not only did they set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, but for the first time ever, included $400 million in funding for a five-year Transportation Climate Action Campaign with $100 million worth of funding for the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) and Safe Routes to Transit (SRTT) programs.

Now the MTC is backpedaling on their commitment to climate protection. Instead of funding the Transportation Climate Action Campaign in the first five years of the life of the RTP, they're proposing to shift funding to freeway priorities and fund the Climate Campaign at just 17% of the level promised, threatening millions of dollars of bicycle funding! Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and our partners at TransForm in telling the MTC Commissioners to make good on their word and fully fund the Transportation Climate Action Campaign -- take action today!


Enjoy the View from the Orange SFBC Tent: Volunteer

  • SFBC Outreach Training: Tue., Sep. 8 from 7:30-8:30pm at SFBC HQ, 995 Market St Ste 1550. Interested in volunteering to do SFBC outreach at events all over town, like Bike to Work Day 2010, races, festivals, and SFBC Service Stations? Then this training is a must! Learn ways to engage people, how to sign up new members, and more! Contact Tessa to RSVP.

  • SFBC Valet Bike Parking at Chrome Bag Party: Fri., Sep. 11 from 6-11pm at 580-4th St @ Brannan. Bike valet volunteers are needed from 5:30pm-11:30pm. Email LisaRuth to volunteer.

  • Power to the Peaceful: Sat., Sep. 12 from 9am-5pm at Speedway Meadow. The SFBC will be parking bikes and doing outreach under the SFBC tent. Email Tessa to volunteer for outreach and to volunteer as a bike valet email LisaRuth.

  • Opera in the Park: Sun., Sep. 13, 1:30pm at Sharon Meadow (Golden Gate Park). Email LisaRuth to volunteer as a bike valet.

  • SFBC Service Station: Thu., Sep. 17 from 5-7pm at Mission Playground, 19th and Valencia. The SFBC Service Station crew will be out at the Mission Playground! Are you a trained SFBC Outreach Volunteer who wants to help? Contact Tessa.


Tour de Fat: Trade In Your Car for a Bike

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 26 when Tour de Fat rolls back into town with its ballyhoo of bikes and New Belgium Brewery beers! This all-day, all-green FUNdraiser benefits the SFBC and the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council.

  • Trade in your car for a beautiful bicycle and make Tour de Fat a day to remember! The SFBC (along with New Belgium Brewery) will gift you a brand new shiny bike if you are ready to go car-free. And not just any bike, a New Belgium, fully-loaded, hand-crafted, Fort Collins-built commuter bike and trailer! Interested?! Submit a video of two minutes or less with your story and desire to be car-free. Complete details can be found at newbelgium.com/trade

  • Volunteer and get a free Tour de Fat t-shirt. Volunteers are needed to pour beer, sell merchandise, check IDs and valet park bicycles. Sign up at sfbike.org/vol_sign_up_tdf

  • Help distribute posters! Stop by the SFBC (995 Market St, Ste 1550 at 6th St) or download and print some to distribute. Have an hour or two to ride around the city? Help spread the word about Tour de Fat fun by putting up posters at bike shops and other local businesses. Email tessa@sfbike.org to help!



Update: Valencia Street Construction and Improvements

As we announced last week, major construction has begun on Valencia Street (between 15th and 19th) to build out improvements like wider bike lanes and sidewalks. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is partnering with city agencies and the Ghilotti Brothers contractors to make sure that bicyclists retain a safe path of travel during construction. The SFBC has ensured the placement of proper signs to direct bicycle traffic and that all project staff will preserve the bike lane whenever possible. And with the encouragement of the SFBC, the city has temporarily re-striped Valencia Street to its future configuration to make sure there are fewer closures of the bicycles lanes during construction and it shows what the street will look like with the increased space for bikes and pedestrians already marked on the street.

During construction, the bike lanes may be closed due to space requirements. The SFBC encourages all road users to go slow and use caution during this construction period. Please report any unsafe conditions to 311 and let Neal at the SFBC know if you have any concerns. Visit our Good Roads page for regular updates.


Reclaiming Parking Spaces on Park(ing) Day

Park(ing) Day is coming on Friday, September 18th, to showcase ways that parking spaces can be used for people and not just cars! Come take part in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's and our Great Streets Project's examples of new and innovative uses of parking spaces.

The SFBC intends to highlight on-street bike parking (an ingenious way to accommodate the growing numbers of SF cyclists), when one car parking space is transformed to accommodate enough bike parking racks to park 12 bicycles. On-street bike parking keeps sidewalks clear for pedestrians and allows businesses to accommodate their biking customers. The Bike Plan calls for these innovative parking treatments and we're working to identify business owners who want them in front of their business, so the city can begin installation as soon as the injunction is lifted. See photos of last year's Park(ing) Day here.

Park(ing) Day doesn't have to be a one-day fun, wouldn't-it-be-nice event. San Francisco is poised to move this concept into wide spread regular practice very soon. The SF Great Streets Project will be demonstrating the future of what a flexible parking space (or completely reclaimed) will look like. We're working with volunteers to design and build structures that businesses could easily use to add cafe seating, greenery or more hang-out space in front of their store. If you're handy with woodworking and want to volunteer email Erin Rice.

Are you trained in SFBC outreach and can help the SFBC on PARK(ing) Day? If you can volunteer at our energizer station from 8-10am on PARK(ing) Day, email tessa@sfbike.org. If you have any free time throughout the day to hang out in our Park(ing) spaces and share our great work, email marc@sfbike.org .




Winterfest: Be Part of the Best Bike Party of the Year

The 14th annual Winterfest is the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's annual Member Party, Fundraiser, Auction and Art Show held the first Sunday in December. This is the Bay Area's biggest bike bash with over 200 auction items to bid on, over 60 pieces of art to buy from hot local artists, live entertainment, New Belgium Beer and over 1,000 of your closest bike-loving friends under one roof! Can you help make this event a huge success?

Gain great experience being a Winterfest intern. Web and Event Planning Interns are needed. Earn credit for school or get some resume boosting skills, while playing a crucial part in making Winterfest a spectacular fundraising success. Apply today to be part of the Winterfest action and help your favorite local nonprofit.

Show your support for Winterfest by being crafty. The SFBC is seeking limited quantities and/or limited edition exciting and unqiue bike related and hand crafted items for the 2009 Winterfest Craft table. Interested? Contact Nancy Botkin or Kati Jackson at winterfestcraft@gmail.com.


SFBC Bike Buddies Lead the Way to the Big Red Bridge this Saturday

Join the SFBC Bike Buddies for a fun, mellow ride this Saturday (September 12) and learn the best way to the Golden Gate Bridge and back into the city on two very popular but tricky routes! On the way there we will go through the Presidio, and on the way back we will go through Crissy Field and Fort Mason. New riders are encouraged!

Every month, the SFBC Bike Buddies hit the street on a Bike Buddy Route Ride to acquaint new riders with common or challenging bike commute routes in San Francisco. Heavy rain cancels.
Details: Sat., Sep. 12, Meet at 2pm at the Duboce Bikeway at Market Street. Questions? Email bikebuddy@sfbike.org for more information.

Looking for tips and tricks to make commuting by bike even easier? Ask questions and exchange helpful tips and advice with other cyclists on the SFBC's Bike Buddy Forum.


Video: Park(ing) Day in San Francisco

A great video from our friends at Streetfilms about Park(ing) Day in San Francisco. Park(ing) Day shows how parking spaces all across the city can be transformed into people spaces. It's also the perfect day to help open minds and help people think about how street spaces can be used differently. If you are interested in helping the SFBC do outreach on Park(ing) Day, September 18th, email marc@sfbike.org to volunteer!


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