Mayor Announces "Bikes SF 2010 Milestones" — Bikes Surpass Cars on Market St.
On Thursday, May 17, Mayor Gavin Newsom celebrated Bike to Work Day by declaring an ambitious set of milestones for better bicycling in the city. The Mayor's Bike SF 2010 Milestones represent the city's first-ever comprehensive roadmap of goals and target dates to measure San Francisco's progress in making bicycling a routine transportation choice for residents and visitors.
"When we meet these goals, San Francisco will be the most bike-friendly big city in the country," says the SFBC's Leah Shahum. "We are eager to help the City's leaders deliver on these goals for better biking and a better San Francisco."
The Mayor and seven members of the Board of Supervisors — Supervisors Tom Ammiano, Chris Daly, Bevan Dufty, Sean Elsbernd, Ed Jew, Jake McGoldrick, and Ross Mirkarimi — biked to City Hall this morning. They were joined by tens of thousands of San Franciscans enjoying the two-wheel, no-pollute commute to work. (See SFBC press release.) Special thanks to Specialized and Mike's Bikes for providing bicycles for our city leaders' rides this morning.
Bikes Surpass Cars on Market St.
The number of people bicycling on Bike to Work Day this year on Market St. increased 27% over last year, according to counts taken by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency today. Counts showed 647 cyclists riding eastbound on Market Street near Van Ness Ave. today between 8a.m. and 9a.m., compared to 509 cyclists at the same location and time as last year.
Bikes made up 54% of the overall eastbound traffic during this hour on Market St., while personal automobiles made up 42% of traffic. (The remainder was transit vehicles and taxis.)
There was a near doubling of bike traffic on Bike to Work Day, as compared to a non-Bike to Work Day. There were 328 bicyclists counted yesterday, compared to 647 today, at this location and time.
We tagged our Bike to Work Day photos this year on Flickr with btwd2007, and we hope you will too!
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Hear about the Mayor's BTWD experience in 2006:
BTWD 2007 Videos
Participants of the 2007 San Francisco "Bike to Work Day" are interviewed by Ray Santiago of San Francisco's Beyond Pix Studios. Video features participants and speakers at the SF Bicycle Coalition's Rally in front of SF City Hall, including an interview with SF mayor Gavin Newsom.
Cole Portocarrero, the Executive Director of the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition, is interviewed by Ray Santiago. Video features SF "Bike To Work Day" participants and mainstream media news coverage of the 2007 event. Also discusses "National Bike Month" which happens during the month of May this year.
Ray Santiago interviewed "Andy", a participant in last year's "Bike to Work Day Challenge", sponsored by the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition and part of the 2007 San Francisco "Bike To Work Day". Andy's team, all employees of an SF architectural firm, won last years competition and received a bike rack and installation at their choice of location in San Francisco.
