2012 Candidate for District 1 Supervisor
Candidate Name: David Lee
Website: davidlee2012.com
1. Do you ride a bicycle in San Francisco for any purpose?
Yes
I ride my bike through the Richmond District every morning. It gives me an opportunity to connect with the neighborhood. This connection is both positive and at times challenging. On a bike you are much more exposed and face potential hazards that you would not consider in a car or while walking.
2. The City has established a goal that 20% of trips in San Francisco be made by bicycle by 2020. Do you endorse this goal?
Yes
What will you do as Supervisor to realize this goal, providing a better biking experience for locals and visitors? [75 word limit]
I believe in the “Connecting the City” initiative and will work to find ways to build its suggested paths. I will also work hard to put more bicycle racks in the Richmond District, because I want to make it easier for bicyclists to use Richmond stores. Finally, I hope to expand Muni service into my district, which I believe will reduce the number of bicycle/car collisions in the city.
3. It has been shown that the most effective way to boost the number of people bicycling and improve the bicycling experience is to designate dedicated space for bicycling through physically separated bikeways and traffic-calmed streets.
The SF Bicycle Coalition has set out its Connecting the City initiative, an ambitious but achievable vision of crosstown bikeways that are comfortable and inviting for people of all ages and abilities, connecting neighborhoods and helping locals and visitors to shop, work, and play more often by bike.
Reconfiguring our streets to include crosstown bikeways and other "low stress" bike routes will draw concern from some neighbors unused to this next-generation infrastructure and the reprogramming of some on-street car parking and traffic lanes. Do you support completing 25 miles of continuous crosstown bikeways within four years, directing City staff to complete them on such streets such as three blocks of Oak and Fell Sts., Polk St., 2nd St., Masonic Ave., Ocean Ave. and the Embarcadero?
Yes
What will you do as Supervisor to realize the Connecting the City vision, creating crosstown bikeways that are comfortable and inviting for people of all ages and abilities? [75 word limit]
The proposed “Bay to Beach Bikeway” path goes directly through District 1. I want to bring as many people to my neighborhood as possible, and I think an easily accessible bike route is just the ticket to doing so. If the proposed pathway is not completed by the end of the year, I will make a strong effort to see that it gets completed.
4. Market Street is San Francisco’s most well-traveled corridor, with a quarter of a million daily transit vehicle boardings on or under it each weekday and more daily bike trips than almost any other street in the United States. Market Street is scheduled for full repaving in 2016. The City is leading a community planning process to deliver a Better Market Street when the repaving work takes place. Do you support a wide, continuous, physically separated green bikeway the full length of Market Street (maintaining and enhancing good Muni and the pedestrian travel) as part of this work?
Yes
5. Sunday Streets is a popular program, now in its fifth year, which the SF Bicycle Coalition is proud to have helped launch. Sunday Streets creates miles of temporary car-free streets for people to participate in healthy physical activities in diverse SF neighborhoods, on bicycles, on foot, on skates, in wheelchairs, with dogs, with hula hoops, etc. Will you support the launch of a trial of a regular, weekly Sunday Streets route between April and October beginning in 2013?
Yes
6. Do you also support growing Sunday Streets to a citywide network, where multiple routes can occur simultaneously, helping to connect multiple neighborhoods by 2017?
Yes
7. San Francisco’s Safe Routes to School program encourages students and their families to walk and bike to school through a program of education and collaboration with schools and parents. Though funding has been limited, in its three years of existence the program has taught bicycle and pedestrian safety to over 5,500 children in classrooms across the city.
Will you help to expand this program to all schools in the city?
Yes
8. Pavement quality is an essential issue for safe, comfortable bicycling. Over half of the city’s streets are in a state of poor repair, as rated by the Department of Public Works, and more consistent funding is needed to keep our streets in a stable condition and reverse the downward trend. At the same time we need to accelerate major streetscape enhancements for biking, walking, and transit on streets like Masonic Avenue, Second Street, and Market Street.
Do you support dedicating additional funding to improve pavement quality, prioritizing bicycle routes?
Yes
9. Do you support bringing more funding to bikeway construction and maintenance by prioritizing at least 50% of the streets in the repaving schedule to be streets that are designated bike routes?
Yes
10. Funding for bikeways and other bicycle improvements and programs in San Francisco is currently derived from a mix of local, regional, and federal grants, with a tiny fraction coming from the SF Municipal Transportation Agency's operating budget. Given the City's policy commitments to increasing everyday bicycle transportation, would you support an increase for bicycle project and program funding within SFMTA's budget?
Yes
11. What are your ideas for other funding sources for bicycle projects and programs in San Francisco?
[75 word limit]
I know that the city is spending money of several things that it does not need. For instance, the Board of Supervisors is going to spend $1.2 million to pay for new legislative aides for their offices. These aides are not necessary. I think we need to go through the city’s budget with a fine toothcomb and find other expenditures that aren’t necessary. Any excess money that we find could go towards bike projects.
12. San Francisco is joining a growing list of major cities with sophisticated bike sharing programs. The initial pilot program will include only 1,000 bicycles between SF and the South Bay, nowhere near the level of saturation that's been shown to be necessary for bike sharing to succeed. To become successful, this program will require rapid expansion to neighborhoods across the city.
Will you commit to seeking and securing funding to expand this cost-effective, exciting new transportation system to more San Francisco neighborhoods?
Yes
13. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was designed to help citizens and policy makers understand the environmental impact of proposed projects by requiring structured analysis before permitting them to go forward. Under the current practice of CEQA by the SF Planning Department, projects that reduce traffic speeds and make streets safer for walking, biking and transit (e.g. transit lanes, bike lanes, wider sidewalks) are often required to complete lengthy and expensive analyses, increasing the cost and delaying implementation, even though these projects have a clear benefit to the environment. Would you support changes at the local level to evaluate transportation impacts differently, exempting projects which prioritize sustainable transportation modes and allowing them to come forward faster and more affordably?
Yes
14. In San Francisco, the majority of traffic injuries are attributed to unsafe speed. It is well-established that the speed of motor vehicles plays a key role in how likely a person is likely to survive a collision. A person on foot or bike hit by a person driving a motor vehicle traveling at 40 MPH has an 85 percent chance of being killed; at 30 MPH, the likelihood goes down to 45 percent, while at 20 MPH, the fatality rate is only 5 percent. Would you support efforts to reduce speeding by enforcing the speed limit more strictly and, on key streets, lowering speed limits and redesigning streets to prevent speeding and improve safety?
Yes
15. With 96% of pedestrian injuries in 2011 caused by motor vehicles, will you direct the SF Police Department to more energetically cite aggressive/dangerous driving and speeding within the city, placing traffic safety as a high priority within the Department, and supporting prioritized measured enforcement to protect people biking and walking?
Yes
How will you help make our city streets a safe place for everyone, particularly people bicycling and walking?
[75 word limit]
One my biggest priorities as a supervisor will be to reform MUNI. I think if we can get our public transit system under control, we will be able to help all San Franciscans. If more people get out of their cars, there will be less bicycle/car and car/pedestrian collisions.
16. If elected, your term will end in 2017. How do you plan to improve transportation, in your district and citywide in these four years? [75 word limit]
I plan to work hard on getting the bus rapid transit system (BRT) built in my district. I believe a BRT line will increase the number of people using public transportation in the district. I will also work to extend the 38L line to the Richmond District on Sundays. I believe this move will bring more people to the Richmond District. Finally, I want more bicycle racks in the Richmond to help bicycle congestion.
DISTRICT SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
In 2010, hundreds of neighbors came together to support a plan to improve pedestrian and bicycling safety on Masonic Avenue through traffic-calming, new greening and a curb-side bikeway. Even with parking removal expected, most nearby neighborhood associations supported the proposal, and surveys showed strong support for this project.
Will you commit to being a champion for full funding and implementation of the community-supported Masonic Avenue plan in the coming years?
Yes
The Great Highway/Ocean Beach Master Plan proposes improving pedestrian and bicycle safety along the shoreline throughout District 1. Will you commit to supporting funding to build out the bicycling improvements called for in the plan, including significant improvements to the Great Highway?
Yes
Given the high numbers of people biking in Golden Gate Park both for commuting and recreation, particularly families with kids, do you support extending the dedicated bikeway on the eastern end on JFK Drive to the West an inviting and comfortable place for people to bicycle, no matter what age?
Yes
