San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, October 4th, 2010
Nancy Botkin. Photo by Kristin Tieche
Nancy Botkin, self-employed Filemaker Developer
How have the Townsend Street bike lanes improved your commute?
I feel so much more relaxed on Townsend with the bike lanes. The presence of the bike lane is like a big sign that says people biking are welcome.
To me, Townsend Street is the no-brainer for the bike network — a wide street with a lot of people walking and biking. Years ago, I went door-to-door to collect signatures and build support for this much-needed bike lane. It was so easy — businesses really understood that bike lanes would make this street better and saw the need for bike lanes on a street with so much bike traffic. We also found a lot of the people who worked on Townsend Street commuted by bike (Room and Board showed us the employee bike parking area!). Read the rest of this entry »
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, September 30th, 2010
Suze stands proudly next to the Townsend Street bike lanes.
Suze Gardner, Director at the Burlingame Aquatic Club talks about the new Townsend Street bike lanes.
How have the Townsend Street bike lanes improved your commute?
The new Townsend bike lanes are an important link that improves my commute to and from the Caltrain station by creating designated spaces for me to ride my bicycle alongside the moving vehicles. Before the bike lanes were striped the road was very wide, yet unwieldy with an unorganized mix of people walking, biking and driving all in the street–between Seventh and Fourth streets there was also no sidewalk, so people had to precariously walk in the street while on their way to major destinations like the Academy of Art, the Caltrain Station or AT&T Park. Today, this street has clearly marked travel lanes for bikes and vehicles, and a walking path for pedestrians, making the road much more organized, calm and relaxing for everyone. In short, the new bike lane has made it a much safer and more enjoyable commute! Read the rest of this entry »
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, September 27th, 2010
Jean Fraser (at right) on Bike to Work Day in the separated green bike lanes on Market Street. Photo by Matthew Roth.
Jean Fraser, Chief of the San Mateo County Health System talks about the new Townsend Street bike lanes.
How have the Townsend bike lanes improved your commute?
I love the new bike lanes! I ride to Caltrain to get to work in San Mateo about four days a week, and Townsend was always a little scary, with pedestrians without sidewalks, bikes, taxis, shuttle buses, and cars all trying to maneuver thru the unregulated, unmarked space. Now, there is clear space for everyone, making bike riders and peds, and even taxi drivers and car drivers, much happier. Truly, we all now “share the road.” Read the rest of this entry »
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, September 21st, 2010
Peggy da Silva, Education Manager at Veritable Vegetable, Inc., talks about the new Laguna Honda bike lanes.
How have the Laguna Honda Bike Lanes improved your commute?
I’ve never felt as comfortable riding on Laguna Honda as I do today. Laguna Honda is the flattest street taking me from West Portal to the Inner Sunset for shopping and to Golden Gate Park for recreation. I ride to work in southeast San Francisco early in the morning, often when it’s still dark out, and the new bike lanes, sharrows and reduced auto-traffic lanes mean that vehicles are now moving at calmer speeds. This new bike lane has transformed a sometimes harrowing commute to a much more enjoyable bike ride to and from work. Read the rest of this entry »
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, September 9th, 2010
Jeff Musser, Creative Director of Advertising and Interactive at RHDG, talks about the new North Point Bike lanes.
How are the North Point Bike Lanes improving your commute?
I’ve watched North Point evolve from a teeth jarring stretch to a smooth road connecting Aquatic Park to the Embarcadero. Now with the addition of bike lanes it has become so much safer for me to ride to work in the city from Marin. I now have a wide shoulder or specific bike lanes all the way through the city and most of the way through Marin as well. Read the rest of this entry »
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, September 2nd, 2010
This is the first in an ongoing series to meet the people in the new bike lanes.
Sky Stanfield, Environmental and Renewable Energy Lawyer for Keyes & Fox, LLP.
How will the North Point Bike Lanes improve your commute?
A couple of days a week I ride from my apartment in NOPA, over to the Presidio, down to Crissy Field and through Ft. Mason to the Dolphin Club. After a frosty swim in the Bay I hop on my bike again and ride to the Embarcadero BART station to get to my office in Oakland. The North Point bike lane gives me enough room as I ride in my own lane alongside morning car commuters — this new bike lane is a major improvement and connection for my morning commute! Prior to the installation of the bike lane on North Point I was biking on Beach St. to the Embarcadero because North Point was so hectic, but Beach St. is not that inviting and involves precarious crossings of three different sets of street-car tracks, close calls with buses and a bumpy ride along a cobbled street. The North Point bike lane has made a meaningful difference in my commute. Read the rest of this entry »
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, May 28th, 2010
By Sally Carson
Ken Prola teaches math at Thurgood Marshall High School. Photo by Sally Carson.
Ken Prola’s daily commute to Thurgood Marshall High School doesn’t end with him locking his bike outside the school. Instead, Ken wheels his bike through the hallways and into the classroom where he teaches AP Calculus, Pre Calculus, and Geometry. He’s discovered that his bicycle is a great prop for teaching math concepts to his students, concepts such as measuring circumference, finding the area of a circle, and explaining radians versus degrees.
Like many folks, Ken used to get around mainly by car, but spending a year in Belize working as an Environmental Awareness volunteer for the Peace Corps allowed him to experience the joys of other transit choices and really changed his worldview.
“When you’re in the Peace Corps, you’re not allowed to have a car, so I was hitch-hiking, taking the bus, or riding a bike everywhere I went.”
Read the rest of this entry »
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sanfranciscobicyclec, May 6th, 2010
Photo by: Scott Crosby
Each year in honor of Bike to Work Day, inspiring cyclists are nominated for the title of San Francisco County’s Bike Commuter of the Year. This year, big congratulations go to SF Bicycle Coalition member John Murphy who is the 2010 Bicycle Commuter of the Year!
John Murphy sets the pace for making every day Bike to Work Day: He rides the 45-mile ride to work twice a week from San Francisco to the South Bay with the SF2G (San Francisco to Google) Commuter Convoy (see details below to find out how you can ride with a Commuter Convoy, too). The other three days, he uses a bike-Caltrain combo to get to work. And, if that wasn’t enough, on Fridays John heads to Healdsburg, taking his bicycle on Golden Gate Transit. John Murphy exemplifies how you can be a dedicated bicycle commuter and still get around the entire Bay Area.
One nomination said of John Murphy, “John provides a shining example of sustainable, healthy, multi-modal, can-do commuting in the Bay Area, with bicycles at the heart of his trip-making…In so many ways John sets the standard for bike commuters across the region as he himself travels across the region, a true velocitizen.”
Thanks, John Murphy, for inspiring us all to take more trips by bicycle! John Murphy will be recognized as San Francisco’s Bicycle Commuter of the Year at the SF Bicycle Coalition’s Bike Away from Work Party and Fashion Show, Thursday, May 13, 6-9pm at Rickshaw Stop.
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, April 14th, 2010
By Jodie Van Horn
Tomorrow, April 15, is Bike to School Day in San Francisco. The goal of the event is to encourage kids to safely ride a bicycle to school, accompanied by parents and classmates. And for some kids, this will be the only day of the year that they don helmets, bells, and windbreakers for their morning commute. But not for Hannah and Hugo.
Hannah and Hugo Herschend ride to school practically every day. At just 10 and 7 they already know their bike safety better than many full-grown San Franciscans who pedal to the financial district each morning. Thanks to Jonn. Read the rest of this entry »
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