2016 District 7 Candidate Mike Young

Candidate Facts

 7MY profile_mike_young    Name: Mike Young
   Campaign Website: http://www.votemike.org

Candidate Questionnaire

All official candidates were contacted and given the opportunity to answer our Candidate Questionnaire. Any candidate responses edited for length and clarity have been marked as such.

1. Do you ride a bicycle in the city?

No

2. The City has established a goal to at least double the number of bike trips in the next 3 years. Do you support this goal?

Yes

If yes, what would you do as Supervisor to help the city realize it?

I would support policies that would encourage bicycle usage in areas of high demand, e.g. more bike-share locations and more bike lanes where having them makes sense.

3. Our City has embraced and adopted Vision Zero, the goal to eliminate all fatalities and serious injuries on our streets by 2024. Do you support Vision Zero?

Yes

If “Yes,” the city has yet to make significant progress since the introduction of Vision Zero in 2014. In fact, fatalities are on the rise. What would you do as Supervisor to help the city achieve Vision Zero?

I’ve lived and served on U.S. army bases where traffic accidents are the leading cause of avoidable deaths and understand the need to create and enforce traffic policies meant to save lives. In so far as a local elected official can influence transportation policy, I am in favor of reducing speed limits and enhancing safety measures at pedestrian crosswalks. I believe we can strike a balance between increasing pedestrian safety and taking away parking spaces and/or vehicle lanes. After all, drivers become walkers as soon as they step out of their cars.

4. Research and data has shown that building high-quality protected bike infrastructure is the most effective way to increase the number of people who bike. Despite this, there remain very few streets and corridors in San Francisco with protected bike lanes. Do you support the significant expansion of protected bike infrastructure, recognizing that this is often achieved by reallocating space on our streets that may decrease on-street car parking or vehicle travel lanes?

Yes [RESPONSE TRUNCATED]

If “Yes,” what is at least one street or corridor in your District that you think would most benefit from a protected bike facility and why?

There are bike lanes in District 7 but they don’t get much use. Bike lanes are most needed on 19th Avenue and West Portal, both of which are locations where implementing bike lanes is problematic.

5. The SF Bicycle Coalition participated in the Mayor’s Transportation 2030 Task Force, which identified significant funding gaps for a safe, reliable transportation system. To continue building out the bike network, the original need until 2030 was $360 million, which has now increased to $660 million, by City estimates. Do you support increased allocation and funding for bike projects to at least match the percentage of San Franciscans who bike?

[NO RESPONSE GIVEN]

6. The Department of Public Health has used data to develop the “high-injury network” to show the 12% of city streets where over 70% of the collisions occur. This map has also shown that low-income communities are disproportionately affected by traffic collisions. If Supervisor, what would you do to prevent collisions in your District at these known locations?

Slower vehicular traffic limits, 4-way walk signs, better cross-walk painting, give PCO’s and police officers broader leeway in enforcing pedestrian, vehicular, and bicycle right of way laws.

7. Market Street is San Francisco’s most-biked street, with nearly 7,000 trips by bike counted here every day. The City is working on the Better Market Street project, which calls for limiting private automobiles, creating a continuous, protected bike lane for the full length of the project from the Embarcadero to Octavia Boulevard and significantly advancing transit and pedestrian-friendly street design. Do you support this plan?

[NO RESPONSE GIVEN]

8. Data has shown that the five most dangerous behaviors are all driver-related offenses: speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians, improper right-hand turns, running red lights and failure to stop at stop signs. The San Francisco Police Department has committed to maintaining 50% of their traffic citations to “Focus on the Five,” a goal they have yet to meet citywide. Do you support Focus on the Five and smart, data-driven enforcement?

Yes [RESPONSE TRUNCATED]

9. As Supervisor, what will you do to ensure SFPD focuses enforcement on Focus on the Five or other known issues that make our streets unwelcome to bike on, such as double-parking in bike lanes, rather than ad hoc, complaint-driven enforcement?

My answer to this question would be predicated on the answer I get from the above question: why is the SFPD not able to meet the “Focus on Five” goal.

10. Bay Area Bike Share is in the middle of a game-changing, tenfold expansion of its system to become one of the densest bike share networks in the United States. Do you support the expansion and placement of bike share stations in your District, even if this may mean repurposing of on-street vehicle parking?

Yes [RESPONSE TRUNCATED]

District-Specific Questions

1. The SF Bicycle Coalition has been advocating for better bike connections from Balboa Park Station to Lake Merced for years. As Supervisor, what would you recommend to improve the biking and walking connections to and from this important transit hub along Ocean Avenue?

I think the Metro need to go underground before we can have any meaningful discussion about improving Ocean Avenue. I believe Ocean Avenue is unsafe and inefficiently uses available space to maximize transportation efficiency and safety.

2. According to the 2009 San Francisco Bicycle Plan, it is legal to ride a bicycle along the sidewalk of 19th Avenue due to the lack of a north-south bike route here. There is currently a long range planning effort to underground the M Ocean View Muni line and repurpose the onstreet space to transform this freewaylike street into a people friendly boulevard with dedicated bike lanes. Do you support this effort?

Yes

Why or why not?

I would support this if we can find an answer to how vehicular traffic from 101 and 280 will reach the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a battle that was fought years ago and our present situation is the outcome of that battle. Biking and walking are great but closing off 19th Avenue to vehicles without providing a solution to access 101 North is not an acceptable solution.

3. We support a recommendation from the Ocean Beach Master Plan, which calls for a road diet of Great Highway, given the high levels of sand erosion. The result would be to repurpose two lanes of travel to become open streets for people biking and walking. Do you support this recommendation?

Yes [RESPONSE TRUNCATED]

4. The Planning Department led the Ocean Avenue Corridor Design Study, which was completed in 2015 after extensive public outreach. Recommendations in the study included a redesign and plaza treatment for the intersection of Ocean, Phelan and Geneva Avenues as well as the inclusion of a westbound bike lane between I280 and Phelan Avenue. Do you support the study’s findings?

Yes

If “Yes,” what would you do as Supervisor to advance the design and implementation of the Ocean Avenue Corridor Design Study?

I would work to ensure that we implement designs that everyone has already agreed upon.

Return to November 2016 Candidate Summaries
 

 

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