Member Open House Responses - San Francisco Bicycle · PDF fileMember Open House Responses...

Member Open House Responses Wednesday, April 19, 2017

1. Street Campaigns

Sticky Note Number of Endorsements

Member engagement and leadership development in street campaigns

and campaign prioritization 12

Bike lane to Treasure Island and East Bay over Bridge 7

More protected bike lanes (e.g. Market, hilly areas) 6

Support citywide policies that reduce the number of cars in SF 6

Streets that prioritize bikes over cars 6

Advocate for banning of ride-share services from main bike routes 5

Advocate for full regulation and licensing of ride-share services 5

Enforcement of double parked vehicles 3

More street cleaning 3

Idaho stop and rethinking of stop signs 3

Shared bike lanes = bikes + emergency vehicles 2

Get Muni to let bikes on streetcars and buses that have full bike racks (if

buses have room inside) 2

More protected intersections 2

Maintenance of existing bike lanes 2

Network-wide bike advocacy 2

Make GGP Sunday road conditions all day Saturday and all year long 2

Improve bike safety near Market & 17th -- especially hazardous Muni

tracks 2

Hairball 2

Wider Panhandle bike lane 2

No deliveries on Market Street during commute hours 1

Delegate leadership of street campaigns to members who actually ride

those streets 1

Car-free streets 1

Signage to indicate where best bike arterials are located 1

Illinois Street: repave street and cover/fill in unused railway tracks, move

commercial vehicles to Third St. 1

Get buses out of right lane on Market Street during commute hours 0

Advocate for cyclists to respect pedestrians 0

Protection from vehicles turning right 0

Connections to transit, esp. 22nd Caltrain 0

Let’s get super blocks going 0

Bike highway to connect AT&T/downtown to southern neighborhoods 0

More bike racks and bike lock opportunities; ability to lock and not worry

about theft 0

Leading lights for bikes 0

Get bike lanes in Stockton Tunnel and Broadway Tunnel 0

11th Street between Mission and Market 0

Phelps or other parallel to 3rd Street in the Bayview 0

Valencia! Too crowded for bikes 0

2. Education


Education for ride share drivers re ped/bike safety 12

Education for SFPD and SFMTA and SFFD(added by different author)

about bike laws. 8

Member lead safety rides with SFPD to demonstrate dangers/problems 5

Work with Lyft and Uber to encourage them to come up with a biker and

pedestrian safety training certification - that these companies would

provide them with economic incentive and/or some other benefit/sticker for

their vehicle once solid training completed.

4

Educate the public about the benefits of bicyclists on the road. 3

Corporate education @ any new, major co. that opens an office in SF. 1

More, more, more, more 1

Ticket-deferment program for bike violations 0

Back-to-school ed @ local universities 0

Video Content 0

Interactive Content, see Explorable Explanations 0

This bit oh location in neighborhoods like Bayview! There, not el (I?)

center? 0

3. Communications

Sticky Note Number of

Endorsements

Share with members how advocacy campaigns are prioritized 4

Train members to speak to the media to expand our reach 3

Give talking points to members who have media engagement 3

Listen more, talk less 2

External: reframe the definition of "safety" -- beyond not getting hit, it is about clean air and a healthy climate

2

Keep fresh/updated website info for street campaigns (like Columbus!) 2

Send everyone to Rotterdam for a month 2

Podcast and video content 1

3D renderings of new potential infrastructure 1

Issue press releases and publish on website, repercussions of hitting cyclists, etc. Do PSA video.

1

Use non-digital forms of communication (to reach people without internet) 1

It's hard to know what projects are ongoing in a given area in order to help, track or participate.

1

Deepen communication about street/infrastructure campaigns and development

0

Make communication in terms that a 12 year old can understand. Your general audience is not conversant about most topics.

0

Communicate to general public about road laws. 0

Internal: Member-to-member communication should be facilitated and made more often

0

External: Talk more about cycling joy (personal) and benefits (community) and a little less about danger

0

Near/next to bicycle count machines, signs for comments from bikers. Forms/electronics.

0

1. How do you communicate all of the issues presented tonight to the general membership? 2. How do you communication Coalition responses?

0

Communicate/Press to get more understanding to average citizen who bike commutes to work are [sic]

0

More aggressive press and creative media; insert SFBC (and our issues) everywhere.

0

Communicate issues to membership and encourage their support by calling/writing local/state decision makers

0

Add to website: Who is allowed to use bike lanes? i.e. taxis, loading, scooters, electric bikes. Educate members.

0

1. Member meetings 2. Letters to the editor in Tube Times 3. Promote discussion e-mail list.

0

Virtual reality bike renderings 0

Less mailings to members. I don't keep them. 0

Have special pages for bigger projects in [inscrutable] progress and actions can be discovered and followed

0

Need ongoing communication with ride share companies (Uber, Lyft, Door Dash) about observing bike lane restrictions

0

4. Membership Engagement


Endorsements

Empower members and delegate/distribute work and tasks to scale advocacy work

5

Train & encourage members to lead advocacy campaigns 4

Develop and support member led advocacy campaigns 4

Delegate leadership of street campaigns to members who actually ride those streets

4

Train members to speak to the media to expand our reach 4

More socials for members (Bike Away from Work, Love on Wheels, social rides)

4

More social clubs (like Women Bike Coffee Club) 4

Foster respect among biking folks - cool the jets of the biker bros 3

Encourage member self-organizing! Create ways/infrastructure so members can communicate

3

(Create a super Bike Coalition membership - SFBC Bike East Bay - (pick two coalitions) and CalBike

2

More events like this! (Yes! More opportunities for members to add their voices to the strategic plan)

2

RE: Engagement and Communications - member forum for upvoting of posts/concerns/questions/reddit/r/SFBC already exists

2

Encourage broad participation by members 2

Share w/ members how advocacy campaigns are prioritized. 2

More polls/surveys 1

Listen more talk less 1

Bike Talks! Help educate member about different campaigns 1

Run sales on membership drives for special days...perhaps 2 for 2 days? 0

Do another "Bike Summer" encouraging a central caledar of bike events on sfbike.org (Note: Bike Summer was critical mass)

0

Bike commuter mentoring for new members. Pair up with existing members and have them consult with folks who want to ride re: routes, clothing, choices, panniers, etc…

0

Make it easier for members to find what projects exist in their district of interest

0

Encourage or give incentives or prizes for people that bring in referrals 0

Education/events sessions in neighborhoods where it's happening. SFBC office is FAR for those on public transit or bike from outer neighborhoods

0

Tours of neighborhoods (Jane Jacobs Walks Style) 0

Targeted ads 0

More personal and welcoming of new members - complement the great packets with personal outreach - maybe member to member

0

5. Community engagement


Engage with non bike riding communities and position them as potential 6

riders.

Continue hosting Bike Builds as a way to connect with underserved

communities. 3

More Gals With Gears 3

Be the bike org that figures out how to get equity right. 2

High school & university students? Education & outreach. 1

Get respect/give respect fliers - one side has bikes rules, one side has car

rules. 1

Partner with other fitness organizations 1

How “Look how easy it is to bike to work” sessions with local companies 1

Good. I do see some action all over the city. 0

Invest in member ideas and suggestions for actions. 0

Breaking down riding (i.e. social rides) by skill level/rigidity and partner

with different groups to lead rides. 0

Engage on the ground in low member numbers to talk about bikes & SFBC

(offer food & drinks). 0

More friendly host/entry to events to have a more clear outcome. A host to

make people and members feel more welcome. 0

How to get message to average citizens that not all bikers are stop sign

runners (or other “bad behavior”). 0

How to reach bike riders who aren’t commuters (from seasonal/casual to

roadies). 0

6. Transportation Justice & Equity


Endorsements

Improve bike routes in Hunters Point, Bayview, northbound Third Streets

south of Palau is crowded with cars…. 7

Invest more in under-represented communities 5

Ally with groups working on police reform and transparency 5

Less prosecution of policing of stops in the Wiggle by Park St police 4

More car-free streets 2nd-hand exhaust fumes kill 4

Are your education materials multi-lingual? Yes 3

Keep separated bike lanes swept, on Cargo gets lots of debris 3

Know your rights trainings in Spanish, Cantonese and Tagalog 3

Please be very careful about whom SFBC partners with. Taking money

from and collaborating with develops gentrifying Black and Brown

neighborhoods undermines efforts for justice and equity and undermines

trust with communities of color

3

Make bike sharing programs free for kids like Muni does transit passes 2

Especially invest in infrastructure in poor neighborhoods 2

Safe and secure bike infrastructure in "affordable housing developments

(bike room) 2

Do an equity report and hold the city to account 2

Promote the Idaho stop BUT along respect for pedestrian priority and *fair*

1-and-1 with vehicle 1

Advocate for more attention to street maintenance and cleaning in

underrepresented neighborhoods 1

Explicitly define our organizations as a civil rights and social justice

organization 1

Ally with organizations advocating for more housing so more people can

live within biking distance of work 1

Data needs to count ALL bicyclists 1

Spend more time on non-infrastructure reasons that low-income and

communities of color chose not to ride (where people don't) 0

Partnerships with more community groups 0

Help communities in SE part of city mobilize to create safer bike routes (ps

Cargo way is a minefield) 0

Bike share stations in *all* neighborhoods 0

Recognize that cyclists (and pedestrians) are a disadvantaged community

in our current society 0

Bike lanes on Twin Peaks!! 0

I ride in the road [reference to Cargo way?] 0

S.t neighborhoods - no focus - no infrastructure - no members 0

Member-led groups/social focused on different community and identity

groups 0

Women of color - RBG + BGDB 0

7. Youth & Family biking


Endorsements

SFUSD organizes bike trains to each school 0

More resources: peer to peer, meet-up groups? for families 1

develop more versatile school bike facilities / lanes (bike racks, bike drop-

offs, areas, etc.) 1

A complete network of 8-70-80 routes 1

discount memberships for teens 2

youth leaders present & strong in SFBC 1

lighted bike lanes 2

more protected bike lanes 3

bike info @ parent places, like Natural Resources, kids gyms, playgrounds 0

advice line/email for parents that want to start biking -- or their kids biking 0

8.

Emerging Technology


Endorsements

Pressure officials to enforce traffic laws about double parking in bike

lanes 9

Keep Uber/Lyft out of bike lanes 8

Demand that Uber/Lyft incorporate bike lane data into their pan and not

permit any pick-up drop-offs in bike lanes 7

Training for Uber/Lyft for bicycle/peds safety 4

Establish friendly point of contact @ Uber/Lyft so we can make

complaints of reckless driving directly to them in cases where police

refuse action. Specific drivers can be really dangerous.

4

Improved city infrastructure (loading zones on each block/transit zones)

may be a good solution for rideshare congestion. 4

Keep rideshare off major bike routes 4

Petition PUC to implement regulations on Uber/Lyft drivers to prevent

abuses 2

Dedicated E-bike and E-board lanes 2

Use Stave heat map data to better understand where people ride and

prioritize improvements 2

Advocate for full regulation and licensing of ride share 2

Is there really a dialogue with rideshare orgs to promote bike safety

from within their organizations? 2

Pressure Uber and Lyft to license their drivers and revoke these

licenses when there are too many complaints and infractions - SF Taxi

Commission can do this

2

Uber/Lyft should have to clearly label their cars with contact/identity

numbers 0

“Taxi” stands on even number side of street on Valencia 0

Specific space for e-bikes to travel in bike lanes 0

Require Lyft and Uber to change taxi rates and have medallions 0

Plan for how we deal with a future city of autonomous vehicles and

prepare for these needs 0

Join forces with the e-board and e-bike people to have a combined

movement for more space 0

Things like e-boards and segways need to be kept out of the bike lanes 0

PUC is failing to regulate ride share and they need to be held

accountable 0

9. Organizational Governance


Endorsements

Implement ranked choice voting for Board elections 10

End board recommendations of candidates 6

Implement term limits for board members 3

Regular membership meeting 2

Board focused on supporting staff, ED 2

Include active and committed members on committees (board) 2

No Slates - No Power blocks in candidate group 1

Keep politics out of governance! 1

Simplify elections 1

No more secret ballots at board meetings 1

Recruit for skills needed (fundraising, legal, etc) 1

Rescind the 2012 elimination of quorum for board elections 0

How can members know what qualities would make someone a truly

excellent board member? Education for members? 0

I like being able to vote at Winterfest (in case I forget to do it online) 0

How can Board help org level up? 0

Be the Advocacy Organization that Government Agencies are not able to

be 0

Make a report (or similar) for all members with the final pages of the

previous strategic plan, to see what goals were met and what not 0

10. Organizational Sustainability


Endorsements

Train and encourage members to lead advocacy campaigns 5

Include members in key decisions 4

Delegate leadership of street campaigns to members who actually ride

these streets 4

More member-led fundraisers 3

That dance at DNA lounge a few years ago was fun. 3

Encourage broad participation by members 2

Membership for university students - outreach? classes? 2

Fundraising bike rides 2

Expand company or organization partnerships. Larger companies have

large bike communities 2

Have random bike lane areas to poll bikers on their issues. Whether

member or not. Might get more members. 1

Co-membership campaigns with other organizations (Bike East Bay, Cal

Bike, SPUR, etc.) 1

I like the auctions as fundraisers and raffle too. In order to be inclusive of

lower-income folks, include affordably priced raffle tickets 1

Listen more talk less 1

I love Winterfest 1

Neighborhood fundraisers (to businesses, members, orgs) 0

Some sort of member skill database SFBC can tap into (web dev, design,

marketing, etc) 0

More online fundraising tools (progress thermometer, etc) 0

Membership campaigns that evolve (sic) emotion. Selling on business

discounts cheapens our work 0

11. Any other issues you are passionate about seeing us work

on?


Uber’s out of bike lane 15

Make certain streets at certain times bikes only / Dedicated Bike Streets (no cars)

8

Protected bike lanes! 8

Support citywide policies to reduce the number of cars in San Francisco. 7

SFPD traffic enforcement of vehicles for vision zero goals 6

Better bike signage on poles. Less route numbers, more destinations 5

A complete network of protected bike lanes / car-free streets 5

Bikes on Western span of the Bay Bridge. 4

Reform Prop 13 and raise $700 million for SF 4

Work with SFMTA and SFPD and Uber and Lyft to identify specific loading zones and much more enforcement for un/loading in bike lanes

4

Be an advocate for new ideas. Push the envelope. 3

How to force police to enforce no parking in the bike lanes?? What if we report photos? Can we force them to ticket?

3

Define a policy advocacy agenda to establish a member policy committee 2

Work on state bills clarifying the California Vehicle Code. 2

Shape public policy, others will implement 2

Do not compete with SFMTA – provide forward thinking ideas for them 2

Promote SFMTrA as the City’s cycle safety authority! 2

Roadway conditions are deplorable citywide—they are accidents waiting to happen

2

Bike access on LRVs (Muni streetcars) please! Bike hooks, for example 2

Pass a law so any Uber/Lyft in a bike lane NOT loading or unloading can have paint poured on them

2

No motorized vehicles in bike lanes (no electric bikes or boards) + enforcement

2

Response: Why discourage a transit option? Maybe expand biek lanes to accommodate motorized device riders

2

Encourage police to ticket the super irresponsible cyclists on Market: I have been been hit by one on the bike! This is why people hate cyclists

0

Target a percent of funds from transit spending for bicycle infrastructure. 0

More Bike Share stations! 0

Get all city agencies to implement “transit first” provision of the City charter.

0

Strong regional engagement. How do I safely bike when I arrive at a transit station outside SF?

0

Monthly/regular Sunday Streets in low membership areas (like Bogota!) 0

Neighborhood greenway 0

Connecting to SE neighborhoods along waterfront. Bicycle highway! 0

Visibility of bikes in Bayview! 0

STREET CAMPAIGNS 0

Incrementally push for more protected bike lanes 0

2-way separated dedicated bikeway on JFK through golden gate park 0

TECHNOLOGY/TNCs 0

ENFORCEMENT 0

Email Communication Received by the

Strategic Planning Committee

Email #1: received March 31, 2017

As an interested member and a former candidate for the Board of Directors, I am interested in

providing input regarding the strategic plan.

I expect to be traveling in Europe by bicycle in June and July, but I'm available through late

May, or again starting in August, or by phone while traveling.

I also suggest that you consult all other members who ran for the Board during the current 5-

year plan. I ran for the Board in part because I had ideas about the direction of our organization,

and that is probably true for other candidates. And candidates for the Board presumably

devoted some time to thinking about the strategic plan as part of the candidacy. It makes sense

to at least consult those former candidates about their ideas for our organization,, even if they

weren't elected.

Email #2: received March 24, 2017

Dear SFBC Strategic Plan Committee, As a member of SFBC I would love to see the bike coalition help implement a regional or statewide bike theft prevention and stolen bike recovery/return system over the next 5 years. As a member of the BART Bicycle Advisory Task Force (BBATF) (since 2011), Bike East Bay (since 1998), and as a cyclist who has lost 6 bikes to thieves, I have been excited at the prospect of implementing systems like Safe Bikes in San Francisco both regionally in the Bay Area and statewide.

The BBATF will be hearing from Project 529 (https://project529.com/garage) at our next meeting on April 3 from 6-8 pm at East Bay Paratransit (1750 Broadway in Oakland, across from the 19th Street Bike Station). Project 529 has enjoyed significant successes in the greater Vancouver, British Columbia, region since the program launched in 2015. Attending this meeting might help inform the committee members’understanding of what is now available technologically. Attached is a report of a prior meeting about Project on February 14, 2017, held at BART. I will try to be at the SFBC strategic planning meeting in April, too. Thanks for your consideration,

Email #3: received April 13, 2017

Hi SFBC! I can't make the 4/19 event, unfortunately. But, I'd love to see 'protected intersections'

as part of the strategic plan for street design in the upcoming years. This is an critical element of

successful protected bike lanes, as you know!


I can't make it to the Planning event but would like to say, SFBC is doing a great job and please

just keep growing the connected low-stress network so the 60% of "interested but

concerned"folks can start to have access to using a bicycle!

Thank you so much.


Hello,

I have been a member for about 5 years and biking more and more all the time!

I will not be able to attend the strategic planning meeting next Wednesday, but there are two big

policy issues I would like to see the coalition work on, one of which is probably “easy “ and the

other one is complex.

1. The complex one is bike theft. Many of us have been victims and although the Coalition has

done A LOT to get more safe racks installed in lighted places, the crime level is huge and I get

the impression it has not been a priority for police. Is it not so hard to have bikes loosely locked

up with GPS tracking to follow the thieves, or video record the thefts, etc.? And how about the

countless bikes and bike parts we all see in and around the tent encampments in town? Many

cyclists see the camps as hotbeds for the bike the industry. What can be done to break up the

large rackets? We need to see this get WAY better.

https://project529.com/garage

https://project529.com/garage

2. The second relates to a San Francisco ordinance that the only thing that can be stored in

apartment garages are automobiles. Since the Oakland fire, many landlords have cracked down

on tenants storing ANYTHING in garages including bicycles. The ordinance was presumably to

prevent the storage of flammable materials that could catch fire and spread rapidly. But let's be

honest, bicycles are not flammable and having to risk locking it up on the street overnight or

carry it up several flights of stairs in San Francisco apartments is a big burden - and an

unnecessary one. How about getting the city to allow the parking of personal bicycles (along

with the basic gear like helmets) in residential garages?

Thanks for moving these ideas forward. I am not alone in wanting to impact both of these!


Hello,

As cyclists that use our bikes to commute to work and to buy groceries, the problem that has

gotten totally, totally out hand for my wife and me, over the past two years, is Uber and other

car-share companies parking in bikes lanes.

All of the effort to create such bike lanes is voided by this practice. My commute includes a

section along the Embarcadero. One is forced out of the bike lane, into traffic lanes, and back

almost every day. This is dangerous because the drivers often do not anticipate that acar

parked 100 yards ahead is going to force a bike into that car’s lane.

If I took my car and parked it in a car lane along the Embarcadero, forcing all of the cars into

a single car lane, the police would cite and tow me immediately. It is worse for a bike because

we do not have two lanes, but only one. But I have yet to see a single case of a cop citing an

Uber driver for parking in the bike lane. Why is this?


Dear SFBC -

I will be out of town and unable to attend the planning meeting. I would like to propose a new

element for the coalition's strategic plan.

Zero bike thefts by 2025.

The theft of bicycles is out of control in San Francisco. I personally will not use my bike if I need

to lock it outside on the street for any length of time. I know I'm not the only bicyclist who thinks

this way. This is limiting San Francisco's ability to increase bicycle trips.

The 2025 date is completely flexible and could be changed to fit the planning horizon of the

strategic plan.

Thank you for your consideration.


Suggestions for long range Strategic Plans

1) Regular street sweeping of bike lanes

2) Drift bumps for cars that 'drift' into the devoted bike lane

3) Longer contineous commuter biking lanes

I commute from Redwood City, and I noticed that there are bike/running paths along part of the

freeway, but it's not a contineous path into SF, but it would require little effort to make it so."


All of us who bike know the perils of riding over the GGB. Seems now, with a booming

economy, there is not even an off season. It is always crowded. After a pretty bad accident a

few weeks ago, where I nearly broke my arm, trying to stave a fall onto my total knee

replacement due to an ignorant pedestrian, I have had it with patience. I sprained my R hand, all

the fingers, the elbow, and got pretty bloody, as I grabbed onto the metal barrier, but I didn’t fall.

I had to return to work 2 days later to work at the hospital providing Physical Therapy to patients

while in pain.

have several separate but related issues that really need to be addressed:

The GGB is one of the free things for people to visit and there are no limits on #s of

peds. or bikes. This leads to not only traffic, but dangerous road conditions. Before the

onslaught of the super tourist season coming up, we need to come up with some

solutions

The bike rental folks just want to rent more and more and make more and more $. We

need to set a limit on # of rentals allowed on the bridge. Period. Related is the fact that

there is no responsibility by the rental companies to ensure that the renters actually

know how to handle a bike. “Sorry sorry sorry” doesn’t cut it as they ride into me

because they cannot brake or steer. If they cannot control the bike, they should not be

allowed to rent a bike.

Police: there is no enforcement of peds. walking in the bike lanes, even on the West side

on the weekends. The walking path from the upper parking lot off Merchant road leads

right into the bike right of way for the west side and every weekend, there are literally

hundreds of pedestrians on this. When told it is for bikes, they say tough and keep

going. The police cannot handle all of this alone. We need more enforcement and the

bike/ped. line on the East side needs to be striped for the entire span of the GGB. The

parking lots off Merchant result in cars blocking the bike path coming up. Very bad idea

to even have parking there.

If the alternative to Merchant is to drop all the way down to Lincoln from the underpass,

then we need a bike path coming back up Lincoln, to link up to the upper Washington

access to the Presidio. The bike lanes in the Presidio are filled with runners daily.

Coming around a corner, with a car on my tail, I have met face to face with a bunch of

runners who force me into traffic, putting my life in danger. There should be signs saying

“Bike lanes are for BIKES ONLY”.

My friends have quit any local cycling because the Bridge and the City in general has become

so awful. But this is MY town, I was born here (66 years ago) and I am angry and frustrated that

I cannot enjoy my own town, without having to put bike in car and drive outside of the city limits

to go for a ride. I am still working full time and cannot volunteer with the SFBC to work on some

of these issues but rely on you and fellow members to help make this an easier place to call

home on a bicycle. I see the articles posted by the SFBC and the new bike lanes, but unless we

keep the unwanted out of the lanes, ensure that the bike rental folks hear our concerns, alert the

officials to enforce the rules, we will never ever get close to Vision Zero.

Thanks a lot


I remain interested in meeting with the strategic planning committee, as I indicated in response

to your initial request for expressions of interest.

I also look forward to Wednesday's first member meeting to discuss the planning process. I

assume there is no committee draft of a strategic plan yet, since if there were, it would

presumably have been posted for review by members in advance of this Wednesday's meeting.

So perhaps it is premature to make substantive suggestions for our next strategic plan, if

Wednesday's meeting will be only about the process to be followed in creating a draft and

considering proposals. But in case it isn't too early to make specific proposals, here are some

specific planks that I would like included, and that weren't in the previous 5-year plan.

The response to some of these may be that we are already doing them, in some general way or

as part of other work. But experience suggests that if they aren't incorporated explicitly in the

strategic plan, that will be used as an excuse to not to act on them, or not to give priority to

them.

I'd be happy to assist in fleshing out details of any of these platform planks, assuming that they

are supported by other members:

(1) Making our internal decision-making process more democratic, participatory, and

transparent.

One of the goals of this process should be to insure that when we take an advocacy position on

an issue, it reflects the sentiment (and to theextent possible, consensus) of the membership.

There was, I believe, a clear mandate for this from the results of the last two Board elections,

and that mandate needs to be explicitly incorporated as its own plank in our next strategic plan.

Pragmatically, our advocacy and member loyalty have repeatedly been undermined by staff

endorsements of advocacy positions on which members were not consulted, and that didn't

have member buy-in. It shouldn't be a matter of staff recruiting or selling members on what we

“should “ want, but listening to what we do want.

(2) Civil rights activism and organizing against police discrimination against bicyclists

I submitted a detailed proposal for a campaign on this in 2013, but it was never even considered

because it didn't fit within the strategic plan. It remains as much needed as ever, and needs to

be made part of the strategic plan. To be clear, this is not the same as, and only in small part

overlaps with, “Vision Zero “. Calling on police (and other agencies) to reduce road injuries and

deaths, while a worthy goal, is not the same as calling out police bias against cyclists.

Discrimination will not go away without naming it as discrimination. This was once a major focus

of activity for our organization, but has largely fallen away.

(3) Responding to unexpected events and new issues, and acting on unplanned opportunities.

As political activists, we cannot, and should not, expect to anticipate all the issues and

opportunities that will present themselves over the next 5 years. We should explicitly

acknowledge that in our strategic plan, and commit ourselves (and a portion of our budget) to

looking out for and seizing unexpected opportunities. We missed opportunities for coalition-

building in the campaign to Fire Chief Suhr not only because police reform wasn't mentioned in

our strategic plan, but also because this sort of opportunistic activism wasn't budgeted for.

(4) Working for implementation of the “transit-first “ article of the City and County charter by *all*

City and County agencies.

The transit-first charter provision is perhaps the most powerful legislation supporting bicyclists'

(and pedestrians' and transit riders') rights, but there has been little systematic effort to

implement it. And it has been seen as only affecting “transportation “ agencies, when by its

explicit language it affects all City and County agencies and functions, including e.g. the police,

Airport Commission, real estate department, and zoning -- none of which agencies have ever

reported specifically on what, if anything, they have done to incorporate transit-first priorities in

their work.

(5) Policy advocacy.

We have very detailed infrastructure goals in our strategic plan, but little real policy or legislative

agenda. I think it would be premature to try to define such an agenda from scratch as part of this

strategic planning process, but we should set a goal over the next five years of defining such an

agenda an implementing a robust policy advocacy structure in which the role of members is to

define and evaluate policies form the bottom up, not merely to be called upon from the top down

to lobby on behalf of policies selected and endorsed by the staff.

We once had a staff Policy Director, but haven't in several years. We once had regular

members meetings at which policies were debated within our members, and debates min the

Tube Times, but no longer have either. It may be appropriate for [policy advocacy work to be

dispersed within the staff, but there needs to be a clear process for bottom-up policy proposals

and member involvement, including some sort of policy committee of members with regular

meetings and a channel for member proposals.

This also involves defining how we relate to state legislation: There are two distinct state-level

federations that claim the SFBC as an affiliate (CalBike and CABO), and we have no formal

process for deciding which of their endorsements, if either, to follow. We are a local

organization, but we also can and do endorse state legislation and state candidates.

Our lack of a policy agenda skews our endorsements toward candidates who endorse our

infrastructure agenda. If we are going to endorse candidates, we need a checklist of policy

legislation goals -- not just infrastructure budget goals -- to factor into our endorsements.

(6) Advocacy for bicycling as part of advocacy for social justice.

It's always dangerous to suggest that what has been defined as a single-issue organization,

much less a single-issue "coalition", broaden its definition of purpose or conception of its core

issue. In some communities it might make tactical sense for a bicycling advocacy group not to

talk about social justice or other issues.

But this is San Francisco, not just any community. Our organization was founded by people who

believed in bicycling and bicycle advocacy as part of a larger movement, and has repeatedly

been reinvigorated by new waves of activists with similar sentiments.

In San Francisco, we will get more general support, not less, if we speak of bicycling as direct

action against climate change, against oil wars, and against inequality. Bicyclists suffer from the

(mistaken) impression by seem non-cyclists that bicycling is a recreational choice of rich young

newcomers to the City. Our advocacy will be more effective if we speak explicitly of the bicycle

as the vehicle (not by choice) of the homeless, the poor, the undocumented.

I look forward to a chance to discuss, debate, and vote on these and other proposals for our

strategic plan, with our fellow members of the SFBC.


as a bikeriding member of SFBC for 25 years, i'm especially interested in reducing car traffic

and celphone while driving use.

i'm very curious whether the coalition is specifically working on a political level to rid the city of

Uber, Lyft, suvs, celphone-while-driving usage, etc. i suppose i should be aware of such efforts

but i'm currently not in touch with how this is being addressed. thanks for any updates.


Here are three topics that I think should be included in the next SFBC Strategic Plan.

***

1. Advocacy

Focus on direct advocacy with the supervisors to make important legislative changes.

Unfortunately, SFBC has learned that some of the most intractable impediments to bicycling

come from the City itself. At times, both the police and fire departments seem institutionally

opposed to bicycling. How to we fix this or, at least, effectively resist it to force progress? By

legislative direction in the following areas:

a. Police Department

i. Amend the municipal code to include the notion that roadway users are not all equally

vulnerable. Pedestrians and bicyclists are more vulnerable than motorists.

ii. Prioritize traffic law enforcement based on the consequences (related to above) of different

types of road users colliding. When the PD engages in targeted enforcement, they should target

motorist violations over pedestrian and bicyclist violations because motorists are least

vulnerable.

iii. Establish consistent and unbiased procedures for investigating collisions involving motorists

and bicyclists. Too often the bias in PD investigations is that a bicyclist is at fault with no

evidence of that.

iv. Establish rules under which motorists who injure or kill bicyclists are prosecuted when they

are at fault. (This really more for the City Attorney than PD, but is related and needs support

from sups to make it happen)

b. Fire Department

i. Remove the de facto right of the fire department to veto bicycle infrastructure improvements.

When new separated paths are proposed, the FD routinely vetoes them based on claims they

will reduce FD response times. We need to remove this right from the municipal code

ii. Establish the notion that fire safety and street safety are not oppositional. The FD is charged

with fire safety only and, therefore, doesn't need to consider any other safety benefits. The code

needs to clarify the city's overall safety objectives and make clear that safety of one kind

shouldn't preclude other kinds of safety.

It's not a zero-sum game.

iii. Refute the FD arguments that bicycle infrastructure compromises fire safety. Existing engines

and trucks can drive over separations. Fire vehicles actually could use bicycle paths in

emergencies to their advantage (no congestion due to other vehicles in the path). Fire vehicles

are specially procured and many cities have vehicles that are specifically designed to operated

in narrow streets.

iv. Replace Chief Joanne Hayes White. Chief White has a history of these types of objections

and, even after considerable lobbying by SFBC, has not changed her views. She is an

impediment to bicycling.

(The latter two are not legislative, but are related) ***

***

2. Governance

Now is the right time to address some lingering governance issues so that the organization can

put them to rest and concentrate on its mission. Two years ago, SFBC had a crisis with regard

to member communications, Board elections, changing bylaws, and member rights. Since that

time no substantive organizational changes have been made, but also the origin of the crisis

really hasn’t been addressed. Good governance is vital to the health of SFBC in the long term.

Seriously and credibly addressing governance issues now will put the organization on a solid

foundation for many years.

i. How can the burden of Board elections be reduced for Board members and staff?

ii. How can we better constitute a Board that has desirable skills for governing (legal, non-profit,

business, fund raising, etc)?

iii. How can we better constitute a Board that better reflects the community (diversity) and

members?

iv. Is achieving both (ii) and (iii) possible simultaneously?

v. Should we consider ranked choice voting for Board members? This is related to (iii)

vi. Is Board turnover/retention an issue? Conversely, should there Board term limits?

vii. How can we balance the desires of members to communicate with each other and the

desires of members for privacy?

viii. How should corporate documents (e.g. Board agendas/minutes, position letters and

endorsements) be made available more easily?

ix. How should the process of endorsing SF legislation and candidates for office be improved?

***

3. Bicycle Parking

Parking is an underappreciated, but crucial resource for bicyclists. Without convenient, plentiful,

and secure parking at their destinations many people simply won’t even consider bicycling.

SFBC and the City spend considerable effort on route improvements, such as separated paths,

for safe travel. Parking is typically an afterthought in projects, if it is even considered at all.

Carpet bombing the entire City with parking racks in the next five years is a daunting task.

Instead, I propose a more limited campaign.

Since this is a strategic plan, we should be considering long-term question of how best to get

more people bicycling. Frequent bicyclists of tomorrow are mostly likely those who have

integrated bicycling into their lives. They are comfortable on their bikes and think about bicycling

as simply a good mode of transportation for all of their needs. These people probably learned to

bike and enjoyed it when they were young. Encouraging children to bicycle now is the surest

way to create a larger population of bicyclists later.

Where are children most likely to bike? Schools, parks, and libraries. Safe routes to these

locations is a certainly a problem, but there is an established program to tackle it: Safe Routes

to Schools.

The real *unaddressed* problem is parking. Once you look into the quality and supply of parking

at these destinations, you realize just how horrible it is. No wonder you don’t see many kids

biking to these places. And there are no programs at all for addressing the chronic lack of good

parking at these destinations. On the other hand, ample bike parking also serves as a form of

advertising. When you see good quality bike parking everywhere, you think that maybe bicycling

is a good idea.

This seems like new territory for SFBC. I suggest that we start a champaign to get good parking

infrastructure installed at all SF schools, parks, and libraries.

i. Quantify existing parking at schools, parks, and libraries. Call out existing parking that is

substandard.

ii. Where not defined already by ordinance, define parking required at each destination type

(school, park, library)

iii. Apply requirements at each specific destination to define parking needed (e.g. school X

needs Y parking spots)

iv. Develop a plan with each SF department to procure and install parking

v. Monitor the implementation of the plans for each department and keep pushing until the

implementation is complete

Email #13: received May 3, 2017

1. Welcome center open to the public at SFBC headquarters.

2. Resource center for persons involved in bike crashes.

3. Break up SFBC staff to satellite offices in outer neighborhoods.

4. Provide mentors and support to bike advocates.

5. Consider a building fund (for a permanent home for SFBC).

Email #14: received May 22, 2017

Sorry to have missed the strategic planning meeting a few weeks ago. Please find below some

of my thoughts concerning the role of the SFBC for the next 5 years. Please use as you see fitt.

- Foremost, grow up from being a bicycle only organization and focus on better traffic for

everyone(as in your “Seek broader input point). None of us use bicycles exclusively for

transportation, all of us are pedestrians at times, and a significant fractions also drives. We all

want more pleasant, calmer streets, yet do not want to wait (waiting tends to cause cropped-up

aggression). So why has the number of Stop Signs increased so drastically over the last

decade? The SFBC could take a stand towards a traffic layout using smaller streets with traffic

that flows rather than wide streets with multiple Stop Signs. Roundabouts can be a great help

for this (just look at traffic management in a country with high densities of pedestrians, bicyclists

and cars such as the Netherlands). A 5 year plan really will need to aim for traffic improvements

for everyone.

- I recently discovered that a significant part of my commute route will be changed and that the

SFMTA apparently has been working on a plan for a couple of years. I only found out through

implementation of the first phase which included removal of bike lanes in both directions and

creation of an extremely hazardous situation (apparently condoned by the SFBC). I was never

informed, and even though I think that both the SFMTA and the SFBC could have easily

reached out to my employer (UCSF), I did realize that the SFBC should develop a formalized

system to inform all interested parties of upcoming changes and make sure that their voices are

heard. It could be as simple as a a webform in which one can register what routes one wants to

hear/know about, and whenever changes are planned send an email to everyone who

registered for that route. B.t.w., the situation on 16th street currently is extremely bad, and I am

extremely disappointed that the SFBC agreed to bike lane removal without a good alternative

(17th street is not an alternative in the east-west direction).

Hope this helps, happy to talk more.

Email #15: received June 2, 2017

Hi,

I'm writing to comment on your upcoming Strategic Plan revision.

The idea is one which supports the use of bicycles for everyday transportation.

The plan should recognize that recreation activities are part of cycling, and feed into

transportation. This includes off road cycling (like mountain biking) and also other types of

recreational cycling (e.g. road rides for distance or elevation or training; city exploration; polo

field laps; etc).

It is important to recognize that these facilities are not always the same as those for

transportation. Their goals may be challenge or fun more than efficiency and safety, and thus

sometimes are parallel to the transportation infrastructure.

San Francisco is special in that many users of these facilities can and do ride their bikes to

these facilities, making us both users of the transportation system and the recreation system.

Many are also regularly use their bicycles for everyday transportation.

Recreational users are an excellent source of supporters.

Thank you for taking these last minute comments; I'm happy to talk more in depth to find out

more about your plans and how we can help each other.


My primary strategic planning concern has to do w/ the City’s long term planning to support an

entirely new/evolving set of transportation choices —particularly with respect to safety issues

arising from growth in shared vehicle transport (Uber/Lyft/.com delivery services) and bicycle

transport. The current infrastructure does not formally support the former at all really, but

particularly not in a way that’s safe for cyclists.

We need significantly more car loading/unloading/waiting zones and enforcement of dedicated

bicycle lane regulations OR total separation and protection of bicycle lanes so that they are not

accessible to cars at all. Otherwise, SFbike’s decades of coaltion building, fundraising,

grassroots organizing and collaboration with the City to build a network of dedicated bicycle

lanes will all have gone to create what has effectively become Uber waiting/loading zones. I

think the City needs to totally rethink the allocation of parking spaces and loading zones in that

regard, and they also need to clarify that it’s someone’s job (SFMTA? SFPD? Whoever?) to

enforce bike lane regulations. No one seems to think it’s their job currently.


Hi strategic planning committee,

We love bikes! We love bike lanes!

I have to mention, though, that my own personal opinion of the bike coalition — speaking as an

individual, not as a THD board member, as a person who rides a bike, rarely drives a car, etc

etc — is that the coalition sides too often with corporate development interests, no matter how

bad the proposed development is. The most egregious example is the coalition’s support of the

massive, ill-advised, sea-level-be-damned development on Treasure Island. The bike coalition

should get off the corporate bandwagon and show a bit of independence. It isn’t smart to

support bad development for the sake of a few dollars for a bike lane. If someone from the bike

coalition would like to make a presentation to the THD board about how you might change your

approach in the future, please let me know. What is the coalition's position on Lyft and Uber, for

example?

Thanks and best regards

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