San Francisco Bicycle Advisory Committee

Minutes of the Meeting on January 24, 2008

Mariana Parreiras brought the Committee up to date on the “Fix Masonic” activities. Over 500 signatures have been obtained to request the MTA Traffic Calming section to study how to reconfigure the length of Masonic. There will be a rally on February 27^th at 11 AM at the SF Day School at Masonic and Turk. Public meetings will be held at the school on February 25^th and March 19^th, at 6:30 PM. She asked the Committee to support their request for action by the MTA. She was asked to come back for the next BAC Meeting on February 28^th when this will be put on the agenda. In the meantime, members were asked to review community suggestions that are posted on the fixmasonic.org website.
Andy Thornley of the SFBC mentioned today’s Examiner article which discussed the MTA’s finding that biking in the City increased 15% from 2006 to 2007. He also said that the bill AB23 which will permit camera enforcement of illegal right turns at Market and Octavia is moving nicely through the legislature. SFBC has been involved in monitoring Rules Committee consideration of the Mayor’s choices for the MTA Board, Finally, he showed us the new city bike map that has added new bike lanes (primarily in the Presidio).

Chairman Hill mentioned that he was again attending the American League of Cyclist’s Bike Summit in Washington D.C. He also commended the MTA for quick response when one of the new signs at Market/Octavia was knocked down.
Rufus Davis said that the Joseph Lee Recreation Center in the Bayview is now open and would be a good location for bike safety classes.
Marc Brandt asked if Measure A – Bond money for park upgrades – is good for bikes. The general consensus is that it was.

Dustin White delivered the report in Oliver Gajda’s absence.
He first reported on the status of the Bike Plan EIR. The Initial Study should be out in the next few weeks. Seven of eight sections of the Transportation Study have been completed by the consultant and the report should be out in May. The Public Draft EIR is scheduled for this Fall.
He noted that there has been only one bike/vehicle collision at Market/Octavia in the past five months after a much higher accident rate earlier. Hill remarked that this was good but that the adjacent intersection at Market/Valencia also needs to be looked at since this was also a problem intersection.
The MTA has requested $100,000 of Prop. K monies from the SFCTA to restripe the existing bike network.

Greg Hayes has updated his report on legal issues affecting the crossing of Masonic Ave. near Fell Street. This is an attachment to a resolution submitted by Casey Allen requesting that the Planning Department grant an emergency exemption from the Bike Plan injunction for improvements at the intersection. Dustin White said that the MTA has developed suggested changes – most notably exclusive left turn and pedestrian signal phases at the intersection.
Considerable discussion ensued over whether the project already had CEQA approval, whether it would be considered a bike improvement subject to the Bike Plan injunction and who had jurisdiction on it. Andy Thornley pointed out that under City Charter changes, the MTA Board, not the Supervisors had responsibility for traffic changes.
The resolution was then amended to request the MTA Board to make the improvements under an emergency exemption from CEQA and mention of the Bike Plan injunction was deleted. The resolution passed unanimously.

Brandt presented a resolution commending Caltrain for providing storage of bicycles on their trains and requesting that this capacity be increased because some commuters were being turned away due to insufficient storage space.
Brandt and Thornley said that Caltrain is working on this problem. Brandt said that all trains should have a minimum of 32 spaces.
After the addition of an additional “whereas” clause, the resolution passed unanimously.

Hill brought up a resolution commending the Police Department for their excellent training video relating to enforcement of regulations relating to bicycles. He urged Committee members to view it on YouTube.
After elimination of the final clause, the resolution was passed unanimously.

Hill referenced the meeting at which Caltrans Director Kempton said he would be willing to entertain transfer of State Route 35 (Sloat/Skyline) to the City and County. He mentioned how the road width and speed limit was inappropriate for a largely residential and park area and did not really fit as a State highway .
Tilles said that he would draft up a resolution to urge the MTA to consider taking over this stretch of roadway.

Hill said that strap reflectors have proved to be more visible to motorists than pedal or shoe reflectors and now can legally replace or augment them.
Davis asked if bike shops could be urged to include lights as part of a standard package when a bike is sold. Brandt said this could be a hard sell, particularly if the bicyclist is concerned about weight.
Thornley said that the SFBC would like to have MTA fund another free giveaway of lights and this time buy them wholesale to get more bang for the buck.

White said that the MTA is interested in having another light giveaway and might include bells.
MTA plans to present the 2005-6 bike collision report at the next committee meeting. Hill mentioned that bicyclist fatalities appear to be poorly documented by the police.
White handed out the bike count report and discussion ensued on how to automate the process.