San Francisco Bicycle Advisory Committee

Minutes of the Meeting on July 24^th, 2008

Members Present:

Andy Bindman, District 1
Richard Tilles, District 2
Susan King, District 5
Jake Wegmann, District 6
Bert Hill, District 7 (Chairman)
Mark Hotsenpiller, District 9
Rufus Davis, District 10
Casey Allen, District 11

Introduction

Meeting was called to order at 6:40 pm by Chairman Hill
Minutes from the June meeting were approved.

Public Comment

There was no public comment.

Chairman’s Report

Chairman Hill spoke about his recent trip to attend the world car-free conference in Portland on June 16-20^th. This was the first of these conferences held in the U.S. He said that Portland was truly an impressive city for bicycling and deserved their recent platinum designation. He particularly enjoyed the field trips by bike around the city. There are a series of bicycle boulevards that provide areas of limited automobile presence. Bike boxes and critical bike lane sections are colored in Kelly Green.
Andy Thornley also spoke of the trip and mentioned that San Francisco is now scheduled to have three Sundays of car-free traffic on the Embarcadero and Third Street.
Hill said that the Portland experience will be discussed in a SPUR lunchtime meeting.

Committee Reports

Rufus Davis said that the recent MTA bike plan meeting was very well presented.
Mark Hotsenpiller was impressed with the new paving on Valencia Street.
Susan King again noted the problems with sprinklers on the Panhandle bike path. She also suggested that the issue of circulation on the Concourse roadways be addressed before the terms of some supervisors are over.
Richard Tilles said that the SFMTA meeting for the northern neighborhoods was very well-attended. The major issue concerned possible bike lanes on Broadway as part of the Better Streets Plan. There was considerable controversy on the western end of Broadway where private schools have major auto pick-ups on weekday afternoons. He also suggested that the City look at signal timing at Bay and Embarcadero, where timing heavily favors autos to the detriment of pedestrians and bicyclists. Finally he brought in a plan to improve the intersection of Kezar Drive and ML King Boulevard in Golden Gate Park. These improvements would aid both bicyclists and pedestrians.
Marc Brandt asked if the City had looked at signals at the Bay/Columbus intersection. Nick Carr said that he had not heard that the city’s review was finished, but he should respond at next month’s meeting.
Casey Allen met with Supervisor Sandoval to request a hearing on the bike plan in the Transportation and Land Use Committee. He said that some attorneys are interested in doing pro-bono work on getting relief from the bike plan injunction.

Clarification of Comments in June 15^th Examiner Article

SFPD Captain Corrales discussed his comments regarding the MTC’s discussion of having California adopt Idaho regulations which essentially require bicyclists to yield at stop signs and to stop, look and then go if there is no cross traffic at traffic signals.
He said that the quote that bicyclists in SF have a “sense of entitlement” was accurate. He also said that he believed that fatalities would rise if we adopted the Idaho law. He said that the “sense of entitlement” comment was primarily based on his experience with critical mass.
Hill said that the Idaho yield laws have been in place for 20 years and there is no evidence that accidents have increased. Corrales said that ‘common sense’ would indicate that accidents would increase.
King said that common sense does not necessarily indicate what would happen. She also said that bicyclists shouldn’t be characterized as scofflaws. She cited data from the Senior Action Network that showed that 96% of bicyclists stop for traffic signals.
Tilles agreed with Corrales that most bicyclists break the law – but that’s because the laws are not realistic as applied to bicyclists.
Hill asked if Captain Corrales would be willing to co-author a letter to the Examiner clarifying comments made regarding the Idaho law. Corrales said that he would not, but would be happy to review such a letter before it went out.
Thornley said that we need to develop more data on the law changes and also to enact changes that make bicycling safer and more popular. The more bicyclists on the street, the safer it will be for bicyclists. He said the SFBC would support enforcement of laws based on “theft of right-of-way “principles. We should make sure that we are satisfied with Chapter 6 of the Bicycle Plan.
Roger Christian said that he was offended by the “sense of entitlement” comment.

BART Bike Task Force

Dave Favello (aka “Bike Dave”) requested that the BAC nominate a new member of the Task Force. The Task Force meets at MTC near the Lake Merritt Station.
The Committee suggested Mariana Parreiras, who attended the meeting, as the BAC’s representative. She said that she would get back to Bert Hill on this.

MTA Bike Program Report

The report was handed out by Nick Carr.
King said that the Planning Department is reviewing the recommended signal changes at Masonic and Fell and that they need to wait to see if the action is appealed.
Hill said that Minnesota Representative Oberstar is sponsoring legislation that would extend Safe Routes to School to the high school level.
Brandt discussed the meeting on Caltrain. He said the Committee was focusing on parking bikes on stations while most are more interested in bringing bikes aboard.
Allen said that a Bike to School Day could be inaugurated next May and suggested that it be on the same day as Bike to Work Day.
Thornley spoke on a variety of subjects. He said that Rachel will be leaving SFBC and they are looking for a replacement. Also, post-bike-to-work counts showed that bikes still beat cars on Market Street. Finally, he commended the Bike Learning Center at the Presidio YMCA.
Carr said that the BAC subcommittee’s comments on the Bike Plan Summary have not yet been incorporated in the text.
Thornley suggested that the Committee try to get public participation on changes to Chapter 6 on safety and enforcement.
Hill said that July’s meeting would be primarily devoted to Chapter 6 Transportation Education & Misc. Subjects