San Francisco Bicycle Advisory Committee

Minutes of the Meeting on June 28, 2007

Members Present:

• Richard Tilles, District 2
• Marc Brandt, District 3
• Hitesh Soneji , District 6
• Bert  Hill, Chair, District 7
• Rufus Davis, District 10
• Casey Allen, District 11

Introduction

• Meeting was called to order at 6:50 pm.
• Marc Brandt, from District 3, was present at his first official meeting.

Public Comment

• Andy Thornley of the SF Bicycle Coalition commented about a recent meeting with Caltrans Director Will Kempton.
• The Caltrans apparently has a policy of only allowing Sharrows on streets that have curb parking.  Kempton said that his staff will look into including other streets.
• Kempton also suggested that the City could take back some streets that are currently under Caltrans jurisdiction such as Sloat Boulevard where Caltrans lane standards do not allow enough room for bike lanes.
• Brandt asked if Sharrows could be made reflective at night and Thornley said that’s a good idea but is probably not in the current spec.
• Tilles said that Caltrans could modify their lane width standards if need be but that it would be easier to reduce the number of travel lanes from six to four, since traffic volumes on Sloat do not justify six lanes

Committee Comments

• Chairman Hill discussed the scoping meeting for the bicycle plan EIR that was held the previous Tuesday night.   He said that any major changes in the Plan would probably not be a good idea since they would probably delay the process and lifting of the injunction.
• He also attended the Transportation Authority CAC’s meeting on Wednesday where they voted to accept $186K in funding for bicycle education and planning projects.
• Brandt said that there was an accident between a taxi and a bicycle at Columbus and Bay Streets where the taxi made a u-turn into the bike.  He said that it’s a particularly dangerous intersection for bicyclists. 
• Also, he was concerned with bicyclists going the wrong way on Jefferson Street when returning rentals at Fisherman’s Wharf. Thornley mentioned that Jefferson Street was a major issue with the SFBC who want to see bike lanes in both directions.

• Hitesh Soneji announced that he will be leaving the Committee to pursue environmental studies in Sweden.  Therefore there will be a vacancy in District 6.
• Tilles said that he rode in the May critical mass and was pleasantly surprised at how well the ride progressed and the generally good feeling of all concerned.  He later contacted Commander Tacchini of the SFPD who said that there were only two minor incidents during the ride.  Tilles said that he now agreed with the Committee’s decision to hold off on any resolution requesting more police presence as long as the ride runs smoothly.
• Rufus Davis said that fewer lanes on 3^rd Street have calmed traffic to some extent and made biking safer.  Plus the police are actively enforcing prohibition of double-parking.  The Islas Creek Bridge is almost complete and that would help make Illinois Street an alternative route.

MTA Bike Program Report

• The report was made by Nick Carr who said that MTA had some problems with maintaining colored bike lanes at their test site.
• Hill asked if traffic lanes on streets where bike lanes could eventually be placed could be striped at the desired width even though the bike lane would not be called out.  Carr said he would check with the City Attorney.
•  Carr said the City is looking to expand its instructor base by getting more certified LCI’s.
• He also discussed a new advertising campaign “give and get respect” that would be on buses and bus shelters.

SFBC Report

• Thornley mentioned that the Department of Public Health awarded 500K for Safe Routes to School.
• He also suggested that the SFPD needs to look at chapter 6 of the Bike Plan which discusses bike safety and enforcement.  He said that Idaho requires bicyclists only to yield at stop signs.  Even though it might be difficult for California to emulate Idaho’s regulations, the police might enforce the law along those lines.
• Carr mentioned that the City has out an RFP for bike education in the Middle Schools.
• Thornley said that a Rec and Park Ranger was present at 8^th Avenue during the initial Healthy Saturdays and was effective in greatly reducing cut-through traffic in the Concourse.  However, the staff person was moved recently and cut-through traffic has resumed.

Fell-Masonic Intersection

• Some controversy at the Fell/Masonic intersection where cyclists were told by police that they should be walking their bikes across the street since it was a pedestrian crosswalk, even though it also serves the bike paths. 
• Apparently, even though pedestrians have the ROW over motor vehicles, bicycles do not.
• Davis asked about SFBC’s role in providing volunteers at the site.
• Thornley said that they did so because the City was not doing anything.  Captain Ehrlich was informed of the SFBC’s efforts and did not object.
• Thornley suggested that Supervisor Mirkirimi should ask the City Attorney about the appropriate regulations.
• He mentioned a Planning Commission hearing on July 12 concerning changes to CEQA’s level of service to include bikes and pedestrians.

Adjournment

• The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.