USF Campus Bike Plan To Be Unveiled December 1st

Photo: usfca.edu

San Francisco’s bikes-for-transportation momentum gets another boost on December 1st when the University of San Francisco unveils its Campus Bicycle Transportation Plan. This past semester more than 600 students, faculty and staff registered their concerns and ideas for building a strong bicycle culture on campus in a study conducted by Stephen Zavetoski, PhD and his students.

Primary concerns on campus include a lack of bike parking in convenient locations, lack of covered, secure bike parking, and too few facilities such as showers and changing rooms. Respondents also registered support for safer, protected bike lanes along the primary streets used to reach USF, including Fell and Oak between the Wiggle bike route and the campus which lies just west of Masonic Avenue. The San Francisco Transportation Agency is currently studying proposals for safer bike travel on Fell and Oak between Scott and Baker, an essential link for cyclists traveling east-west. A proposal for traffic-calming and safety enhancements on Masonic Avenue has already cleared a public hearing and is now under environmental review.

According to Zavetoski, the presentation on December 1st will include a full set of recommendations for increased bicycling at USF based on the study data. “These will include improvement of on-campus amenities as well as recommendations for information and education campaigns that can lower some of the perceived barriers around traffic safety and hills.” Zavetoski is the Sustainability Director in the USF College of Arts & Sciences. For more information, see USFpedals.

USF Campus Bicycle Transportation Plan Presentation
Dec 1 2-3:30 pm
Maraschi Room, Fromm Hall

University of San Francisco Campus map

Dads on Wheels: J.J. Strahle Rides with Cobalt

Image: Meli of Bikes And The City

First two-wheel ride in the park

First trailer ride to the ocean

Look what we got on Craigslist

JJ with Cobalt in Windy City

BIKE NOPA and Bikes And The City get the momentum going on our new collaborative series, Dads on Wheels. Every Tuesday on both sites find San Francisco dads who bike with their kids for transportation and fun.

J.J. Strahle had the best of reasons for delaying his responses for this series. He explained that he and his wife "just got home from the hospital today with our newest bicyclist this afternoon." I like these early starts with bicycling! J.J. knows what to do when his "newest" is ready; he's been bicycling with his son Cobalt for a few years now.

When did you start biking with Cobalt?
He's 5-1/2, and we started bicycling with him in a bike trailer when he was about 2-1/2. It was mainly for recreation and weekend exercise and soon became a major mode of daily commute transportation for my wife and son.

How often do you bike with him now?
We try to get out as much as possible. I work long days on the peninsula and with afterschool activities all over the city and being on a tight schedule, it's not always conducive to cycling. For the time being, and with him on his own 2-wheeler, bicycling is more for fun. We will still, occasionally, take the trail-a-bike down to the ball park to take in a game, however.

How did you start biking with Colbalt?
We started off with an el-cheapo trailer from Craigslist. After we went on more outings and my wife got a new bike for commuting to work, we purchased a new Burley. When he was around 4, I found a trail-a-bike on CL and by age 4-1/2, he was using it daily for commuting to and from preschool. He received a 2-wheeler for his 5th birthday, and it only took a couple of times on training wheels before we took them off. Once off, he took off in a breeze and hasn’t looked back.

What’s the best thing about biking with him?
Exercise, time together, fresh air.

What do you say to relatives or friends who think San Francisco streets aren't safe for kids to bike?
They are both right and wrong. I also drive a car every day, so I know and appreciate being communicative and predictable on a bike (as well as in a car). I try to stick to designated paths and routes as much as possible. When it is not possible, I try to take less-congested streets. We will ride (slowly) on the sidewalk if the streets are not safe. In general, however, I feel pretty safe as long as we are smart, courteous, visible, wearing helmets and following the rules of the road.

What makes a street OK for you and your son to bike?
A street without cars is preferred, e.g., GG Park on Sundays. I try to stick to designated routes. I don’t know the classes of bike lanes off the top of my head, but we stay to designated paths and routes whenever possible, even if it is “out of the way” or “less convenient” to do so. For example, I will occasionally ride the Fell street route between the Wiggle and our house, but I also understand that cars drive close by at 25 mph, so most of the time I will make the short climb up to Hayes to head west.

Is it even harder getting kids ready for trips if you’re traveling by bike?
Harder than what? Than a car? Sure. Cobalt likes riding with us, even in the rain, but sometimes it’s harder to get him motivated to take the bike over the car. But that’s mostly when he’s tired or it’s cold. He loves taking the trail-a-bike out to the zoo, for example, even in the cold and fog.

How often do you bike on your own?
Not as much as I’d like to. When I can get away with it schedule-wise or because my car is in the shop, I will do the bike-train-bike commute, but that takes me an extra 45 minutes to an hour each way. On the weekends, I prefer to leave the car parked in the garage and bike anywhere I need to in order to run errands. My wife is the bike-commuter of the family…she works downtown.

Any advice for dads who are thinking about biking on their own or with their kids?
Seriously? Just do it (or at least try it). It’s easy! I just gave that advice to a dad yesterday. It’s a great way to get yourself and your kids some exercise. And for us, the transition to a big-kids bike was a snap. Bicycling in SF is really pretty easy and convenient when it comes down to it. The Bike Coalition and MTA have done a great job in the last couple of years bringing visibility and respect to riders and that helps make the move from biking as an alternate form of transportation to simply another way to get around.

For previous posts in the Dads on Wheels series, check here.

Dads, moms, kids: go the distance with your bikes on car-free Sunday Streets this summer. Next up: Golden Gate Park and the Great Highway, August 22; and the Western Addition, Sept. 19, with 11 blocks open through NOPA. More info on Sunday Streets here.

Dads don't have all the fun. Check BIKE NOPA's Women Who Bike series. And more women on wheels at Bikes And The City.

Making the Wiggle Safer One Sunken Utility Cover at a Time

Today the sunken manhole at Scott & Page repaired

In the turning range for bicyclists travelling Page to Scott on the Wiggle

SFBC's Good Roads volunteers ID hazards like these and Turn Them In to DPW via 311

Hundreds of people on bikes spin along the Scott and Page segments of the Wiggle bike route every day. Today their rides are safer with the repair of a sunken utility cover (aka a manhole) situated at the northeast corner of the intersection. This one is an example of what sometimes happens when repaving a street does not include raising the utility core and cover to be flush with the new surface.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's two-year-old Good Roads volunteers report these below-grade hazards whenever they're sighted. The utility covers usually require more work and more time to repair, but a good fix for them is just as important as the more common pothole. In April of this year, SFBC launched its Turn Em In campaign to emphasize that anyone can -- and, please, should -- report street defects like these to 311. Thanks to the Bureau of Street Use & Mapping of the Department of Public Works for getting this done.

The disclosure: The Page & Scott sunken cover is one that I happened to report. Yesterday afternoon I biked right over it.

Wiggle Bike Route Segment Gets Much-Needed Reconstruction and Paving

Every bicyclist is hoping for a smooth ride on this essential part of the Wiggle

Total scrape to the dirt for reconstruction of Steiner Street block

Both traffic lanes of Steiner between Duboce and Waller to get a new base and asphalt

Only a rideability test on two wheels will determine for sure whether the roadbed reconstruction and paving of Steiner Street between Waller and Duboce will be as smooth and safe as bicyclists have long awaited. On Monday crews began removing the old base down to the dirt in the traffic lanes. A new layer of asphalt will follow early in July. The two block stretch is a crucial link in the Wiggle bike route used by hundreds of people on bikes every day. Advocacy by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and a commitment to safe bike routes by the Department of Public Works helped advance this project by several months. During the weeks ahead, Sanchez Street just south of Duboce, aka "the washboard," will receive a similar roadbed makeover.

Neal Patel, director of SFBC's Good Roads Campaign, said he was "thrilled" to see this segment of Steiner Street get repaved. "This is a great example of how Good Roads volunteers identified a crumbling stretch of road that needed fixing and how the Department of Public Works quickly responded and prioritized a fix."

Many bicyclists had taken to avoiding the two blocks of Steiner altogether given the rough surfaces that resulted from multiple repairs over several years. Others found the route even more frustrating with the temporary paving that followed a recent utility cut the length of the blocks. Several people complained to DPW directly about the uneven, bouncing ride that forced cyclists off the bikeway and into the traffic area. Their input contributed to the effort SFBC had begun to get the roadway repaved many months ahead of schedule.

The Steiner and Sanchez blocks are good examples -- although certainly not the worst -- of what happens when streets are not adequately repaired in a timely manner. Only during the last several years has DPW received enough funding to keep city streets from dropping below their "fair" rating. To avoid the much more expensive roadbed reconstruction (instead of asphalt repaving alone), the department will need a significant infusion of new revenue.

Disclosure: I am one of SFBC's Good Roads volunteers, and I can't wait to see the Steiner and Sanchez blocks completed.

Women Who Bike: Rose Johnson

Rose Johnson: another day of biking

Women Who BIKE!: Rose (2nd from left)

Photos by Rose

Women Who Bike is a collaborative effort by BIKE NOPA and Bikes And The City that features San Francisco women and their bicycles. Each Monday and Wednesday check both blogs for the experiences, stories, and ideas that women who bike the city want to share with you.

What's your style of biking?

Efficient. Depending on my mood, how late I am, and my energy level, I choose routes that accommodate my needs. On a sunny day there is nothing I love more than a cruise down the Wiggle. When I am tired, I avoid the hills and enjoy the granny gear. On a sunny Saturday morning the Sausalito hill is nothing. But most of the time, I bike standing up.

How often do you bike and what for?

I ride my bike everyday, almost everywhere I go. I bike because I can and because I believe in alternative forms of transportation, a low-cost life style, and participation. My bicycle is not only my main form of sustainable travel, but it is also my load wagon. I like to see how much stuff I can fit on the back. By using busted tubes creatively, I am able to carry all of my supplies for my small bike-powered business, Apothocurious, my camping gear for bike tours, and for my bike-less friends.

What can San Francisco do to encourage more women, including teens and younger, to bike?

I think with proper education to EVERYONE (cyclists, car drivers, and youth) we can share the road safely and enjoyably. When we prove that "it can be done," we empower everyone in being able to live a low-cost, low-impact, and low-stress life style.

I think when someone is able to experience bicycling around the city in a safe, fun, and supported environment, within a few rides they are hip to the ease, the possibility, and the new-found freedom that comes with bicycles.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I lead an all-girl bike club at Hoover Middle School. The group is not a place without boys, but a place where females can express their uniquely feminine experiences without judgment of misunderstanding. They can ride slow, walk up hills, or ask questions that might otherwise have have overlooked or unheard in a bike club comprised mostly of boys. The group is unique in the way that the pace is more calm, the leadership is fluid, and, when I look back to check on the riders behind me, every rider is doing exactly what she should should be: riding safely.

What's one of your best times bicycling?

I live on my bicycle, and most of my friends do too! So much is shared, experienced, and grown when we travel together. For the past three years I have trained for the AIDS Life Cycle ride. I have only ridden once, but the training is what is special to me. Year One, my friend Nicole convinced me to jump on for an 80 mile trip to Occidental. This was when I was first getting into long distance cycling, and the feeling of accomplishment I got at the end of that trip was enough to know it was true love. Year Two I decided to do the ride, and I convinced my two besties to join me. It was the greatest thing to spend a Saturday riding 80 miles, catching up, preparing and appreciating each other. This two more besties have decided to do the ride. Watching them preparing, helping fundraise, and riding the Headlands has been full of so much beautiful quality time.

I surprise people when I bike when ...

I'm in my yellow vest with ten kids in tow.

My message to women who want to try biking:

We can do it!

Rose lives in NOPA and, as she says, "I heart the Panhandle...so hard."

*****

For more great stories, take a look at these previous Women Who Bike posts:

And stop by Bikes And The City every Monday and Wednesday for Meli's Women Who Bike. (Treat yourself and visit her site every day!)

If you or someone you know might like to join this series, please ask them to contact me at [email protected]

DPW Advances Paving Plans for Steiner/Sanchez Bike Blocks to June

A bumpy ride over temporary trench fill on Steiner Street

The Department of Public Works (DPW) will repave ahead of schedule several blocks of the Wiggle bicycle route due to the poor surface conditions following recent utility construction. Steiner Street north of Duboce to Waller Street will be resurfaced curb-to-curb in June of this year rather than August. The blocks are an essential segment of the Wiggle east-west bike route. As part of the same work order, DPW will apply new asphalt, also curb-to-curb, to Sanchez Street south of Duboce to 14th.

The decision to expedite the paving follows complaints from several cyclists about the especially bumpy surface left by a contractor working for the Water Department along the south side of the streets. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) requested a speedier response to the problem, and DPW decided it would be less costly to resurface the blocks completely in June rather than make a temporary, partial fix now only to tear up the street again for a full make-over in August as scheduled.

The blocks just north and south of Duboce have been a problem for cyclists for at least the last two years. As reported here, DPW recently repaved the north side of Steiner from Duboce to Herman because of even-worse conditions following winter rains and construction on the block. The south bound lanes of the affected blocks now have a badly-resurfaced utility trench that was meant to be temporary. DPW hoped to wait until August to remedy the situation, especially with the department's tight budge for street repairs. As a result of DPW's re-assessment of the street conditions and SFBC's advocacy, cyclists will soon have a safer route.

Steiner Street on the Wiggle NOW Safer

Seth Fischer is all for a smoother, safer Steiner Street on his commute

Surprise for cyclists turning northbound on Steiner from Duboce

One smooth 1/2 block; the southbound lane still needs work

This is why SFBC Good Roads Campaign blew the whistle on unsafe surface

Seth Fischer knows a smooth surface and that's what he got Thursday morning for his regular Wiggle spin from Duboce and northbound on Steiner. This stretch between Duboce and Herman has been one eyesore and hazard for some time. The Department of Public Works (DPW) has filled hole upon hole here in the past, but after the rains and especially the SFPUC/Water Department's construction on the south side of the street, only one option remained. Grind it out and add new smooth asphalt.

Neal Patel, Community Planner for the SF Bicycle Coalition, might have been the first to fully appreciate the change in the surface. Last night his ride on Steiner brought one huge smile from the just-completed paving. Just last week he was on the block with DPW reps urging quick action for the street defects. "As soon as the rain stopped enough for them to get out there, work crews took care of the problem," Patel said, "and they did a great job."

So, cyclists, enjoy the northbound lane, and here's the story on the bumpy utility trench work on Steiner southbound from Waller to Duboce. SFBC is also pushing for this work to be either re-applied or smoothed out by some other means as soon as possible. DPW managers are working with SFPUC to address the problem. Normally if utility work involves a cut that is 25% or longer of the given block, the full length of the block from curb to mid-point needs to be repaved. In this case, the city allowed a waiver since these blocks are due to be re-paved curb-to-curb after August 1st of this year. Budgets are tight, and SFBC volunteers* report just the real hazards to the city, not the regular inconveniences of the road. Given the huge amount of bicycle traffic that the Wiggle gets everyday, a wait of seven months or more seemed unwise for either the cyclists or the city's liability status.

This morning I also walked the block of Sanchez south of Duboce. Cyclists know how bad this block has been as well. A neighbor and homeowner from that block stopped by to chat -- and complain about the terrible street surface SFPUC left in its wake once they believed construction was done. After he heard about SFBC's efforts to get these streets smoothed, he smiled and said, "It's great to work on these problems as a community together; I really appreciate that the bike coalition is working on this." He also said he was going to get his neighbors to call 311 requesting a better pavement job.

*Full disclosure: Along with several other volunteers, I am a member of the SFBC Good Roads Crew.

Wiggle and Waller Set for Surface Relief

Resurfacing underway on McAllister Street last year

NOPA cyclists get around town a lot, and any time they find a newly resurfaced street it's pure bliss. "If only more streets could be like this," is a common wish, a mix of appreciation and wistfulness. Even as the city struggles to find new revenue for badly needed street repair, a scaled-back schedule of repaving brings some bright prospects. A recent request for construction bids from the Department of Public Works identifies three popular cycling streets for the surface makeovers they deserve. Later this summer biyclists can anticipate much smoother spinning along these routes:

• Waller Street, from Stanyan to Buena Vista
• Sanchez, from 17th Street to Duboce
• Steiner, from Duboce to Waller

Just a block of the Waller project is part of a bike route, but cyclists use this full stretch in the Haight all the time. The Sanchez work will give a huge boost to safer, easier biking in the Castro and Duboce Park areas, especially the block before Duboce which has long resembled grinding over a washboard. And the three small blocks of Steiner from Duboce to Waller deserve a celebration all their own when their much-repaired, rough surfaces get the smooth treatment. Blocks of the Wiggle bike route are included in both the Sanchez and Steiner projects.

The Department of Public Works continues to work with the SF Bicycle Coalition to prioritize bike route blocks for repaving when possible, and these additions to the schedule are a few of the benefits of that cooperation. Something to look forward to this summer.

Ride It or Walk It, But Do the Wiggle

Perhaps you thought the raved-about Wiggle was a recent hill-dodging bike route to get to NOPA and the Panhandle from most anywhere east. Maybe you didn’t know that much. Cast aside all assumptions and join expert Joel Pomerantz for his all-things-Wiggle “zig-zaggy” tour on two wheels or on foot. Expect plenty of natural and social history along the way.

Be transported back to the days when these very blocks were part of the San Souci Valley, with the inevitable sand dunes but also a good share of ponds and creeks. The real San Francisco natives, the Ohlone people, used this route, according to Pomerantz, “long before it became known by the ridiculous moniker.” Joel doesn’t shy from the ridiculous tag. He’s the one to first popularize the term “Wiggle” in a 1994 issue of the SF Bike Coalition’s Tubular Times. Not for a full decade did the Wiggle name really stick.

Do the Wiggle Bike Tour
When: Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010
Time: 12:45 to 2:30 pm
Meet: At the Bike Mural, Duboce Bikeway, Corner of Duboce & Church Streets
Cost: Donations appreciated, but no one turned away for lack of funds

Do the Wiggle WALKING Tour
When: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Time: 1 pm to 2:3 pm
Meet: At the Bike Mural, Duboce Bikeway, Corner of Duboce & Church Streets
Cost: Donations appreciated, but no one turned away for lack of funds

More info on this tour and others, see ThinkWalks here.

Panhandle at Masonic Sees 50% Increase in Cyclists Over Three Years

No one cycles past Mariana Parreiras without getting counted

One morning last August BIKE NOPA interviewed Central Avenue neighbor Mariana Parreiras about counting bike traffic on the Panhandle Path at the Masonic Avenue intersection. She was working as a summer intern for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and assisting with the annual bike count. The survey provides a snapshot of bicycling in the city and compares numbers of cyclists and other trends from year to year. Now we know the number of cyclists Mariana tallied on the multi-use Panhandle Path.

The Masonic and Panhandle intersection experienced a 50% increase in number of bicyclists since 2006, a jump from 152 to 228 riders. The percentage is similar to the 53.5% increase found at the other study sites in the city over the same three-year period. Bicycling proponents note that the counts swelled even though a court injunction prevented any new bicycle improvements (for example, bike lanes, bike parking, or painted lanes) in the city.

The bike count at the Panhandle catches the 8am to 9 am bike to work crowd. It would be interesting to get the numbers on the return trip at the end of the day. Further east along the popular Wiggle bike route, the number of cyclists at Fell and Scott streets soared with a 84.7% increase since 2006. With so many cyclists travelling west on Fell Street between Scott and Masonic at the end of the workday, advocates are urging a look at a bike lane along that stretch. That prospect might be especially appealing to pedestrians who sometimes find sharing space with cyclists on the Panhandle Path a bit risky.

No need to tell Mariana how busy the Panhandle Path can be

84.7% Increase in Cyclists at Fell and Scott in Three Years; 34,000+ Ride Fell Each Month

NOPA resident Mariana Parreiras tallied bicyclists in the SFMTA 2009 Bike Count Project

Fell Street bike lane approaching ARCO at Divisadero

The route bicyclists use most to reach NOPA and points further west at the end of the workday registered an impressive 84.7% increase in number of riders over the last three years, according to a new San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) report. In the last year alone the count increased by 23.5.% During its annual one-day bike count, MTA interns tallied 375 cyclists passing through the Fell and Scott Streets intersection using the Wiggle bike route, a huge jump from the 202 bikers counted at that location in 2006 and a more than respectable bounce from last year's count of 302.

The bike count occurred between 5 pm and 6:30 pm during August of last year. The analysis compares numbers of cyclists counted at the same location and during the same time period since SFMTA began the counts in 2006. The Fell and Scott intersection is among the top ten busiest sites for bike traffic included in the study that also looked at 33 other locations in San Francisco. Based on the counts at all these sites, bicycling in San Francisco increased by 53% since 2006. The SFMTA explained that the annual bike count helps establish trends in bicycling over time and does not purport to count the total numbers of cyclists on city streets overall.

However, a pilot project on Fell between Scott and Divisadero does register all cyclists at all times. This smaller study found that the total number of cyclists using the Fell Street bike lane ranges from 34,000 to 41,000 a month. Not surprisingly, the better weather months, August through October, see the highest use. The total 24/7 count is obtained from an automatic counter, an “inductive loop counter,” embedded under the roadway a few inches. Each time a bicycle passes over the loop the system adds it to the total count. The loop is capable of distinguishing between bicyclists and other users of the road. And, good news for the cash-strapped city, the counters require little maintenance and operate on batteries that last for ten years. The SFMTA expects to enhance its annual bike counts by installing additional automatic counters throughout the city.

The significant numbers from the manual and the automatic counts emphasize even more the need for safer passage on Fell Street. Recent bike improvements, including the new bike box at Scott & Oak Streets and the center bike lane on Scott between Oak and Fell, have improved the safety for the high number of cyclists using the Wiggle bike route. Yet high speeds by motorists on Fell and the traffic tangle on Fell at the ARCO service station remain hazards to cyclists and pedestrians. As reported in BIKE NOPA here, the SFMTA intends to re-time traffic signals on Fell Street to 25 mph by March, but the agency has been slow to experiment with traffic design changes on Fell near the ARCO station. However, this week SFMTA began forming a working group to develop improvements at this location and provide feedback on any trial changes implemented.

Mayor, Mirkarimi, SFMTA & SFBC Paint it Green

It was a bike box love-fest Thursday afternoon as city officials and bicycle advocates gathered around an asphalt gray patch of Scott Street at Oak. A dozen white buckets half-filled with bright green paint lined up with long-handled rollers along the center stripe -- almost as if they were on loan from a Fantasia exhibit at the Presidio's new Walt Disney Museum. The first bicycle box to be painted green in the state of California awaited the swoosh of color from dozens of happy helpers.

Mayor Gavin Newsom extolled the occasion as one of the city's first experiments with bicycle improvements that other cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and, closer to home, Portland have already implemented. "We're going to be trying some things that candidly we wished we were doing for the last three years," the mayor said, reflecting on the prohibition against new bike enhancements due to the long-standing "bike injunction." The judge for that case recently allowed several bike facilities to go forward. Since this past Tuesday, city paint crews have painted hundreds of sharrows and bike icons and new bike lanes on city streets.

District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi biked to the press conference where he joined the Mayor and Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Sophie Maxwell. Mirkarimi noted the significance of the occasion and asserted that "we are all unified in the mission statement of making San Francisco bike friendly." He also announced, "We're going to put on-street bike parking in front of Remy's Mojo Bicycle Cafe" on Divisadero to celebrate the end of the injunction and to help "signifiy what a major arterial like Divisadero means." Later that evening during the Divisadero Art Walk, Remy Nelson, owner of the always busy Mojo, smiled in surprise when he learned of the supervisor's remarks. "He really mentioned my name?"

Mirkarimi suggested that the Wiggle bike route -- of which the new bike box is an essential part -- deserves Historic Trail status similar to the Barbary Coast Trail in the city. The Wiggle follows the route of the long-paved over Sans Souci Creek and today is one of the most-used bike routes in San Francisco.

Although the press conference was festive already, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell got everyone laughing -- and had Supervisor and mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty whooping -- with the conclusion of her remarks about making our streets serve more than vehicles. "We're going to make it exciting, we're going to make it fun, and we're going to make it funky."

Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, could have easily lit up the street herself with glowing enthusiasm. While she thanked the elected officials, the city staff, and SFBC's 11,000 members, Shahum also spoke for the 130,000 San Franciscans who already bike and the more than half of city residents who said they wanted to ride bikes for transportation in the city "if streets had bike lanes and were more inviting for bicycling."

At the conclusion of remarks, everyone was drawn to those paint cans and the Chief Sorcerer and his many apprentices dutifully dipped their poles in the paint and rolled a bright, new green box for bicyclists to stop and wait for the green light to cross Oak Street.

Streetsblog beat all the print, blog, and TV media to the big stories from the press conference -- the green box, the new proposal for bike sharing, and huge increase in number of bikes to be shared. And they posted a video of the full press conference. It hasn't taken long for Streetsblog San Francisco to become essential viewing for anyone interested in more livable streets and sidewalks and transportation policies. The video clip is below and the bike sharing news is here.

Scott St/Wiggle/Bike Box: All To Get Improvements Dec. 1st: first major bike improvements in 1259 Days! Time to Celebrate.

The SF Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) has selected Scott Street for the first new bike lane striping in San Francisco in 1259 days. The MTA announced its decision today after last week's partial lifting of the bicycle injunction that kept all bike improvements on hold for more than three years. Marc Caswell of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition confirmed the plans for tomorrow's activities.

A press conference scheduled for Tuesday morning, Dec. 1st will kick off the lane work and the festivities for the day. The paint crews will begin work at the conclusion of the official remarks by striping the new lanes (white, of course) and also painting the bike box at Scott and Oak GREEN in a six month trial. Spontaneous DYI celebrations will occur throughout the day and then start up again officially in the late afternoon and evening. (5 pm UPDATE: the press conference has been postponed until Thursday; all other events are on for the afternoon. -- I guess it works if it's AFTER the event).

Highlights of tomorrow's activities:

In the morning: Paint crews begin the work: stripes and paint

5-7pm SFBC Outreach at Duboce/Market and at new GREEN bike box

5:30-6:30 pm NOPA Bike Mingle at On the Corner Cafe, Oak and Divisadero, (happened to land on the same day; let's do this and then go to the all cyclist party at Duboce Park Cafe with a stop at the Green Box along the way!)

5:30-8pm: SFBC and all cyclists party at Duboce Park Cafe, corner of Duboce and Sanchez -- the party we've all been waiting for!

And there's more:

• MTA will install a temporary on-street bike parking corral at Bean There Cafe, 201 Steiner @ Waller. Check out what the next generation of bike parking looks like. And quick: it's up just for the day.
• Other bike racks along the Wiggle (locations still being determined)
• Bike sharrows for shared-use traffic lanes
• Unanswered question: Will temporary improvements on Fell near the ARCO station join the other improvements?

Spooked While Biking

Right there blissfully riding the Wiggle, the sun bright and warm, the air still -- could this be summer? -- and suddenly at Waller and Pierce the sky darkened, the trees reached menacingly over the street, and the Victorians were decidely tricked out. Had Duboce Triangle been transported to the nether world?

Not exactly. Duboce Triangle has gone Hollywood. The neighborhood gave a few blocks to NBC's new spook series, Trauma. "An action packed drama looking at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics." In case you wondered. And here we thought the most scary healthcare scenario was being trapped in an overwrought health reform town hall.

The bicycle/livability connection? This was a real "seen while biking" opp. And I hope Duboce Triangle folks get to celebrate Halloween earlier -- but did they get some perks or neighborhood improvements out of the deal?