BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA
8» BEING A PART OF NATIONAL BICYCLE INITIATIVES
Cities across the nation are improving their streets to help people move more efficiently, safely and with less energy use, all while improving the overall quality of life. One key strategy that San Francisco has been executing is making more room for bicycles as usage grows rapidly in our city. Being a part of NACTO and the Green Lane Project has helped better connect us to peers and best practices that have helped guide our agency’s work as we continue to combine innovative, new designs and traditional approaches to transform the streets of San Francisco.
9» STRONG BIKE CULTURE Simsbury, Connecticut.
5» CONTINUED INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
The next decade will look dramatically different from the previous ones in how we focus resources. We’ll continue to look closely at, not just how we prioritize funds, but also how we prioritize space. This imperative means focusing on costeffective projects, like bike facilities, with the potential for positive return to the economy, public health, and personal mobility. San Francisco has already begun to implement bikeway projects and effective strategies to improve the comfort of riding. All current and future bicyclists can point to the need to provide more bike facilities to better connect the city and improve the level of comfort.
tem with bicycle amenities. Whether it’s for utility or recreational purposes, innovative facilities, such as increased separation from traffic, dedicated bike signals, and even bike parking facilities, enable people to see bicycling as something that’s not only safe, but convenient and comfortable as well. Plus, prioritizing innovation helps attract talented staff from around the nation who want to be on the cutting edge.
7» SETTING AMBITIOUS GOALS
We are fortunate to have a long-standing city Transit-First policy that prioritizes improving bicycling environments, along with other modes of non-private automobile travel. Having an agency goal of in6» PRIORITIZING INNOVATION creasing bicycling from 3.5 percent of all Using innovative bike design has become trips to 8 to 10 percent of all trips by 2018 an essential component as we work to helps us to work toward a shared vision build a modern urban transportation sys- of our future.
BFA BY THE NUMBERS The BFA program reached record numbers in 2013. 12 AMERICAN BICYCLIST
COMMUNITIES
291
Over the years, the image of San Francisco’s bike culture has continued to evolve and it’s now more inclusive and mainstream than ever before. The bicycle is now a symbol of modern life in a dense and diverse urban environment, and it’s increasingly appealing to San Franciscans from different walks of life.
10» INCREASED PUBLIC AWARENESS
No matter how many bikeways are built, bike share stations deployed, or bike parking racks installed, people need to know that these facilities are there for them. By working with the media to publicize our work, celebrating bicycling through community events and encouraging our stakeholders to spread the word, we’ve seen an amplified awareness about how riding a bicycle in San Francisco is becoming more safe, comfortable, convenient and fun. EDWARD D. REISKIN IS THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL TRANSPORTATION AGENCY (SFMTA) AND IS ALSO THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITY TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS (NACTO).
» 631 » BUSINESSES