SF Mayor: 10% city trips by bike by 2010

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped a big one this past week announcing a goal to have 10% of all city transportation trips be by bike by 2010. Wow. This is an aggressive goal for an American city and a noble one, as bike commuting reduces air pollution, congestion on roads, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic dependence on oil, besides making people healthier and more connected to their urban environment.

Currently about 1.8 percent of people commute in SF by bike (Portland has a nation-leading 2.8 percent of commuters traveling by bike). If you say it can't be done, look at Copenhagen Denmark's 36 percent bike commute rate.

I've been commuting by bike for 20 years, starting in Chicago--yes, even in the winter--and now I commute from Marin County to downtown San Francisco every day by bike and ferry.  I rode in the first or one of the first Critical Mass rides in SF, which has since spread to more than 400 cities on every continent except Antarctica. It's been a blast and I believe my personal actions have had positive macro and micro impacts.

I was in college when I started to live for bike transport. This was during the 80s, when bike riding for adults seemed  to be a rarity or oddity. My dormmates, Drew and Ray, also were into their bikes, and we felt special being part of a minority faction that had incredible freedom to explore  the whole city and its surrounding countryside on our rides. People would actually say at parties, "You're the guy on the bike, right?" Can you imagine someone saying that on a college campus with 50,000 people today? We sure have come a long way.

Mine was an old black Schwinn World War Two model tricked out with 60's Sting Ray handlebars and white rims sporting black pinstriping. Damn, that bike would be worth some bucks today.  Too bad it was demolished when the house we were living in got torn down one summer without warning while I was away, as it was condemned.

I never got into the racing thing, just riding for transport and fun, zipping around Chicago's Lakefront, the hills of San Francisco, or the ports of New York City.

Somewhere in the early 90s, I rode in what I believe was the first Critical Mass, the San Francisco biking event that has spread to cities around the world. My old roomate Drew invited me to come ride with a bunch of people meeting after work in downtown San Francisco that wanted to cruise around in a big pack. I don't remember it having a name, but I've been since told that first ride was called the Traffic Clot. After it soon became known as Critcal Mass, I've seen people get hit by cars, and once a car even backed up over the bike it just intentionally knocked down. Fortunately, the rider was not hurt too badly.

Riding is an important statement with all those tangible benefits I mentioned, but planning and partcipating in public advocacy processes also gets results, however slow they may come.

On March 26, 1996, I wrote an Open Forum for the San Francisco Chronicle calling for a pedestrian-bikeway along the city's industrial southeast side bayfront, from China Basin to India Basin and beyond, allowing  local access and recreation along what were then and now largely abandoned waterfront piers ringed by razor wire. Don't know if that had any effect on what's happening now but it looks like Newsom and others are now backing a 13-mile Blue Greenway along the same location. It never hurts to dream big and in bold strokes, and then let the future catch up with your dreams.

As for saftey, I haven't got into a real commuting accident since getting a "door prize" on Augusta Boulvard in Chicago. Ialso hit one car head on that was coming out of a blind alley in San Francisco, but rolled off its hood unscathed.

Knock on wood.

Though we have two cars, I'm still logging hundreds of miles each week, and that allows me to stay out of gyms and doctors' offices and gives me more time with my family on the weekends. Oh yeah, zero pollution and carbon emissions, too.

Comments

[Joshua Hart]

Yes 10% modeshare by bicycle by 2010 is an ambitious, yet achievable goal for San Francisco. And it is a critical step to reach the carbon reduction goals outlined in the City's Climate Action Plan.

Yet I question how Mayor Gavin Newsom intends to achieve this goal by vetoing legislation such as Healthy Saturdays in Golden Gate Park, and other measures to overcome car dependence and carve out safe spaces for non-motorized traffic.

Mayor Newsom certainly talks the green talk, and indeed he has been a champion of solar energy, but when it comes to any measure that would lead SF into recovery from oil addiction, the Mayor is about as green as a Hummer H2 with a green paint job.

Of course proposals such as Healthy Saturdays threaten the interests of the downtown power structure (i.e. the DeYoung Museum), and the dominance of automobiles on City streets, something the Mayor has not so far been willing to tackle.

Anyone remember when Newsom drove his SUV to Bike to Work Day?

[Ian]

I hear Josh's concerns. If nothing else, though, the verbalization of Newsom's intent might spur on more interest within individuals. I know I should ride more than I do, particularly in a town like Monterey, where hills are minimal and everything is within a few miles. In the cities it may be harder, scarier, whatever -- but I think even this public suggestion of a worthwhile goal might spur a little movement. It all starts within, anyway.

[Ken]

It does start within, that's a great point Ian. I could bike a lot more than I am at the moment. Time to buy another bike.

It's a good reaffirmation to see so many people bicycling through Oakland and SF these days.

Organizing a work bike trip on a weekday might be a good inspirational tool for bicycling... an annual Bicycle DURING Work Day!