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The first time that I rode on San Francisco’s Muni it cost me a quarter, complete with a two hour unlimited transfer. Even as a clueless adolescent, I thought that was a pretty good deal. Mass transit ridership is skyrocketing all over the country, as more and more people are utilizing more sustainable methods of transport and bicycles. A few weeks ago, when I saw this notice that Muni fares will be going up to two dollars on July 1st, the first thing that I thought was: “I actually feel pretty good about spending two bucks of my meager resources to ride the streetcar. I want to support my local transit agency and help it to be a success.” Man, I am getting old.

The Board heard hours of impassioned public comment in support of implementing the city’s desperately needed Bike Network; they voted unanimously this afternoon to approve the Bike Plan EIR and finally adopt the complete Bike Plan.

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Today San Francisco’s Land Use and Economic Development Committee just announced that the city’s long-awaited Bike Plan will finally begin to be implemented this June. This is incredibly great news for the thousands of bicyclists who commute in our city every day. As you may already know, the city-wide Bike Plan has been held up for nearly three years by a fatuous lawsuit and injunction, which has prevented the city from making any Bike Network improvements whatsoever, even something as basic as installing a simple bike rack.

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Even though our city has produced some progressive public officials who have pioneered visionary policy, such as Tom Ammiano’s ground-breaking universal health care plan, Healthy San Francisco, and Mayor Newsom’s marriage equality leadership, we are still a somewhat flawed municipality. Our major daily newspapers range from embarrassingly conservative to rabidly right wing, many of our citizens are still homeless, and our city is desperate for infrastructure improvements, such as a sorely needed safe, interconnected bike network. Although San Francisco has fostered many effective transportation advocacy organizations, like the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, it is also home to the occasionally misguided SFMTA Board of Directors. The SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors recently voted unanimously to remove a crucial bike lane and concrete safety island from Market Street at Octavia; their decision was made without any public comment or input from related advocacy groups.

Hundreds of people rally to save a crucial bike lane in the heart of San Francisco

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