FINAL UPDATE: Delay at Jackson and Mason has cleared. OB Hyde and Mason Cable Car lines resuming service. (More: 17 in last 48 hours)

Happy Bike to Work Day!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

San Francisco’s Bike to Work Day is 21 years old this year, and every year we see it grow in size for one simple reason: more people are biking.

More people are biking not only because biking is fun, sustainable and practical. More people are biking because of the work the city is doing to make riding a bike on the street safer and more comfortable.

Since 2014, we have completed 15 bike projects that constructed or upgraded 17 miles of bikeways. Combine all the work we’ve done in years past and you get a San Francisco bike network that spans 434 miles of lanes, routes and paths.

And in 2015 we will start construction on 30 more projects that will add or upgrade 53 miles of bikeways.

We’re doubling down on our investment because better bikeways work. When we build better, safer streets for biking, more people ride.

For example:

  • On Fell Street we’ve seen a 98% increase in biking between 2009 to 2015. During this time, we were phasing improvements to make biking better and just finished the final project which now separates bikes and cars with a concrete median. In 2014, the Fell St. monthly average was 46,500 bike trips per month!
     
  • After a new streetscape and bikeway was created on Cesar Chavez Street we saw a 380% increase in bicycle ridership based on counts taken before and after the project.
     
  • On Folsom Street, there has been a 115% in bikes from 2013 to 2015 after we had implemented a wider, paint-buffered bike lane.
     
  • On Market Street, where we’ve been making improvements for bikes every year, we saw the highest weekday count at the Market Street Bicycle Counter in 2014, with 4,050 bikes recorded in one day, a 7% increase from the record high of 3,770 in 2013.
     
  • We also recently saw a 206% growth in bicycle ridership since 2006 at the same 19 intersections in the city as part of our new 2014 Bicycle Count Report.

Also, just this month we launched a pilot of bigger bike racks on Muni buses to make getting around the city easier.

When we make our streets safer for bikes, the streets become more organized and safer for all, helping us move closer to our Vision Zero goal of zero traffic fatalities.

Bicyclists in bright clothing and helmets cycle eastward on the bright green bike lane on Market Street with a bus, a streetcar and a delivery truck in the background.
Bicylists among thousands counted for today's Bike to Work Day on Market Street.

Large event pop-up tent sits along the curb on Polk Street in front of City Hall.
It's always a party at BTWD! The crowd gathers at the City Hall energizer station before today's press conference begins.

Ed Reiskin stands at a lecturne with San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Executive Director, Noah Budnick. Volunteers and participants stand with signs and banners on steps behind them.
Ed Reiskin shares his enthusiasm for bicycling and his vision for making San Francisco's transportation choices safe and reliable.