More Than 1 Million Bike Trips Tallied by Market Street Bike Counter in 2015

Attachments: 1)   Market Bike Counter @ 1M 12.2015;  2)    SFMTA 2015 Bike Projects Completed

As bicycling in San Francisco continues to rise, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency today announced that the visible bike counter located on eastbound Market Street between 9th and 10th streets has counted more than 1 million bike trips in 2015.

The event is a major milestone as this is the first year the counter, installed in May 2013, has logged 1 million bike trips. As of December 16, the official count is 1,036,822 bike trips at this location this year, with the 1 millionth trips being logged at approximately 9 a.m. on December 2.

In comparison, 850,188 bike trips were tallied at the same counter for all of 2014, making for a 22 percent increase in bike trips taken at this location in the past year alone.

“We are making historic investments in the safety of all of our streets and we have made Market Street safer for the ever increasing numbers of bicyclists who use it every day. And, with improved bikeways along 13th, Oak, Fell, Howard, and Sloat Boulevard, our bicycle network is expanding and improving,” said Mayor Ed Lee. "Because of San Francisco voters who are supporting our investments in transportation infrastructure, we will continue with more projects in the coming year along Polk, Masonic and 2nd streets."

The news comes at a time when the SFMTA takes count of its work completed throughout the year in support of Vision Zero, the city’s goal to eliminate all traffic deaths. In 2015, the agency made significant achievements in increasing safety and comfort on the city’s bike network.

This year, the SFMTA installed eight miles of new or upgraded bikeways, surpassing its benchmark of installing six miles of bike improvements annually. The improvements came to 12 corridors citywide, ranging from new bike lanes on Judah, Folsom and Polk streets, protected bikeways on Oak, Fell and Bay streets, to a raised cycletrack on Market Street.

“Since 2012, the SFMTA has built 40 miles of safer, better bikeways throughout San Francisco,” Ed Reiskin, SFMTA Director of Transportation. “That work might not always be easy or popular, but the 1 millionth bike trip logged by the Market Street counter is a real reminder for us all. There are growing numbers of everyday people who are riding their bikes in San Francisco and they deserve safe streets to bike on.”

This year, the SFMTA also exceeded its annual goal of installing 500 bike parking racks per year, installing 870 this year to date. Furthermore, the agency painted nearly nine miles of bike sharrows this year. Bike sharrows are roadway markings that alert drivers that they may see bicyclists sharing the travel lane. They are also placed in a way to help remind bicyclists to avoid riding where they might collide with opening car doors.

Simultaneously in 2015, the SFMTA completed work to ensure that large scale streetscape projects will start construction next year. In 2016, the city is set to break ground on streets in dire need of safety improvements, such as Polk, Masonic and 2nd. These three streets in particular will receive sweeping improvements in support of Vision Zero, including new raised bikeways to increase safety for people biking and create more organized roadways for all travelers.

The city adopted Vision Zero as a policy in 2014, committing to build better and safer streets, educate the public on traffic safety, enforce traffic laws, and adopt policy changes that save lives. The result of this collaborative, citywide effort will be safer, more livable streets as San Francisco works towards the Vision Zero goal of zero traffic fatalities by 2024. For more information, go to: www.visionzerosf.org