June 3, 2019
San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority
Adrian Leung
Bike Share Program Manager
Re: New Bike Share at Marini Plaza in North Beach
Dear SFMTA,
We are writing to voice our support for a new GoBike bike share station at Powell & Union (Marini Plaza) in North Beach. Improved transit accessibility is an important issue for our 300+ business and residential members, and the new bike station is key to achieving this goal.
Our organization supported North Beach’s first bike share station at Columbus Ave. & Lombard St in November 2018. We did so with the intention of closely monitoring performance and usage to inform our future positions on bike share. Since its installation, we have been encouraged by the demand and believe the station has been a positive addition to our community. The results speak for themselves: 80 average daily trips emanate from the station, and rides are increasing month over month.
Whenever parking is removed, there is immediate opposition. But perspective is needed. Citywide, San Francisco has nearly 275,000 on-street parking spots, enough to line California’s 840-mile coastline. On Columbus Ave, North Beach’s main commercial corridor, only 14% of those surveyed arrived by private vehicle. Studies have shown that bicyclist and pedestrian customers spend as much or more, and more regularly than do motorist customers. Finally, bike share is a critical component of the city’s Vision Zero and carbon-reduction priorities, and District 3 suffers from some of the highest vehicle emissions and traffic injuries in the city.
In deference to those with physical disabilities that may be impacted by the loss of parking from this plan, we suggest that SFMTA consider using a linkage policy to create an additional handicap space near the affected area at the cost of the station operator.
This location is a second iteration of the original plan to place one on Filbert St, in front of St Peter & Paul Church. The modified plan is a testament to Lyft’s sincere effort to work with the community to identify the most appropriate location. This is an ideal location–close to transit hubs, Washington Square Park and neighborhood businesses–and now it’s time to move forward with the installation. We urge you to support it.
In community,
Danny Sauter
President | North Beach Neighbors
cc:
Director of Transportation, Edward D. Reiskin ed.reiskin@sfmta.com
Local Government Affairs Manager, Joél T. Ramos Joel.Ramos@sfmta.com
District 3 Supervisor, Aaron Peskin aaron.peskin@sfgov.org
Adrian Leung, Bikeshare Program Manager, adrian.leung@sfmta.com
Bicycle Advisory Committee, District 3 Representative, Marc Brandt
Charles Deffarges, Senior Community Organizer, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, charles@sfbike.org
Outreach Coordinator, Lyft, Justin Hu-Nguyen, jnguyen@lyft.com
