back to East London Cyclist SF Gate www.sfgate.com Return to regular view
S.F. Drivers Set to Rally Against Bikes
Caravan to assert right to streets
John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 21, 1999
©1999 San Francisco ChronicleURL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/07/21/MN77987.DTL
Angry motorists plan to parade through downtown San Francisco tomorrow afternoon to protest what they see as the growing power of bicycle riders over city transit planning.
The event, called ``Critical Mass for Cars'' in mocking tribute to the popular monthly bike rides through downtown San Francisco, is designed to get what they consider equal treatment for the city's drivers, said Rolf Mueller, president of the Inner Sunset Merchants Association.
``The real issue for the cyclists isn't bike lanes,'' said Mueller, who is organizing the event on his own. ``What they really want to do is get rid of cars throughout the Bay Area.''
For Mueller and other local business owners, the power of the bicycle lobby was shown earlier this year when the Board of Supervisors agreed to eliminate a lane of traffic on Polk Street to make way for cyclists.
``I'm worried that they're going to do this in business districts throughout the city,'' said Mueller, who owns RJM Systems, an information technologies company on Irving Street.
The flyer promoting the event tomorrow charges that the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition ``has forced the establishment of bicycle lanes at the expense of all other traffic participants. Pedestrians, private cars, commercial vehicles, even Muni have been inconvenienced. . . . The end result is more congestion, longer commute times and more pollution.''
Mueller says he hopes to get 500 to 1,000 cars for the event, which will begin at 4 p.m. at Pier 54 and Terry Francois Boulevard. From there it will go up Third Street to Geary Street, then to Polk Street and down past City Hall. It will continue on Grove Street to Franklin Street, where it will break up.
``We're going to do this one time and see what results we get,'' Mueller said. ``If we get a response (from the city), we may not have to do it again.''
The complaints are baffling to local cyclists, who say the planned changes on Polk Street are a matter of simple fairness that will have little effect on motorists.
``There are two-lane streets in business districts all over San Francisco,'' said David Snyder, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. ``Haight Street is the same width as Polk Street and carries more traffic on its two lanes.''
Mueller's complaints touched a nerve in a city where a ``transit first'' policy has focused on pushing commuters and other motorists kicking and screaming out of their cars and toward other forms of transportation.
For many drivers, the city's reluctance to require more parking garages to match the spate of construction in the South of Market area smacks of a plot to discourage motorists by making it impossible to get around in the area.
``The legally permitted Critical Mass for Cars even is being held to demand from the city a stop to Band-Aid approaches that endanger all traffic participants,'' Mueller said in his flyer. ``All aspects of traffic have to be addressed. That includes vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and Muni traffic flow.''
Mayor Willie Brown argued yesterday that his administration is working ``to accommodate the reality of the automobile'' by supporting efforts to build and expand public parking South of Market.
``Is city transit policy slanted for bikers? I don't accept that view,'' the mayor said. ``Our policy is as balanced as I can make it.''
He said the policy is more balanced than it was under previous mayors.
``San Francisco now has transit first,'' Brown said. ``Before my administration, it was transit only.''
The complaints from motorists come at a time when cyclists are finally getting some recognition from transportation officials, said Alex Zuckerman of the Regional Bicycle Advisory Committee.
``We're in a transition period when bicycle people are being heard and our proposals acted upon,'' he said. ``So car owners think we're becoming too strong, which is a vast overreaction.''
Snyder also is looking for the vast political clout being attributed to the bicycle lobby. He could have used it last year when his group was asking for city approval for a whole network of San Francisco bike lanes.
``I think we won two out of 10,'' he said.
One of the winners was Polk Street. The plan, which will not be put into effect for at least two months, calls for the city to eliminate one of the two southbound lanes of Polk between Vallejo and McAllister streets, making the street safer for cyclists.
``Polk and Van Ness are the only two streets flat enough to provide north-south access for cyclists,'' said Adam Gubser of the city's Department of Parking and Traffic.
©1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page A15