Today, on my two-mile walk to work through SoMa I saw five people riding bicycles. That's great; according to the SF Bicycle Coalition the number of cyclists in SF has swelled in the last few years.
The problem: all five of those bicyclists were riding illegally on the sidewalk. I saw zero people riding their bicycles legally on the street.
Bicyclists and pedestrians ought to be natural allies in the move toward complete streets. I find it so disappointing that these bicyclists chose to risk injuring or alienating the pedestrians on those narrow SoMa sidewalks.
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That's because the only thing worse than riding on SoMa sidewalks is riding on SoMa streets... Almost every single street in SoMa is slated to get bicycle lanes when the injunction is over, but right now it takes a brave bicyclist to ride with cars going 30mph on a one-way street.
That's a poor reason to remove the only safe place for pedestrians in South of Market.
Remember that as a bicycle you have the right to full use of the traffic lane. Exercising that right slows traffic and increases driver awareness.
If you truly feel unsafe anywhere but the sidewalk, it's your responsibility to get off your bike and walk.
Just to be clear, that doesn't mean I don't hate the injunction and its delays in providing the improvements you mention...
I just want to reiterate that it's not an excuse to "pay it forward" and externalize the danger by shifting it even more to pedestrians.
*If you truly feel unsafe anywhere but the sidewalk, it's your responsibility to get off your bike and walk.*
Hear, hear!!
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