OT: riding to 4th and King

[Ted Ketai]

I've been starting to keep photo records of how horrible it is to commute to the 4th and King Caltrain station by bike these days. Just sent the first batch off to SFBC, now need to figure out who else to contact. I'd encourage others to at least write some emails because the situation there is getting ridiculous. 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10105038765335693.1073741913.2215847&type=1&l=38ee2b3a66

[Patrick Lea]

For the cabs you can report them to SFMTA. There is a place to complain about cabs on 311.
http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=122

SFMTA seems like they might care more then SFPD.

On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 12:50 PM, Ted Ketai <tke...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've been starting to keep photo records of how horrible it is to commute to the 4th and King Caltrain station by bike these days. Just sent the first batch off to SFBC, now need to figure out who else to contact. I'd encourage others to at least write some emails because the situation there is getting ridiculous. 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10105038765335693.1073741913.2215847&type=1&l=38ee2b3a66

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[Georgia Andrews]

Honestly, I've never found the cabs to be as big of a problem as the newer people. New shuttle buses trying to pick up/drop off, Uber/Lyft/what have you, BABS putting that rack in the middle of the damn cutout. The cab drivers at least usually expect cyclists and seem to try to minimize the clusterfuck when possible. Megabus is a lot better since they moved further down towards 5th.

--

Women Who Code San Francisco City Director

womenwhocode.com

[ta...@murphstahoe.com]

Any of this should also go to Jane Kim, D6 Supervisor. And your own supervisor, unless it's Campos because that's just a waste of electrons.

The cab drivers have reuqired a lot of training. When the bike lane went in it was standard that they would queue up in the bike lane. We started to complain and SFMTA started sending out PCOs to ticket. One day I was riding center lane due to the cabbies blocking the lane. So this cabbie figures out the parking tickets are coming and he decides screw this and decided to head for the hills by whipping a U-turn right in front of me. Sometime's it's the medicine that makes the pain.

 

J

[Maxence Nachury]

The cabs really do not have much room to wait at this spot. I’d guess that it is more of SFMTA’s problem than anyone else. Spreading the loading/unloading spots and separating those from the bikes would be nice. Clearly, it is a mess right now. But somehow, I have not had any close call at that spot.

I find getting out of the station onto Townsend in the evening to be a much scarier experience. I have resorted to riding onto the sidewalk until 5th and crossing there. Slow but safe.

[Ted Ketai]

Why not just cross with the signal at 4th instead of trying to cross in the middle of the street? 

I have mostly had close calls with people dropping their friends off. They suddenly swing over to the right and then, sometimes while they're still moving, the passenger will throw their door open into the bike lane and jump out. That's by far the most dangerous situation. The taxis are generally not life threatening, but the fact that they'll completely block the road so you have nowhere to go but the sidewalk and then the cops will ticket you for going on the sidewalk is ridiculous. 

[Yuanyu Chen]

Is there an form or such for reporting private buses?

This was (a minute of) my morning: https://vimeo.com/124241427

Yuanyu Chen

[Ted Ketai]

This is a perfect demonstration of what that block is like. Thank you for taking it. Please send it to the SFBC and whoever else you can! 

[Christine Windsor]

That's terrifying. 

[aamir ali]

It's a commuter shuttle with the SFMTA pilot program. I think you can complain it with the bus tag at the back to SFMTA probably also.

[Judd Blair]

Judging from the green sticker in the back, they're in the SFMTA commuter shuttle pilot program, which also luckily means this will probably be taken seriously: http://sfmta.com/projects-planning/projects/commuter-shuttles-policy-and-pilot-program

On Mon, Apr 6, 2015 at 2:01 PM, Yuanyu Chen <yuany...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Ted Ketai]

I just sent it along with my photo album to the SFBC staff, but the more people that do it, the more chance they'll take notice. 

[Yuanyu Chen]

Reported to that SFMTA form, which sadly broke when I tried to upload photos, so I just linked them the video. I'll email some SFBC folks too.

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Yuanyu Chen

[Ryan Anderson]

The SFMTA picked the stops... I don't know why they would think that Townsend is a reasonable place to stop for that. The whole front of 4th is a bus stop, IIRC, isn't it? Why not use that instead?

Ryan

[Elliot Schwartz]

They're probably avoiding 4th St because of all the Central Subway work that's starting around there:

  http://www.centralsubwayblog.com/blog/2015/04/project-advancements-april-4-april-13/

They moved the terminus of the 47 from 4th St around the corner to Townsend recently (which displaced the bike share station & some car parking there).

But yes, Townsend St is a mess. Having a separated bike lane to the right of buses, cars, and taxis would help a lot.

[Daniel Chao]

taking photos while biking to 4/king? some serious skill on display.

[Ted Ketai]

Finally got a response from the SFBC. TLDR: maybe in 2-3 years from now the city might possibly consider doing something about Townsend. 

Hi Ted,

Thank you for reaching out to us about Townsend Street. We get a lot of complaints about this very important street and have been advocating for improvements since early 2004. While there isn't an immediate plan to improve it, it did make the short list of projects on the SFMTA Bicycle Strategy Project List.

What this means that it will officially become a City project within the next couple of years, quickly followed by implementation of enhanced infrastructure from 8th Street to the Embarcadero. We will be advocating for protected bike lanes to increase the protection for people biking. In the mean time, please let me know if there are significant issues like paving that I can forward to the SFMTA to accelerate the process. I also encourage you to call 311 to report potholes, double parking or shuttle bus issues.

Thank you for being a member, your support is making a huge difference in making biking better in San Francisco

[Judd Blair]

What'd you expect? "Absolutey, we'll break ground tomorrow!"

[Yuanyu Chen]

I got the same email. I also got a response from a different SFBC person on Monday saying he forwarded my video onto SFMTA enforcement to ask for more parking control officers at 4th/townsend.

I think I'll respond to the "significant issues like paving" complaining about the pavement from 8th to ~5th on Townsend going towards Caltrain - I've certainly heard many complaints about that and how everyone rides on the line there.

[Ted Ketai]

That's a super helpful addition to the conversation Judd, thanks. 

I asked her about talking to the SFPD about increased enforcement there (of keeping the lane free, not ticketing cyclists for being forced onto the sidewalk). She responded as follows: 

We will bring it up with the SFMTA and SFPD, but reach out directly to the Southern Station Captain Jerome DeFilippo and copy me (Chema Hernández Gil <ch...@sfbike.org>), Supervisor Jane Kim (Jane...@sfgov.org)  and her aide, Sunny Angulo (sunny....@sfgov.org). I also encourage you to attend the next community meeting on the third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Call the station at 415-575-6000 for the location.

I'd encourage anybody else who's concerned about the situation to write all those people with your concerns too. I fully expect the SFPD to either ignore us to tell us to go to hell, but I've gotta try anyway. 

[John Murphy]

It's nonetheless annoying how much attention has been slathered on Polk while Townsend has gotten bupkus.

[Judd Blair]

Yeah, I also don't like how Townsend has become the default for even MORE buses picking up/dropping off, but with the central subway construction being what it is, the entire area is a disaster for any means of transit. I'm not sure what could even put a dent in this kind of clusterfuck outside of exactly what they said - reporting individual infractions to 311/SFPD and making a lot of noise about it. 

[Darrin Ward]

its unfortunately the way most people deal with problems.  lets just fix the big leak (polk street with the most accidents) and not look at the fact that the whole pipe is nothing but duct tape.

townsend sucks balls but feels safer than howard for some reason for heading back to the mission.

either way i am getting pretty fucking sick and tired of the process in sf.  why cant we just have better bike lanes and not 10 years of people dicking around and arguing about how better bike lanes means less parking.   im tired of it.

lurch

On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 2:45 PM, John Murphy <ta...@murphstahoe.com> wrote:

[Ryan Anderson]

On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 2:57 PM, Darrin Ward <dmw...@gmail.com> wrote:

townsend sucks balls but feels safer than howard for some reason for heading back to the mission.

The other side of the street has 100 times less crazy going on.

I don't know why the SFMTA has moved commuter shuttles to Townsend, though. That's just an odd decision. They should, at best, be stopping on 4th, I would think.

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Ryan

[Judd Blair]

Hasn't this been covered? It's because 4th street is under heavy construction - you can barely fit a bus down it, let alone drop off passengers.

[Ryan Anderson]

Between Townsend and King?

Admittedly, I haven't been in that area for a few weeks, but... I thought that block was completely normal.

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Ryan

[Georgia Andrews]

They put a bunch of stuff in the middle of the road sometime in the last couple weeks - I didn't notice for a while. So that explains why some buses have moved. I don't know if any of these new shuttles have ever stopped on 4th before they showed up on Townsend.

The clusterfuck is a good reason to ride all the way down more often though...

[Ted Ketai]

Couple responses to my last emails: 

Hi, Ted.

 

Thank you for reaching out to our office.  The Supervisor asked me to follow up with you regarding your concerns. I am cc-ing our Livable Streets liaison at SFMTA, Neal Patel, who has been doing extensive bike infrastructure planning work in this neighborhood on the Embacardero and King Street.  I know that there have been some efforts to prioritize safe biking at the Caltrain station, starting with implementing a space for the Bike Share stall, but I can’t speak to the layout for the bus loading/unloading zones.  I am also cc-ing Carli Paine, who has been staffing the shuttle bus permitting program to speak directly to that issue. 

 

Thank you for including the video and photos, that is helpful to illustrate the need for a balance between the station loading and safe bicycle travel. 

 

Neal/Carli – I know that the traffic flow has been further complicated by the construction of the Central Subway along Fourth Street – are there any short-term safety precautions we can implement?  

 

Best, 
Sunny

 

Sunny Angulo

Legislative Aide, Supervisor Jane Kim, District 6

415.554.7969 Direct

415.554.7974 Fax

 

*We’ve Moved! We’re now in Room 280

Hello Mr. Ketai,

Thank you for sharing your concerns. And, thank you, Sunny for passing them along.

 

The curb space around Caltrain has recently been reallocated to address the many access needs and to respond to the Central Subway construction. Kimberly Leung, Cc’ed here, from Sustainable Street’s construction group had the challenging task of coordinating all of the needs and creating a plan for curb reallocation. She may be able to address specific curb questions.

 

I saw the video you linked to in a blog last week and contacted Storer, who in turn addressed their operators and reminded them that loading/unloading in a bicycle lane is not only illegal but unsafe. The video was very helpful in showing them the concern.

 

Best,
Carli

_____________________________

 

Carli Paine

TDM Manager

Sustainable Streets Division

 

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

1 South Van Ness Avenue, 7^th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94103

 

415-701-4469

www.sfmta.com  

 

  

 

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