Monday, April 29, 2013

Pedestrian Strategy in SF - Untold Casualties and Repercussions Await

In the last month Mayor Lee has decided to enact some of the most far reaching and outlandish pedestrian safety initiatives in decades.

  • Upgrading 44 miles of streets where injuries are most concentrated, 5 miles per year through 2021;
  • Giving pedestrians extra crossing time at 800 intersections citywide, at least 160 annually;
  • Improving safety around schools and senior centers with high pedestrian injury ;
  • Upgrading 13,000 curb ramps in the next 10 years; and
  • Targeting police enforcement efforts on the City’s most hazardous corridors and intersections.

  • Fatalities just waiting to happen....
    It's this kind of "anti-car" mentality that will undoubtedly destroy this fair city.  Everyone know that tourists flock to San Francisco so they can explore their god given right to operate a vehicle in a city approx 50 square miles. Not only that, but as this city grows, we're going to need more parking spots, bigger, more spacious roads, and less amenities for foolish things like walking or biking.

    But there are unintended consequences to such a walknut mentality.  What happens when people start ditching their vehicles with unfettered access and infrastructure that encourages walking and biking more?  What kind of fresh hell will we unleash when pedestrians and bikers have better access to the infrastructure in place?  Here's what you're about to see SF...

    Smug Pedestrians will cause numerous traffic accidents with their fast walking speeds and blatant disregard for safety.

    The average adult walks about 3.1 miles per hour, but what happens when wider infrastructure is in place?  Just how fast will these walk nuts go?  Although there's no EIR, I'm sure we'll be seeing headlines like this in the upcoming years"


    But this kind of wanton destruction isn't reserved for walkers.  The bikers that currently get a whopping .8 percent of dedicated space on the road, and the SFMTA squanders .46 percent on bike infrastructure.  Imagine what might happen if these bikers get 1%?!  Bikers, with their average speeds of 13-15 mph would turn into speed crazed lunatics!


    This kind of anti-car policy is going to lead us over the edge.  If we start to allow more pedestrian and bicycle amenities, they will undoubtedly want more and more space, and will stop at nothing to remove even an inch for their selfish gain.  Their disregard for safety will be unparalleled.  What's next, will they expect vehicles to give any of their precious 320,000 parking spaces in the city?  At some point will there be a street or two exclusively for pedestrian and bicycle traffic? It's only a matter of time until we see these hellish headlines materialize.