L Taraval Project: "Vision: Zero Loss of Parking"

Based on community screams, the SFMTA managed to save all the parking and create "bus shelters" out of paint, parked cars, and the broken promise of enforcement along the L Taraval corridor.
image found here.

The SFMTA presented on the L Taraval project, a plan to address the needs of 29,000 daily riders with bus bulb-outs, transit lanes, and all other kinds of things that were booed and hissed by a parking obsessed audience.  One SFMTA representative told the fiery group that Taraval Street is one of San Francisco’s most dangerous corridors, which the audience promptly replied with eye-rolls, indignant looks, and a single muffled cough.

SFMTA representative, wet from rain, tears, or fright.
image found here.

Even though the SFMTA told them the project adds 13 to 40 parking spaces, a ravenous audience member screamed “You’re still ruining it for those merchants!” noting that parking has to be right in front of the business because no one should be forced the indignity of walking. When the SFMTA representative tried to explain that 22 people were hit while walking to the trains, the audience screamed “doesn’t seem like that many!"

Supervisor Katy Tang introduces herself to the group before she sits down and listens to her constituents devalue human life and demand space to store their personal property. 
image found here

Despite all the screams from a few merchants and residents who abhor safe bipedal movement, the project will move forward as a pilot.  The SFMTA said they would look into the ideas presented by people who value the immobility of their car above human life.   None of the precious parking will be moved at four of the five business-located stops.  Instead, the SFMTA will paint white cross-hatches and pray to whatever deity they believe in in the hopes that no train riders will perish.


Every "Vision Zero" project should result in a net gain to parking!
image found here.

Prop L Defeated - Officials Wonder if They Should Keep SF a Dangerous Car Dependent Shit-hole

With the recent overwhelming defeat of Prop L (62.42% opposed) and the resounding support of Prop A (71.30%) and B (61.23%), SF officials are wondering if they should actually start making the city less of a car dependent shit-hole. They've been scratching their heads and wondering if they should really start trying to stop all the tragedy and death on the streets of San Francisco, which is already at 28 people this year and climbing.

"It's enough of a resounding scream from the public to actually do something." said one official as they walked to their city provisioned car and backed out of their free parking spot.

"Honestly, we were all shocked at how easily Prop A and B passed.  Prop A gives the city a bond for $500 million for transit, road, and safety improvements.  Prop B ties Muni funding to population growth which could mean another 20 million or so a year. We're thinking maybe it's time to start putting less emphasis on cars" one city official exclaimed.  Officials are also mulling the possibility of putting the newly acquired funds to fix the things they claimed it would fix.   "Maybe we'll actually implement the TEP (Transit Effectiveness Project), or create a ped/bike friendly, death-free Polk Street.  We might build the Geary and Van Ness BRT.  Maybe we'll dedicate more than 3% of the street to modes of traffic other than cars.  Hell we might even remove a parking spot or two! The possibilities are definitely limited!"

"With the overwhelming passage of Prop A & B and shutdown of Prop L, do you think we should make San Francisco look less like Detroit?"
image found here

The SFPD has been debating whether or not to actually start making city streets safer by enforcing all the traffic laws intended to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe.  The city is calling this "Vision Zero" while everyone else calls it 'doing your F*cking jobs'. "You know, we might even start preventing people from speeding around here.  I know that's pretty crazy, but the public spoke and maybe we'll listen this time around." said one officer. The SFPD has been thinking about ticketing motorists that clog up the crosswalks, since they do it every single day, at every single light change. "We're really thinking about getting out of our cars and doing something."

"We might actually get out of these beasts and start implementing Vision Zero."
image found here 

The abysmal defeat of Prop L has motorists waiting for the impending Carpocalypse if the city actually does what it's been funded and directed to do.  City officials have been debating whether or not to find the list of people who voted for Prop L and simply take away all of their car privileges in order to make the streets safer.  "I mean, look, no decent motorist would ever vote in favor of Prop L. You have to be one sadistic *@#$# in order to vote for that piece of @#$% proposition.  They're seriously the worst drivers out there and we have all their names" said one official.  Whether or not San Francisco will become safer and less car dependent as a result of this overwhelming support and money is still anyone's guess.

City Officials debate whether or not to take away drivers licenses from everyone who voted for Prop L.  "Good god did you read that thing?  Anyone who voted for that is clearly a menace to society"
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SFMTA to Angry Motorists: "Screw it! You Can't Have Nice Things!"

"Does this look like a problem caused by pedestrian safety improvments, public transit and bike lanes, morons? "- SFMTA
Image found here

The San Francisco Metro Transit Association has been under a lot of fire recently from angry, math impared individuals and their poorly written websites, blaming them for everything under the sun.  Finally, after years of taking this abuse, they've finally released an open letter to the angry motorists of San Francisco:

Dear Angry SF Motorists, 

Screw it.  You can't have nice things.  You can't be trusted to drive safely or sanely on a big wide street with multiple lanes.  Is there ever a signal rotation that goes by without one of you jackasses speeding through it?  We have to tell cops to patrol you every single hour of every single day because we know you're doing stupid shit out there.  You treat pedestrians and cyclists like they're obstacles in a game and not real people.  You can't be relied upon to actually move your car after the allotted time so we have to babysit and ticket you.  You can't handle even the slightest traffic jam without losing your shit.  We have to send out traffic babysitters anytime something takes a few seconds away from your precious speedy commute.  

You can't share, you can't be safe, and you can't be trusted for anything.  You don't deserve to have anything nice.

"Does this look like the kind of thing we should have to prevent you from doing?  Can you at least attempt to hold onto one shred of decency when you're in your car?
image found here.

You complain that you don't have enough parking?  We put parking everywhere, even on busy arterial streets like a lunatic, but you still want more.  Are you serious that the ENTIRE LENGTH of the California Coast isn't enough for you?  Why are you being such selfish jerks?  You live in a city that was meant for, at most, 4,000 cars per square mile and now we're at 10,000. We're terribly sorry if you have a problem with simple math and geometry.  We'll gladly pay for a semester so you can relearn grade school math.  

Seriously?  This isn't enough?  This is more than TWICE the mount SF was every supposed to have?  And you wonder why there's car congestion?
image found here

Why are you blaming us for the parking issue?  Why don't you blame your neighbor that hasn't actually used his cars in over a month?  Or that family that NEVER parks in their garage because they don't want to move their pingpong table or clear the garbage out of it?  Why don't you blame your neighbor that has that big "Do Not Park" sign in front of his garage?  You know they never use it.  Quit blaming us you morons.  

We gave unfettered access to the street but you continue to stop in pedestrian areas and blast through stop signs.  Is this what you do with every single street that's designed for you?  You can't even signal properly half the time - Seriously, look at yourselves, you're like children out there with the honking horns and skidding brakes and a complete disregard for anyone but yourselves. What kind of adult acts like this?  

"Has a pedestrian or cyclist ever come even close to creating this kind of carnage?  And you want us to make it easier for you to drive in the city?  Are you insane?
image found here

And for your people who have turned to the internet with statements like "Fix the MTA", do you have any idea what you're even talking about?  Have you even noticed any of the improvements we've made in the past few years?  We're even getting good Yelp Reviews!  Do you even take MUNI?  That's right, you don't.  You've gotten in our way, every step of the way to improve any of the bus lines.  You don't even know what we've done, and you're determined to prevent us from continuing on our successes.  Guess what, we need money to do it and we don't have it and you guys say to fix things before we have the money?  What kind of planet are you from?  You guys seriously are THE. WORST.

Do you even have any idea of what the MTA and Muni is?  The Muni's job isn't to tell you how to get there?  Muni gets you there by public transportation, you idiots.  This is why you don't deserve anything nice.
image found here.

So guess what, we're taking away a lot of your car lanes, we're taking away some of your precious parking spots, and we're going to give the more responsible groups a chance.  You'll be seeing more road diets, pedestrian safety improvements, dedicated bus lanes and bike lanes.  We'll gladly exchange the kind of fresh hell you motorists unleash for the potential of some cyclists rolling through stop signs and more jaywalkers.  So look out transit riders, pedestrians, and pedestrians that cycle, your time has come.  Time to let the people who haven't abused their privilege have reign of the streets.  

Suck it, Angry Motorists.

-SFMTA 

Buffered Bike Lane in Golden Gate Park - WORST IDEA EVER!

Buffered bike lanes in Golden Gate Park force motorists to deal with slower speeds and dooring.  A problem previously endured by bikers.
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When you go into a park riding a bike is probably the last thing on your mind.  You're most likely wondering how you're going to be driving and parking your car in mother nature's green bosom. Well, some idiots at the SFMTA decided that they would try to make cycling safer in San Francisco, while protecting nature's most precious resource, car parking.  Golden Gate Park is not only home to ponds, windmills, and buffalo, but it's also home to 10,000 parking spaces.

Golden Gate Park: Home to 53 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 20 species of reptiles and thousands of varieties of parking spots.
image found here

The SFMTA came out with a report stating that these modifications made pedestrians, cyclists and even drivers feel safer.  Motorists certainly applaud the efforts of the SFMTA to not remove the ten thousand parking spots in Golden Gate.  Some motorists complained about parking in the new configuration. Agnu Dillford exclaimed, "How are you supposed to know where to park?  Where it says parking?  Where all the other cars other are parked?  Do you park on the asphalt that has the picture of a bike and forward moving arrows?  It's so confusing!"

"Wait, do I park where all the other cars are parked, or do I park in the lane with the arrows and pictures of bikes?"
image found here.

Some people are not happy with the design, mainly because drivers can no longer enjoy road domination for nearly a mile.  Transportation nation claims, "For cars, average speed has dropped about two or three miles per hour since the road was striped."  Drivers are forced to slow down their car in one of the largest urban parks, surrounded by nature.  Motorist Lita Ward said, "I've had several incidents where I've nearly collided with people getting out of their cars, that are crossing the bike lane into the sidewalk area,”  Because of the changes, cars have to slow down and be mindful of dooming (when someone opens up their car door and hits your vehicle), a problem that was previously confined to people riding bicycles.

Just a few blocks down Golden Gate Park and natural street order is restored.  Cyclists contend with speeding cars and the threat of dooring.  The way nature intended.

And while the first few blocks of Golden Gate Park remain an absolute nightmare, the rest of streets remain a glorious testament to car domination. Aside from the few strips of buffered bike lanes, motorists also have to contend with "Car Free Sundays" when less than a 4th of the space in Golden Gate is devoid of nature's greatest gift, car traffic and parking.

Car Free Sundays.  Nature must be rolling in her grave.
image found here.  

Prop L Sounds the Parking Alarm - "We Need More Space to Not Move Vehicles"

There's a real first world problem in San Francisco.  Per person, a car takes up 10 times more space than a bike, 15 times more than a train, and 30 times more than a pedestrian,  So obviously you need lots more room for them.  If you live in the population dense city of San Francisco, you're probably asking yourself "why isn't there more free space to not move vehicles?" The car balance loving supporters of Prop L have brought attention to this highly important issue.

The balanced use of a street should be to idle cars 95% of the time.  

Their website states "From 2009 to 2013, the MTA abolished over 4,000 street parking places" out of 441,950 spaces.  That's still more than the entire length of the California coast.  Did you hear that? The SFMTA "abolished" 00.90% of parking?  To help put that into perspective check out the picture below.

These 4,000 spots were once used to not move a car 95% of the time, for free.  And just what are they doing now?

• Bus bulb-outs and extra bus stop room to accommodate double loading and capacity.
• Car Share programs for people who want to get rid of their car or currently don't own one.
• The 3 actual bike dedicated bike lanes in San Francisco.  
• Parklets for pedestrians to enjoy more space around their favorite shops and restaurants
• "Safety"- like "Daylighting" Street corners for pedestrian visibility.  

Can you believe the SFMTA would abolish a parking space like this just so pedestrian can avoid vehicle carnage?
image found here.

Car dominated balance supporter Brandon Carlson exclaimed, "Since when did the Municipal Transit Association get it in their thick head that street space should actually move something? What kind of planet are they on?"  Prop L supporters believe that removing a fraction of a percent of space for parking is nothing short of madness.  Their hope is that when you think of gridlock in SF, you think of blaming the streets that lost car storage in favor of moving people and keeping them safer.

Space utilized to move people more than 5% of the time?  Disgusting.
image found here.

60 Percent of SFMTA's Budget Spent Dealing With Incorrigible Assholes

At first glance you would think the SFMTA's budget is rather generous, but if you drill down deeper you'll find that much of the budget is spent on simply dealing with assholes.   SFMTA's plans to improve Muni and help decrease congestion often crash land into a sea of assholes.  They spend much of their funds meeting with assholes, trying to meet their incredulous demands to the point of ruining the very transit the assholes never intend on using.  Dealing with these assholes who are stuck in the 50s is very costly.

The SFMTA has come up with many innovative and creative approaches to enhancing transit in the area which is immediately halted by assholes.  A few examples:

1. Let's build underground tunnels.

Asshole Response:  Noo!!! That will cost money you can't do that!  You spend too much money!!!

2. Ok... well how about we build a less expensive BRT transit system.  

Asshole Response:  Noo!!!  We'll lose parking, or a traffic lane, and that will hurt merchants!!! Even if most people come by other modes of transit NOOOO!!! 

"Does this look like the face of compromise?"  Don't @#$# touch my parking or car lanes!
image found here.  

3. Ok Ok, how about we follow our TEP plans that took years to develop, included tons of input from the community, and approval from the Board of Supervisors.

Asshole Response: Noo!!!! Why wasn't I informed about the TEP project?!?  Why wasn't my input included?  Start from scratch lets do this all over.  Don't make transit only lanes and don't you dare remove a parking space to make traffic actually move!

4. Ok how about we just keep doing what we're doing.

Asshole Response: You guys don't do anything!  Make Muni better like you're supposed to!!!  Make it so we don't have car congestion! You're wasting our money!!!

You can bet that if it's putting a safe bike lane on Polk street, improving pedestrian conditions on Potrero street, or stopping deaths on Masonic Avenue, there's going to be a hefty price to pay dealing with assholes.  

"Say NO to wider sidewalks?  Well this is going to cost half of this year's budget."
Found here.

Much of the money is divided up between pacifying assholes from ENUF and "Meter Madness" who consistently bitch and complain about any change that could ever possibly happen to Muni.  In their last article they griped about the potential of a "smart app" that should have been around 5 years ago. Their response to such endeavors was a resounding "How many ways can you say “Privileged?"  And their comments on the problem of cars blocking thousands of pedestrians every day in crosswalks? Well "If SFMTA really cared about clearing intersections they would do a better job of timing traffic signals." Dealing with this kind of bullshit as an expensive undertaking.  

"The SFMTA needs to get us where... we need to go not tell us how to... there?"  What does that even mean? Oh Christ this is going to cost us" - SFMTA
Image found on this asshole's site

Start-up Takes Advantage of Absurdly Free Parking in SF, Again!

"Where else would you find free real estate in a dense, expensive city?"
image found here.

Not since the gold rush era have we seen wealth created virtually overnight, and from exploring the untapped resources of California.  Now we're seeing venture capitalists looking for the next gold mine, whether it's renting out your house, driving people around in your private car, or the quasi-selling of free public parking spaces.  A start-up cutely named "Monkey Parking" tried, and failed at capitalizing on cheap parking space in San Francisco. And while selling information about people leaving parking spots doesn't fly with SF officials, that's not stopping another start-up from mining some gold from those sweet, sweet free parking spots around the city.

You'll be creating dynamic synergies in the comfort of a creepy van in no time!
image found here.  

Jeff Fender, co-founder of "Wheeled Business Gold" wants to start cashing in on the cheapest resource in San Francisco.  He explains, "We realized that cars in the city aren't utilized around 97% of the time and pay virtually nothing to be there.  So why not start putting these spaces to use?"  Jeff and his team have equipped cars with wifi, LCD's, smartphone chargers, coffee machines and a honey bucket.  They'll only charge the customers three dollars an hour for the service.  "Parking your car in San Francisco is free, and at most is $200 annually for a parking permit in the city.  We can conceivably make $43,800 a year just from bad parking policy."

Cashing in from a abundant free and natural resource - it's exactly what "Wheeled Business Gold" is all about.
image found here. 

Jeff said right now they're not so much worried about the city attorney as they are about the threat of parklets, bicycle parking and car share services.  "Anything that puts people ahead of automobiles will be detrimental to our business.  We need to make sure that this virtually free public land continues to be allocated to vehicles, and only vehicles." Jeff explained.  And while prices for everything in San Francisco continues to climb, from food, to transit, and parking, you can rest assured that SF parking will remain absurdly low and ripe for the picking. 

Moveon Petitions: Anti-War, End Fracking, Preserve Parking and Neuter Public Transit in SF

MoveOn.Org - saving society from pro-bike, pro-transit, and "anti-car" initiatives in our cities.  

For those of you who don't know what MoveOn.org is, here's their mission statement:

"We are currently focusing on what we call our Million Leaders strategy — an audacious plan to unleash progressive people power by encouraging and supporting MoveOn members and other progressives to step up as the leaders of their own campaigns for social change. This strategy includes MoveOn Petitions, our online petition tool that empowers you to lead and win your own MoveOn-style campaigns."

If you scroll around the site you'll most likely see petitions to tell Obama to ban fracking on public lands, or to stop the keystone pipeline.  You'll also see local San Francisco progressive values in action with "Stop SFMTA (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency)"  What could be more progressive than abolishing public transit and preserve the hundreds of thousands of free parking spaces in San Francisco?  That's right, nothing!

What could be more progressive than jamming a city with more cars and free parking?
image found here.

The petition reeks of grass roots progressive values you've come to expect from citizens here.  The call to end "Anti'car" policies such as:

1. Installing new parking meters and extending the hours of enforcement.
2. Enforcing Sunday parking meters
3. Increasing meter rates, fees and fines

It even gives a hearty nod to the "Restore Car Dominated Balance" ballot initiative which will put cars back in the forefront, from the forefront.  These common sense, progressive values are sure to make Muni better but not by funding it or making any substantial changes to any of the streets in San Francisco.  We can have our cake and drive over it too!

Save excessive speeding and parking on Masonic Avenue! It's just like signing a petition to save the rain forests and sea turtles!  

image found here.

ENUF's petition isn't the only well thought out, progressive petition on the site.  Moveon also gives a a shout out to save the Masonic Ave Freeway, and "No to wider sidewalks on Potrero Avenue".  The three fit nicely into a cohesive environmentally friendly and socially conscious SF narrative of  "SHUT UP I CAN DRIVE AND PARK WHERE AND WHENEVER I WANT TO YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!!!"

"Sue the GOP Congress", "Support Striking Walmart Workers" and "Don't you dare put a bigger sidewalk on this massive speed chute!
Image found here.

Hats off to the MoveOn.org folks for maintaining their integrity when it comes to giving voice to the undeserved and marginalized.  Keep standing up for women's reproductive rights.  And by all means ensure that people with private vehicles continue to dominate the roads of San Francisco and everyone else can suck it!

Restore Car Balance Billionaires Also "Restoring Art Balance"

What's missing from all this art in San Francisco's iconic areas?  #RestoreArtBalance
Left Image found here. Middle: here.  Right: here.

The wonderful people at Restore Car Balance have been jumping for joy in their vehicles as of late, as they received all the signatures they need to get "Restore Balance" on the initiative. The initiative will help car owners, especially billionaires, drive around San Francisco easier and find free, plentiful, parking everywhere in the city.  The measure will also help make single vehicle ownership more appealing to San Franciscans as well, which in turn will somehow all work out in the best interests of motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit.

The Restore Car Balance does understand though that there's a definite image problem with cars.  Some people might look at vehicles as a barrier in tight-knit cities with a finite supply of land.  Others look at vehicles as a danger on pedestrian/cyclists rich streets, and a blight on the city's landscape.  This is very apparent in the art that we see in many of the iconic areas of San Francisco, and why the same group will "Restore Art Balance".

"Vehicles can add to the beauty and charm of San Francisco's well known streets"
original image found here

Greg Winkle, spokesman for the group, had this to say, "It's very clear to us when you look at pictures of the Golden Gate, Lombard Street, and other well known pathways in San Francisco, is that they are sorely missing vehicles.  It's almost as if they're not wanted. We want to re-energize the public and build a hearty appetite for vehicles in the city."

"Is there anything more breathtaking than a family weaving through a horde of cars on Lombard Street?"
original image found here.

Greg says he's had no issues recruiting talent for this initiative, since he's backed by a slew of billionaires that really "have a boner for private cars and free public parking".  He hopes that once the public sees cars in a more positive, artistic light, they will warm up to having them more than just everywhere.

"We want 'cArt' to make SF citizens, and visitors, to think 'how amazing it would be to be part of that traffic'"

original image found here.

Greg says even though the art isn't selling, at all, it wont stop them for commissioning a second batch since the tech money will continue to flow.  Their second commission will feature the Ocean Beach parking lot, 280 Freeway stub, and pictures of Mayor Lee's Chevy Volt in bus stops, traffic lanes and crosswalks.  The paintings are currently valued at less than $10, but there is some speculation those prices may double over the next few years."

The War on Cars - A Brief and Mildly Accurate History

You may think that the "War on Cars" statement is nothing but hyperbole, created to invoke a knee-jerk response from people so they react first and think later.  But you couldn't be more wrong my friends! The "War on Cars" is only a part of a greater transit battle. To help get you up to speed, here's a brief and mildly accurate retelling of the glorious battles between transportation modes.

It all started In 1817, when Baron von Drais invented a "walking machine" that could help him get around his royal gardens in an efficient manner.  It was considered an extension of walking and the Baron never would have imagined it would be anything more than a fad.  It took about 50 years until bikes were adapted to better serve commuters and started to increase in popularity.

"The Walking Machine"
image found here

The next incarnations of these walking machines were called "The Velocipede" or "Boneshaker" and people used them to get around cities as well as indoor riding in academic institutions.  More and more people, from the upper class to the lower class, started adopting this new mode of leg powered transportation.  The bicycle continued to go through incarnations until it was perfected to the one you see today.

The great bicycle club riding their Penny Farthings and establishing their transit dominance.  Here they are seen driving at breakneck 15 mph speeds on their fragile and tall bikes.
image found here  

Eventually the bicycle became so popular in the 1880s and 1890s (estimated at 10 million of the 75 million people in the US) the cyclists formed the League of American Wheelman.  The group started demanding that the roads be paved to make cycling more hospitable and safe.  This extension of walking was looked at as a perfect way to commute for work, as well as a wonderful leisurely activity and it was considered a symbol of freedom and self-reliance to many Americans.

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. " - Susan B. Anthony
image and quote found here

But this popular mode of transportation wouldn't last for long, as the paths paved for bicycles would soon be used for the all-powerful automobile.   Eventually Reginald Vanderworth Winterbottom, rumored to enjoy being carted to fatty foods and giant shopping establishments, was fed up with the droves of Penny Farthings "scathing the lands".  Vowing to never use his legs again for transport purposes again, he officially declared war on the bicycle in favor of the automobile in 1910.

We shall resign these incipient devices to children on sidewalks and bears in circuses wearing funny hats"
- Reginald Vanderworth Winterbottom
image found here

It was a hard fought battle but the small, lightweight, and relatively harmless bicycles were not match for Winterbottom's motor vehicle army.  Once the battle was over the car armies started to destroy the lives of thousands of pedestrians and cyclists every year and their numbers grew exponentially.  The war seemed all but lost to the motor vehicle, and laws were enacted making it illegal for pedestrians to walk on the streets.  Children would no longer be able to play in the streets as they once did.  Bicycles were forced to compete with cars on the streets that originally served them so well.  Even public transit was hobbled to make room for the gas-powered victors.

Enjoying his new found glory, Winterbottom 'celebrated with far too many spirits whilst driving speedily through the Great Highway' and drove right over a cliff. which is now known as the "Devil's Slide".  While his body and car were never found, his legend still lives on in the hearts of minds of those commuters who partake in the agonizing and slow commutes down that very same road today.

Vehicles celebrating with their daily victory dance
image found here.

In the past couple of decades there's been a resurgence in bicycles trying to reclaim a fraction of the land they once enjoyed in the early days of cycling, and moving along side by side with pedestrians.  Some small battles have been won in cities and towns across the country in the name of public safety and heath.  Often time these skirmishes fail because of LOS concerns, or the screams of motorists to allocate most of the street to storing cars.

"Get out of the way you're in the way of our perfect traffic system!
image found here

The cars, however, are not giving up without a fight for this precious space. The pleas from neighborhoods to have cars share space and slow down have been heard as a "War on Cars".  Nowhere is this more evident than in San Francisco where motor heads are battling to restore car balance to San Francisco, so that bicycles, transit and pedestrians are re-balanced to take a back seat in street prioritizing.  The battle lines have been drawn again and you'll be sure to see "The War on Cars" described anytime people want to modify vehicle dominated space.  Reginald Vanderworth Winterbottom is sure to be rolling around in his submerged automobile grave.

SF Motorists Rejoice While Driving Around Longer, Angrier, For FREE SUNDAY PARKING!

The motorists of San Francisco have a lot more to rejoice about on Sundays, because they'll now be able to drive around longer looking for FREE parking.  People who find parking can now leave their car parked all day as well without ever having to move it. What could possibly go wrong!?

Great news!  You can now circle around downtown SF for free parking on Sundays!
image found here

Gloria Sanderson exclaims, "It took me over 20 minutes to find parking, but I saved a couple of bucks that I would have normally spent on transit, or treating myself to an ice cream after a bike ride into downtown.  There's no way I'm giving up this spot all day after what I went through to earn it."

Why just pay for parking when you can circle around for 10 minutes and maybe find  free parking?
Image found here.

Mayor Lee's Task force came up with the idea of Sunday metering to help with congestion and also make other forms of transportation more palatable.  It would also shore up more money for the underfunded SFMTA, which needs at least 3 billion dollars to upgrade the aging infrastructure.  But then Mayor Lee pushed to remove Sunday parking, for, reasons...  He then sent a press release congratulating himself on repealing the idea that he and his team came up in the first place.  Great Job Lee!

Meanwhile, Muni will increase 25 cents to 2.25, even on Sundays.  But don't worry, parking will remain FREE to anyone who can find it!

Waiting around for free stuff always is a good idea.
image found here.

Mayor Lee's Parking Excuse - "In Case He Needs to Bolt and Flip-Flop on Issues"

Mayor Lee's been in a lot of hot water recently because his personal chauffeur has parked his personal car in super convenient areas around the city.  Lee has largely remained quiet about it so far while he continues to work with the "best political minds in the city."   Now the Mayor's staff has come out with a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why he needs to parks in bus stops, traffic lanes, and crosswalks.

Mayor Lee's vehicle poised to abandon another idea created by his task force.
Image found here.  

Mayor Lee's spokesman explains, "It's a tactical move when the mayor might need to quickly bolt and flip-flop on an issue.  A perfect example of this was when Mayor Lee went to a SFMTA board meeting to repeal Sunday metering in order to garner support for the Vehicle License Fee Tax, and then quickly drove away to another event to withdraw his support for that very idea."

The Mayor stopping in crosswalk and blocking pedestrians so he can meet with great political minds
Photo: @terrapin_sf/Twitter

Other times the Mayor may need a really close parking spot in a bus stop to create a Task force to come up with innovative ways of funding neglected SFMTA infrastructure, and then dash away from the idea in his personal electric Chevy Volt.  "It's times like this when it's good his personal car is around to get him out of a sticky situation" said Lee's spokesman while rolling her eyes.

Mayor Lee parking in a Bus Stop to show solidarity for the missing service the Sunday metering repeal created.  (Eventually his driver moved to a safer crosswalk)
Photo: David Black

They also said that Mayor Lee will certainly admonish the driver who made his life a heck of a lot easier than what most people in San Francisco experience when taking Muni, or motorists who drive around trying to find parking in congested areas.   She also looked over towards Oakland and said, "at least OUR mayor didn't text and drive, crash into a motorist, and then fail to give them proof of insurance".

SFMTA to Demolish Housing for Neighborhood Parking Lots

The Great folks at "Restore Car Dominated Balance" 2014 have a lot of well thought out policy plans for the citizens of San Francisco.  They want to make sure that everything is equally shared between cars, bikes, cars, pedestrians, cars, muni, cars and cars.  The SFMTA has already agreed to help pilot one of their brilliant initiatives.

Parking - It's only everywhere and if you try to manage supply you're an asshole.
image found here.

Restore Car Balance Policy 3: A portion of any additional parking or motorists' fees and new bond monies earmarked for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) should go to the construction and operation of neighborhood parking garages.

There's little room to build additional parking garages in most neighborhoods since most of the land is already occupied by parks, businesses, houses and streets, the SFMTA has come up with an innovated way to deal with the issue.  Businesses and home owners put their name into the lottery and the one drawn has their building bulldozed to make room for a new, critically needed, neighborhood parking garage.  Mark Daury, longtime resident of Alamo Square, was the winner of the pilot lottery.

"Hey those are the breaks.  Our neighborhood sorely needs another underutilized parking garage" - Mark Daury,
image found here.

Mark Daury wasn't entirely happy that he was chosen and lost his house, but he feels it make a lot more sense than putting Car Shares on the roads, that help entice 9-13 people to give up their private automobiles, or installing parking meters with demand based pricing to help ease congestion.  "Hey those are the breaks. Our neighborhood sorely needs another underutilized parking garage".  If the pilot is deemed successful, additional parking craters will be constructed in the future.

Restore Car Balance wants to see more beauties like these in every SF neighborhood in the near future.
image found here.