The War on Cars Continues, With, Err... Cars

The SFMTA is at it again with their assault on cars, this time with, er, cars!  The plan is to utilize a whopping 0.002% (900) of the total of public parking on car sharing in San Francisco.  It's pure madness!  These precious spaces shouldn't be devoted to vehicles that are accessible to everyone, and where cars can be utilized throughout the day at a rate of 95%.  Every car owner knows that parking spots are supposed to be free to people that actually OWN cars and reserved for people to store 90% of the time.

Kiss your freedom goodbye, suckers.
image found here.

Studies suggest that car share actually helps ease parking congestion, because people are more likely to ditch their car if they have more access to them.  Other studies estimate between 9 and 32 people ditch their cars when car sharing options are available in their neighborhood. These parking spots also bring in anywhere from $50 to $225 a month to the city.  While this so called "evidence" suggests a lot of benefits, the Internet had a lot of poignant and rage filled comments on this car sharing pilot.

• BBhater: "Give away the bus stops and now parking?? What is SFMTA doing?"

• WhyMeWorry: "OK, City of SF, why not just track down all the privately owned motor vehicles and put us in jail."

• Enders_of_sf: "The war against the individual continues."

• SF_local: "What a rip. San Francisco forcing people to bend to their will. So goes freedom."

• Orange Moose: "great. that much harder to find a spot. thanks!"

• Rkeezy: "Stay out of my neighborhood! You're not as wanted as you think you are."  

First Car Share invades your neighborhood, then they take away your freedom, and then it's just a matter of time until car owners wind up in jail.
Image found here.

The SFMTA pilot program thinks this is a win for everyone; from people who don't have cars and would like access to them, car owners on the verge of getting rid of theirs, and also for people who want a better chance to store their personal car on the streets.

Based on these insightful comments above, the pilot is just another war on cars.  It's going to be even harder to find a spot when more people stop owning cars, 'individual freedoms' will be lost, and private car owners will wind up in jail, somehow.  The common sense individuals of San Francisco need to stand up and defend their free 2-3 car storage rights.  Parking spots should be publicly accessible, but not actual cars.  We finally need to end this war on cars, even with, umm... cars, once and for all!

5/5L Fulton Bus Line Upgrades - Loss of 16 Parking Spots an Unspeakable Tragedy

Introducing the 5L- Muni's 5 year long plan to remove 16 parking spaces
Photo: Ron Pragides/Twitter

While 19,000 Muni riders are rejoicing over the new "upgrades" to the 5-Fulton, others are livid. The changes included stop removal and adding a limited service,  but it also contained a more sinister component: removing over a dozen parking spots to make more room for double bus loading and "safety improvements".  Muni's radical change to parking has at least 16 people fuming.

16 of 114 parking spaces have been eliminated along the 5 Fulton route!  All in the name of 19,000 riders shaving 10-20 minutes from their trip?  This is MADNESS!!!
Image courtesy google maps.  

The loss of these parking spaces is a tragedy, and got car lovers thinking, "why wasn't I informed about this plan during the last 5 years?!" Other complaints ranged from "There were only 3 meetings" and "why was there only a dozen community outreaches and approval processes?!  They should have done more!"  Vehicle owners are upset that the SFMTA would even think of giving up their parking spot just because it might shave 10-20 minutes off 19,000 transit rider's commute times.

When Brett Johnson noticed his personal on-street vehicle locker was removed for a more efficient and safer bus system, he was rightfully upset, "Now look, I'm all for a better, faster, safer bus route, but don't you dare take away MY parking space, and also leave everything else exactly the same."

Enjoy your new 5-Fulton as we destroy your on-street parking dreams!
image found here.  

Taking a page from Howard Chabner's Save(parkingandspeedingon)Masonic playbook, the group decided to start a "Save5Fulton"site.  The car park loving gang proposes they scrap the existing plan, go back to the drawing board and build upon "common sense solutions" They propose a plan that doesn't change any on-street parking, adds more parking, adds more traffic lanes, speeds up traffic, and adds some more parking again.

Car Driver Asked - "Why are Bikers the Worst?!"

San Francisco drivers have it the worst.  From having to share the lanes with bikers, to not having the god-given right to park on every block of SF due to a bike lane, it can really be the pits.  Everyday SF car drivers were asked, "What's your bicyclist pet peeve?" Here's what they had to say:

Emily Sanchez, longtime car driver in San Francisco, said, "The worst is when you're at a 4 way stop and you want to coast on through, but some ahole bicyclist is on their way up a hill and doesn't completely stop, or they did stop and I have to wait for them to cross, I'm pissed either way."

Emily Sanchez (right) says, "bicyclist just don't have respect for anyone but themselves. " 

A lot of car drivers expressed their frustration with bicycles, because they have to pay more attention to the road.  Gone are the days when you just expected people to get out of your way and you could casually drive your car and 40+ mph in the city and not have to worry about some damn bicyclist getting in your way.  Gary Sherking, exclaimed "These bicyclists think they own the road!  If they're not taking the lane and robbing seconds off your city commute, they're in their own precious green lane that takes precious feet away from wide car paths for one hell of a ride."

Gary Sherking (somewhere in there) is just fed up with these damn bicyclists (not shown).
Picture found here.  

But this kind of cyclist hatred stems from fact that unlike car drivers and pedestrians, they are the most selfish and foolish people ever.  The only good bicyclist is one that never bikes, ever.  Matt Gifford said it best, "I see bikers do stupid shit every day in this city and the police don't even bat an eye.  One of these days some bicyclist is going to injure a person or scuff a car.  Can we just sit back and wait for this kind of thing to happen?!?"

Matt Gifford (Middle) had a lot to say about the reckless bicyclist reeking havoc on SF streets.
Picture found here.   

Sadly since San Francisco decided to spare a few lanes for bicycles and allow them full use of a lane, it's gone completely downhill and bikers are destroying this city one green foot at a time.  It's only a matter of time until there will be a single road dedicated to bicycle traffic, and I hope I'm in heaven's parking lot before that day happens.

Heaven!
Image found here

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.