Bicycle culture growing in the SF Bay Area (San Francisco, Marina: to live, dangerous)

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Transit in SF is broken and I don't think it's ever going to get fixed. I think a lot of people are turning to bikes in SF because they're tired of having to deal with packed trains and buses they can't even board half the time and the Metro system having meltdowns every other week. At least when you're biking you can leave whenever you want and not have to wait on anyone else, and you don't have to worry about being really late to work due to Muni or BART meltdowns. SF and Muni have shown that they are completely incapable and uninterested in reforming public transit, so IMO they should instead provide lots and lots of very cheap bike parking downtown to atone for their sins. But they'd **** that up too.

Yeah, those packed buses are so annoying. And my hubby rode his bike as I rode the bus, leaving from the same exact spot, and he arrived at our destination 2 minutes earlier than the bus.

I do think having better public transit which would allow and accommodate bikes on them can help increase bike ridership. I am thinking most people who drive in the city are not from the city but rather the Bay Area and with much of the rest of the Bay Area being car-oriented, they have to come in with their cars, especially since riding in on the BART does not guarantee an easy way to get to your specific destination in SF. I am curious to see how having the bike share program will impact this as people can ride into the city on the BART or Caltrain and conveniently retrieve a bike at one of the bike share hubs and go. Then they do not have to worry about traffic, looking for a parking spot or paying for parking, nor any bridge tolls. I know there are many places in Europe where people drive to the edges of a city center, park outside of it, and walk in. This has increased the peacefulness and safety for pedestrians in the inner city core. Since SF is kind of big for that, parking on the outside of it or using transit to get in and then utilizing a bike may be a good way to go.

LOL @ they should provide lots of cheap bike parking but they would **** that up too.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by mini_cute

I am thinking most people who drive in the city are not from the city but rather the Bay Area and with much of the rest of the Bay Area being car-oriented, they have to come in with their cars, especially since riding in on the BART does not guarantee an easy way to get to your specific destination in SF.

When I worked in SF it was pretty interesting. My office was on the edge of FiDi and North Beach.
4 people lived in the East Bay and 3 took transit, one drove because the BART ride was "long" so the time was fairly equivalent since we had flexible hours
7 people lived in SF. 3 of those people drove, they lived in the Sunset, Potero Hill and Twin Peaks. The ones who took transit lived in Alamo Square, Lower Pac Heights and the Haight.

I think it really depends on your neighborhood and how the comparison of the time for transit vs driving. I live in the east bay. The math didn't work out for me to drive. The time was the same, even when i factored in the mile walk from BART or Transbay Terminal.

Unfortunately, there are areas in and out of SF that aren't well served by transit to the places you need to go. (Ahem, Sunset to downtown or the Marina/Cow Hollow to downtown)

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by jade408

Here is the stereotypical Amsterdam bike parking image:


Definitely not pretty.

I never saw anything like that in Amsterdam. Bikes are everywhere there, but cars are everywhere here. I don't think bicycles are a detriment at any level when compared to cars, although they are a threat to peds when they don't follow traffic laws.

[ubringliten]

Originally Posted by jade408

Here is the stereotypical Amsterdam bike parking image:


Definitely not pretty.

Jade408,

"Stereotypical Amsterdam bike parking"...are you certain? Although I haven't been to Amsterdam yet, I know that does not exist in Amsterdam. Look at the photo closely, the buildings are too modern to be Amsterdam and those bikes are not even Dutch/Dutch-styled. This picture (clearly photo-shopped) comes from cagers who are anti-bicyclists. Don't you think this kind of parking structure doesn't make any sense? How do people get their bikes off that thing and would you think it is very hazardous to people walking by below?

[ubringliten]

Great thread by the way!

I would also like to add that bike infrastructure cost 1000x less to develop and maintain than for cars. The money is better spent elsewhere like education and public transit. It would make the streets safe and friendly to children and elders. I used to bike all over the place with my friends back when I was in grade school. Kids these days can't do that anymore. In both Netherlands and Denmark, kids are educated about bicycling in elementary school about how to ride properly and safely. The streets are so safe that kids don't even need to wear helmets. It also saves schools tons of money by not providing parking lots and buses. Oh not to mention, it will reduce the government budget on medicare/medicaid and private health insurance.

I think it is the most sensible way (plus public transit if distance and extreme weather are issues) to get around.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by ubringliten

Jade408,

"Stereotypical Amsterdam bike parking image".

I haven't been to Amsterdam. I have seen this image in about a dozen articles in recent weeks about biking in the Netherlands and when discussing bike parking. Hence the use of the phrase "bike parking image." Somethings do not come across well in print.

Obviously it isn't a very practical solution for bike parking and was either photoshopped or staged for an art exhibit to act as a conversation starter.

[mayorhaggar]

Something I'd like to see a city in the US do is totally devote an entire street to only bike traffic for a long segment, so the bikes could avoid any other roads in the area. You could just cruise along without worrying about cars being on the road or dumb people who just parked who open their doors without checking to see if they're going to swing their door out into a bike lane and hit a bicyclist. Like you could have some nothing street like Anza or Rivera totally dedicated to bikes, no cars. It would never get done because cities in the US revolve so much around cars, even though driving somewhere like SF sucks so much because there's so many cars. Get more people riding bikes and it would be easier to drive. But if you even suggested a bikes-only street, people would ***** and moan about parking and about bikes getting preferential treatment because Americans have such an entitlement complex about driving. I love bike paths that let you bike away from cars but you don't really get them in cities except in certain parks and in coastal parts of cities like SF and Chicago.

[andyadhi01]

SF has amazing biking opportunities if you are adventurous and curious! Here is a video of me riding down from Twin Peaks to Inner Sunset... Try it some time but be warned that it can be deadly if you crash at high speed!


Twin Peaks Downhill Ride 101611 - YouTube

[Jarkatmu]

Bike parking can come in all shapes and sizes in the Netherlands, but I'm thinking the OP was being sarcastic-ish when they posted that bike scaffolding photo. That's not what it looks like.

Here's what the big bike parking facility looks like in Amsterdam near the train station. This facility is unusually large most are like the following examples.

Here's a bike parking facility area on a suburban college campus in the Netherlands

Finally, here's an example of bike parking at the train station in a Dutch suburban town of 50,000.

[mayorhaggar]

^
photos don't work man