Skip to main content

How Improving Muni Also Makes Life Better for Drivers

How Improving Muni Also Makes Life Better for Drivers
By Andrea Buffa

Side-by-side photos of people on a bus, on bikes and in cars; showing a lot more space on road when people use bikes or buses.

Photo credit: We Ride Australia

If you mostly drive to get around San Francisco, you may be wondering, “what has the SFMTA done for me lately?” San Francisco is a “transit first” city, so at the SFMTA we focus our resources on making it easier for San Franciscans to get around by public transit as well as by biking, walking and personal mobility device. While it may seem like adding transit lanes and protected bike lanes doesn’t have anything to do with driving, in fact, it does. 

Since San Francisco doesn’t have room to give more space to roads, we have to change the way we use the limited space on our existing streets. (Not that adding more roads reduces traffic anyway – check out this article.) City Traffic Engineer Ricardo Oleo puts it this way: “When you have a city like San Francisco that was built with density in mind, having everyone drive is not a viable option. There’s not enough room to have that happen. It’s not geometrically possible. You’d have debilitating amounts of congestion without Muni.” 

A well-designed city gives people choices. The many San Franciscans who already do choose to take Muni, walk or bike to get around are taking some pressure off the city's roadways. Imagine if everyone on the 49 Van Ness/Mission that’s zipping down the new Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit corridor were instead driving on Franklin and Gough. That would translate into another 21,000 cars in traffic on a typical day! And think about what congestion would look like on Fell Street if the hundreds of people who use the protected bike lanes there were behind the wheel of a car? 

Every person who takes Muni to get to the Chase Center, their workplace or their doctor’s appointment is one fewer car on the road. So, everything we do to make Muni more appealing—whether it’s transit lanes, new buses or smart traffic signals that give transit priority —is also good for drivers.  

Every person who walks, bikes or hops on an electric scooter to get to Golden Gate Park or pick up something at the local pharmacy is one fewer car that needs a parking space. So, everything we do to make it safer and more appealing to use active forms of transportation is also beneficial for the people who do need to drive to those destinations. 

Bikes take up far less space on the road than cars, and Muni buses and trains can transport a significant number of people in a compact space. 100 people traveling in personal vehicles take up 4,500 square feet. The same 100 people on bikes takes up about 1,200 square feet. And if they were all in a bus? They would take up only 520 square feet. They would also be responsible for far fewer greenhouse gas emissions. 

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a priority for the SFMTA and the city of San Francisco. But we realize most people make travel decisions based on their personal lives – not on San Francisco’s climate action plan. As a transportation agency, our job is to make transit, walking and rolling the best travel options for more people. If we’re able to do that, we’ll help fight the climate crisis and simultaneously improve the driving experience for people who still need to drive.  

 



Published August 12, 2022 at 11:16PM
https://ift.tt/poIKTRY
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

150 Years Ago Today – The Cable Car is Born

150 Years Ago Today – The Cable Car is Born By Kelley Trahan August 2, 2023, marks the 150th anniversary of the world’s first successful cable railway, born right here in San Francisco. To celebrate the occasion, we bring you the story of Andrew Hallidie and the very first cable car company, the Clay Street Hill Railroad.  Andrew Hallidie (1834-1900) was a pioneering inventor and entrepreneur who changed urban transportation. In 1852, at the age of 18, Hallidie emigrated with his father from the United Kingdom to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush. His father, an engineer and inventor, had a wire rope patent that played a crucial role in his son's future success.   Portrait of Andrew Smith Hallidie in 1890. Inspired by his father's wire rope business, Hallidie developed a steel cable mineral mine hauling system in 1857. About a decade later, he designed a wire rope aerial tramway for transporting materials over mountainous terrain. Then, after a stint in bridg...
Post a Comment
NEXT

Shared Spaces are Here to Stay. Permit Renewals are Due January 15, 2023.

Shared Spaces are Here to Stay. Permit Renewals are Due January 15, 2023. By Anne Yalon Shared Spaces, amongst many other benefits, allows our residents and families to enjoy safe and social outdoor dining. Seen here are the the owners of Tio Chilo’s Grill and their children in the restaurant’s parklet on 24th Street in the Mission.  San Francisco’s popular Shared Spaces program allows merchants, restaurants and arts and culture organizations to use the curbside, sidewalk and other public spaces to conduct local business activities and stay afloat. What emerged as an economic lifeline during the pandemic is making San Francisco’s streets more energized, engaged and activated. Many of the Shared Spaces parklets have become central gathering places for the local community. “ Our parklet makes me feel like when I go to Mexico, where outdoor seating is everywhere. People end up joining their friends in our parklet. It is a space for our customers and our community," said Liz V...
Post a Comment
NEXT

Virtual Parade and New Central Subway Art Ring in Lunar New Year

Virtual Parade and New Central Subway Art Ring in Lunar New Year By Sophia Scherr We are entering the year of the Ox, typically symbolizing hard work, positivity, and honesty. This year the SFMTA will continue the tradition of celebration with the virtual San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade   on February 20th at 6 pm on KTVU. Celebrating Lunar New Year and the San Francisco Chinese community has been a long-standing tradition for many of us. In 1849, San Francisco’s population swelled to 50,000 and many of the new residents were Chinese immigrants, coming to work in gold mines or on railroad lines. By the 1860’s, the Chinese were eager to share their culture with others and the annual tradition of parade and pageantry was born. A variety of other cultural groups throughout the city were invited to participate, and they marched down what today are Grant Avenue and Kearny Street with colorful flags, banners, lanterns, and drums and firecrackers to drive away evil spirits. The c...
Post a Comment
NEXT