Great SfGate Article on San Francisco Hills

San Francisco is notorious for it's super steep hills. I have heard many a public transit commuter say that they only reason they don't ride a bike in the city is because of the hills. According to Sf Gate there are three categories of hill riders; avoiders, acceptors and lovers.

Learn more about your San Francisco hill riding style is here.

MTA Mulls Scenarios for Moving Bike Plan Forward

Streetsblog has a very informative article concerning options for moving San Francisco's stalled Bike Plan forward.
The process for re-adopting the Bike Plan is fairly long due to bureaucratic process. While the final Environmental Impact Review will be done sometime in late June, that doesn't mean new bike lanes will start being constructed July 1st. As the article describes, the process goes something like this:

• Planning Department prepares responses to comments on DEIR, publishes comments and responses document (Final EIR), probably sometime in June
• Planning Commission deliberates and certifies EIR
• MTA Board deliberates and adopts the Bicycle Plan
• City Attorney goes back to Judge Busch and asks him to lift the injunction
• MTA Board deliberates and approves bike network improvement projects
• MTA issues work orders and begins implementing new bicycle facilities and other improvements like bike racks and sharrows

Take a look for yourself and see what projects can move forward, stay put or have the possibility of rejection.

SF to Replace Parking Meters?

"San Francisco wants the parking meter to be your friend. It's rolling out a next-generation model that can take credit cards and coins, raise rates automatically, and beam news of that rarity of city life, an empty slot." Sounds good for drivers but what about city cyclists who rely on parking meters to lock their bikes to? Considering the gross lack of bike parking in the city, it seems that a new generation of parking meter will only hurt cyclists more.
Each new parking device as they're called will replace 8 parking meters. Figure two bikes per parking meter that's 16 spaces taken away for use as bicycle parking. 6,000 are to be installed this year, including installation in SF city parks, which currently don't charge for parking.
That being said, the idea of congestion pricing in San Francisco is a good one that could reduce traffic flow downtown. Also we are in a serious budget crisis, raising revenue via parking charges may not be such a bad idea.
Form you own opinion on the matter, read the article here.

New Bicycle helmets provide better fit for kids!

Correct fit of a child's bicycle helmet is critical. Bicycle helmets are the only thing between getting seriously hurt or walking away with a headache. The Seattle Children's Community Education website, has a Quick-Fit check as a simple, quick guide to ensure proper fit. Ensuring proper fit is something that Bell Helmets is passionate about as well. They've recently released a new "True Fit" helmet that has an elasticized band that fits over the back of the head. This helps the head stay covered on the forehead and back of the head. Here's the link to the article if you'd like to read more!

Bike Safety and the Law

Rahman Gramly LLP's very own Shaana Rahman, gave her expertise about riding visibly on city streets. Without giving too much away, the article focuses on how cars perceive cyclists, how that prerception leads to motor v. bicycle crashes and what to do to remain visible while riding.

Enjoy!

Car Free Market Street?

Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare is the center of a car-free study. city Supervisors and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority agreed Tuesday to a comprehensive study of whether to restrict cars on the downtown section of Market Street.
Initially advocated by Supervisor Chris Daly, a car free Market street met some resistant from business owners and advocates of car first policies. The study will be done within three months.