Transportation / San Francisco, California

Credit:Courtesy of the City of San Francisco

In San Francisco, “we put transit first, ahead of the passenger car,” says Bridget Smith, acting principal engineer and manager of the Livable Streets Program. The city has had a Transit First policy since the early 1970s, and today San Francisco ranks highest in transit access of any metro region in the United States, according to Center for Neighborhood Technology data.

Over half of the city and county population commute via public or alternative transportation, according to the U.S. Census, and 90 percent of city dwellers live within two blocks of a public transit stop. Almost a third of city residents get to work by train, bus, trolley, or cable car; 7 percent carpool, 10 percent walk, and 3 percent bike. A 2008 Commuter Benefits Ordinance requires employers to reward employees for carpooling or using public transit.

Planning Ahead

City planners work alongside the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority (SFMTA) and regional partners to make sure services stay relevant as the city changes. The recently concluded Transit Effectiveness Project used data analysis to propose route changes, while the Eastern Neighborhoods Transportation Implementation Planning Study (ENTRIPS) will make sure transit meets the needs of rapidly growing neighborhoods.

ENTRIPS is “part of a larger city planning project” for San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods, says SFMTA public relations officer Kristen Holland. “It involves the whole region. There are freeway entrances, and the [potential] northern terminus for high-speed rail. Our county transportation authority has done modeling, regional planning members have been involved—there are a lot of different little pieces.”

The eastern neighborhoods are of particular concern because, unlike many parts of this densely populated city, they will likely see a huge population increase in the next few decades. “We’re expecting up to 320,000 daily trips by 2035—50 percent more than in 2005. It’ll be a huge increase in activity, and the solutions that will arise will be multifaceted,” Holland says.

Carbon Counting

Transit Access in San Francisco Metropolitan Region (light green lines indicate location of metro region with darker brown central regions indicating higher transit access), Credit:CNT H+T Affordability Index

City and state greenhouse gas reduction targets have focused the region on improving transit networks, and getting single-occupancy vehicles off the road. In 2004 San Francisco pledged to reduce carbon emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012; in 2006 California committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 and set a 20 percent reduction goal specifically for the transportation sector. In order to meet such targets, San Francisco’s transit ridership needs “to be doubled,” the SFMTA noted in its 2008 Climate Action Plan.

The SFMTA’s investment in clean fuels will help lower emissions citywide. The electric trolley buses, streetcars, and light-rail trains that comprise roughly half of San Francisco’s transit fleet already produce almost zero emissions. Not only are they electric powered, they are also powered by the city’s hydroelectric plant, keeping fossil fuel use low. All SFMTA buses are either diesel or hybrid-electric models, and by 2020 the SFMTA hopes to field an all-electric fleet. Switching nonrevenue vehicles like parking control cars to more fuel-efficient models will be the Transportation Authority’s next big project.

As transit planners work to address the city’s changing needs, they’re also looking far into the future. At the regional level, the Bay Area Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) has committed to expand the regional bikeway network, increase funding for transit-oriented development projects, and integrate a Climate Action Program into regional transportation plans. The MTC has already set aside money for a regional bike-share program, which will involve six cities along the Bay Area peninsula transportation corridor. The proposed development of a California High-Speed Rail network and initiatives to expand charging base stations for electric vehicles could further revolutionize regional transit in the years ahead.

Livable Streets

Engineers in the SFMTA’s Livable Streets unit focus on “improving quality of life for people on the streets who aren’t in cars,” Smith says, like pedestrians and bicyclists. Livable Streets pioneered the “sharrow,” a road marking that tells bicycles and cars to share a lane, and has timed traffic signals down a major thoroughfare so that bikers never have to stop at red lights.

“We want people to better understand that bicycles belong here,” Smith says. “There’s been a safety part of it, education efforts—and huge demand.” A bike lane painted along Market Street—an axis road that connects the city—met with an “overwhelming” positive response, Smith adds. One cyclist even called the SFMTA to say she had cried the first time she cycled along it.

The SFMTA’s Livable Streets plan is complemented by the city’s Better Streets Plan, a 2006 initiative that aims to make streets not just pedestrian friendly but viable public spaces. Using plantings, open spaces, and other design features, city planners hope to improve air quality, decrease surface runoff, and encourage residents to explore the city on foot and by bike.

All these initiatives seem to be paying off. “We’ve seen really amazing increases in biking,” Smith says, putting the city on track to meet an ambitious goal: to ensure that 20 percent of all trips taken in the city in 2020 will be by bike. San Francisco sees 58 percent more bike traffic than it did in 2006. Yet Smith gives a lot of the credit to San Franciscans themselves: in this famously eco-friendly city, biking has become one of the hippest ways to get around.