Streetsblog SF

Over the past year driverless cars have been promoted as a panacea for livable cities. The storyline is that driverless cars will help reduce car ownership, free-up urban space for walking and biking, and help reduce death and injury. The USDOT has joined the parade with its “smart city challenge,” awarding Columbus, Ohio a $40 million prize to implement a demonstration project that includes incorporating driverless cars.

Wednesday evening, SPUR, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, sponsored a talk entitled “Reconsidering Transportation to Create Better Urban Spaces” at their new downtown Oakland location. The talk focused on the history and damage done by the almost mindless adherence over the years to Level of Service (LOS) on urban spaces … Continued

(Welcome Roger Rudick! Roger is an excellent writer, a familiar name to SBLA readers, a steadfast livability advocate, and a friend. Also I welcome Streetsblog S.F. into the circle of the California Streets Initiative, the non-profit behind SBLA, Streetsblog California, Santa Monica Next and LongBeachIze. - Joe Linton)

SFPD Park Station Captain John Sanford has made good on his promise: Officers were out this morning ticketing bike commuters who failed to comply with a strict application of the stop sign law on Page Street and the Wiggle. One bike rider said police justified her ticket by adding their own fictional flourish to the law.

San Francisco's parklet revolution has broadened the possibilities for how curb space can be used. Now, city planners in SF and the East Bay are taking the idea in a new direction: using temporary sidewalk extensions to make transit stops more efficient and attractive.

Los Angeles editor's note: This Streetsblog S.F. story seems applicable to L.A.'s Wilshire Boulevard new peak-hour bus-only lanes. The "Wilshire BRT" lanes project fully opens next Tuesday, April 7. Eastern portions of the project have been open since 2013, but major bus speed improvements appear elusive, because cars do not always respect the peak-hour restrictions. Part of the problem may be enforcement. How can L.A. speed up buses on Wilshire Boulevard? Should Metro perhaps try to tag on to the San Francisco camera enforcement bill? 

Editor's note: This article is from our S.F. sister site, but it begs the question: what Southern California nightlife streets would make sense to close at night?

The East Bay's island city of Alameda has laid down its second parking-protected bikeway along Shoreline Drive.

Susan King is moving on from her position at Livable City as director of SF's Sunday Streets, after hosting the 50th open streets event yesterday in the Mission. Sunday Streets is San Francisco's open streets program, very similar to Los Angeles' CicLAvia. King plans to bring open streets events to cities across the state by establishing the California Open Streets Network (CAOS).