A few days ago there was a post about SFMTA pausing their plan to paint red bus lanes on Ocean. An email campaign has been started to get SFMTA to stick to their original plan.
Research has shown bus lanes can do the following:
- Reduce congestion
- Increase ridership
- Benefit the local businesses by bringing more people to the corridor
This project is important because:
- K Ingleside sometimes averages only 5 MPH on Ocean Ave.
- Ocean Ave is on the High Injury Network (bus lanes can reduce collisions with injuries).
- More housing is coming to Ocean (1100 units at Balboa Reservoir alone).
- SFMTA already did over a year of public consultation and approved the red lanes.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/finish-the-red-transit-only-lanes-on-ocean?source=direct_link&
Thanks!
I always hear people complain about inconsistent headways on the train lines, and when SFMTA tries to make changes to increase reliability and consistency in train spacing, some neighborhood group wants to go ballistic to prevent the whole city from having a slightly better transit system.
These red lanes will improve throughput of the entire market street tunnel by making the K more consistent in its travel time along ocean, making it more predictable for scheduling trains maneuvering through West Portal.
Get rid of that left turn into Whole Foods and ocean ave is 90% better
Seriously
I agree + the turn on to Geneva Ave is insane. IDK if there is a way to eliminate it but there certainly are ways to make it safer.
Sent one off. Been taking the k for 15 years. If we really wanna see growth in this corridor, see those vacant storefronts populated, we need to improve our transit
I wish MUNI would make the stops feel more comfortable as well. Standing on a little strip of concrete at most of them isn’t too nice
They’re literally doing that right now as part of this same project. Ingleside Light article about it, and old SFMTA construction update regarding some of them.
Muni wants to consolidate a majority of those stops. The NIMBYs are preventing them from doing it. But it’s very clear that you can’t run light rail as a streetcar with request stops on every block. Light rail simply doesn’t work like that.
That’s likely why they’re not in any hurry to invest in many of those stops. They’ve been strategically only upgrading the stops that they want to keep and “neglecting” the ones that they want to cut. They’re probably hoping that something like an ADA lawsuit will come around and that they’ll be able to use it as an excuse/cover against the NIMBYs. If they just come out and say that they want to close half the stops then half of the Muni leadership is losing their jobs after the next election. If “an ADA lawsuit is forcing us to close all the stops that we can’t afford to upgrade” then they have a shot at keeping their paychecks.
Yes, it’s very stupid that we’re giving a dozen retired busybodies so much power over our transit system. But the law favors the loudmouthes over our hired professional transit planners that we’re all paying for 🤷
is there an SFMTA source? what is the reason/rationale for pausing?
how long is the pause?
are they still going to start everything else on time?
this sounds like DPW work.. not MTA they don't dig.
Transit Lane Installation and Left Turn Restrictions Coming Soon to Ocean Avenue
https://www.sfmta.com/project-updates/transit-lane-installation-and-left-turn-restrictions-coming-soon-ocean-avenue
Transit lanes will be painted at night to minimize disruption. We expect construction to take place between midnight at 5 a.m. every day. We expect to first paint the eastbound transit lane. Work will last two to three months for each direction.
you refer to the Kingleside redo. but that's not even scheduled to start (construction) until 2027
K Ingleside Rapid Project.. how much of a delay are you talking about?
https://www.sfmta.com/projects/k-ingleside-rapid-project
As soon as the week of January 12, crews will begin painting red transit lanes and adding five left turn restrictions on Ocean Avenue in Ingleside
The project is currently in the quickbuild phase. There is no digging or SFPUC/DPW work. They didn't formally announce the delay on their website and they haven't updated the project website. Rather they announced it in a local newspaper: https://www.inglesidelight.com/ingleside-merchants-sound-off-ocean-avenue-red-lanes/
From the article:
Jen Low, Melgar’s legislative aide, said the project would not begin at the agency’s proposed date of Jan. 12, given merchant concerns. District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen, who was sworn into office the year after the red lanes were approved, asked SFMTA staff to be clear on timelines and expectations to avoid lengthy construction.
“I want to make sure everyone feels safe, meaning safer streets for everyone,” Chen said. “At the same time, I want to make sure that our small businesses are thriving in San Francisco. This is also my priority in District 11.”
SFMTA Muni Forward Transit Planner Michael Rhodes said they did not want to rush the project and would conduct more outreach, including going door-to-door.
Hi folks, this is great to see. I had originally organized this change.org petition, but it looks like a lot more people have already sent letters through this link. I'll be referring to it as an update on that page. Really appreciate everyone's efforts here!
P.S. It seems like our local Ingleside Light has been running a poll on this issue, with a Google Form to tell them your thoughts. https://www.inglesidelight.com/red-lanes-on-ocean-avenue-take-our-poll/
Done, I’m hoping containing drivers to fewer lanes forces them to slow down. The 20 mph signs don’t seem to do anything.
Yep. Instead this will get held up for five years by folks running enterprises like travel agencies, aquarium shops and sewing machine repair in this era, who blame parking for their lack of clientele.
How much does it cost the city in staff time every time something like this is delayed? What a waste of tax dollars rehashing an already agreed / approved plan.
This car loving mayor is a putz
Not sure he is responsible for the driver that did not pick me and my family up yesterday. Standing clearly in front of the bus stop box with a big white rectangle. /rant
It will be implemented considering the time for public comment was over a year ago.
We suck at transit infrastructure in sf because if “neighborhood concerns.” This is how we stop this.
But, where will people double-park???
I know you may be joking but the project involves adding new white and yellow zones for short term parking to reduce double parking. Project website here.
people won't drive the speed limit on Ocean. How are red lanes going to help anything?
Fair question. It terms of the train, it will make it faster. In terms of the traffic, red lanes reduce the number of car lanes to one in each direction, a road diet basically. Generally doing this reduces car speeds. Red lanes in SF have shown to reduce collisions on streets. Long term, bus lanes like these also reduce congestion!
I agree, in terms of the train, it may move faster. It would have to be a BRT situation like Van Ness. That would only leave one lane for private vehicles. Any delivery truck or someone who's a 'slow driver' would cause less patient drivers to drive in the red lane. I don't see a red lane ever happening on Ocean
As part of the project, more loading zones have been added. Drivers would still be able to dip out of the lane to avoid a double parked vehicle then dip back in after passing. They aren't putting up physical barriers or doing full grade separation. The corridor is set to be 20 MPH so people shouldn't be driving fast anyway!
Thanks for posting the SFMTA link; I didn't realize this is actually happening. It's going to be a total mess and the red lanes will be ignored.
Some people will but compliance is normally higher if they paint them red even on busy, corridors. I don’t think anyone expects 100% compliance!
I do commend SFMTA for spending the time and money to implement forward thinking applications to the city's infrastructure, even if they are sometimes experiments.
With that attitude why ever improve anything
it's not about attitude, it's about reality
The reality is that the majority of people will not drive in transit lanes, allowing Muni to be faster
Have you driven on Ocean Ave recently? The minute the double parking starts, you bet people will be driving in the transit lane.
Banning left turns at specific intersections (looks like that is already part of the plan) and strictly enforcing no double parking is all that is needed.
Unless it’s enforced, I dont see this helping.
It's enforced on mission street, buses have cameras and cite people every day