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"We are about to redesign the streets
of San Francisco on behalf of less than 2 percent of the population
- based on a fantasy prophesy that people will get out of their
cars and start biking...." says Rob Anderson, an activist and
blogger, citing 2000 census figures of bike commuters.
The lawsuit, filed by Mr. Anderson
and others, doesn't challenge the plan's merits, but invokes
a state law which requires a study to be done on the environmental
impact. "When people look at what it will mean to their neighborhoods
to lose parking and lanes for cars and buses, they will say,
'Hey this is over the top, I don't want it,' " says Anderson.
Some shopkeepers, too, worry that replacing parking spaces in
front of stores with bike lanes could hurt business.
But bicycle coalition organizers,
including Leah Shahum, director of the SFBC, counter with a
recent study by David Binder Research, which found that 73 percent
of San Francisco residents favor creating more bike lanes in
the city.
If more lanes were available, 33
percent said they would commute by bike more often, the study
found. When bike lanes were added to Valencia Street - a key
corridor for bikers cutting through town- bike riding there
went up 144 percent in the first year, Ms. Shahum says.
"This is a case of, if you build
it they will come," says Shahum, whose organization has about
6,000 members and five full-time staffers. It has a yearly budget
of about $500,000 raised from membership dues, donations, foundations,
and events.
The size and influence of the SFBC
has made it a model for large cities such as Miami and St. Louis,
which also seek ways to ease traffic, parking, noise, and air
pollution.
"This movement is spreading to cities
all across America," says Dave Snyder, director of program development
for the Thunderhead Alliance, a national coalition of state
and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy groups. "Organizers
call and want to know how San Francisco has done what it has
done in creating membership, raising money, winning public support,
and pushing legislation."
By most accounts, it has done much
through an articulate base of members who care about personal
health and reducing dependence on foreign oil.
"Ten years ago I was working too
hard and started riding my bike to the office on weekends to
get exercise," says Jean Fraser, a married mother of two and
CEO of San Francisco Health Plan. "I found it was cheaper, faster,
and more fun than driving or riding the bus."
Commuting this way saves her $250
a month in parking fees and $2,000 a year on gas, Ms. Fraser
says.
She rides about 30 minutes each way
from her home in the Richmond District to her office south of
Market Street. She often bikes to meetings midday - carrying
a briefcase in a bike bag, and wearing a pants suit, including
cuff clip to keep her pants away from the oily bike chain.
Urban planner Gabriel Metcalf also
rides daily to work wearing a suit, with a briefcase strapped
to the back wheel as he has done for 12 years since moving here
from Colorado. He relies on a chain guard, and keeps his hair
cut short to avoid the imprint of his plastic Bell Helmet. "The
planet is in an environmental crisis, and I think our solutions
are going to have to be things like biking that actually make
our lives better," he says.
The power of bike riders here stems
from savvy leadership and a willingness to compromise with city
leaders, observers say. In one example, Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed
Shahum to the Municipal Transportation Agency's board of directors
even after the SFBC supported Mr. Newsom's opponent in the 2003
election.
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