Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20171123

Officials, with merchant groups, whoever it is and even if they love the project or hate the project. But that is really the bread and the butter of our advocacy work. Next slide is to push for policy on Street Safety and i know that after may youll get a presentation from megan weir around vision zero so vision zero is one of our key policies that were pushing for, zero fatalities or serious injuries by 2024 and you also heard from kate breen today and we work with the legislative affairs on pushing for policies at the state level even, like automated speed enforcement. So were really trying to find larger and more macro policies that make San Francisco streets more welcoming for everyone. For the next slide i want to highlight our youth and family biking work and we are partners in the safe routes to School Partnership where we engage parents and teachers and students at Elementary Schools and were in 30, 35 Elementary Schools and the Public Schools throughout the city. The two photos that i have here, the one on the left is from the south sear hub where three Different School comes together and their student comes together and they gather at the playground and we have snacks, its very fun and very energetic and its a great way for kids to start the day. On the right is a i think that its a bike train which are often led by parents to gather Families Together and bike together to go to school. And i think this is my last slide on the progra program word the next is give bikes back to the community. So one of the programs that im proud of is the Bike Build Program where we are trying to reduce the barriers to biking and the biggest way to reduce that barrier is to give a bike away. So we actually are able to reclaim and to recover bikes from sfpd and from uni that are left behind for a long time and we rehab them over with the help of volunteers and Community Bike shops and we partner with different organizations so that the photo right here is one of our volunteers working with the youth that lives at Northridge Cooperative Homes in the bayview and this was from earlier this year. Which we did bike build and gave away about 20 bikes away to folks that live at north wij ridge. This is predominantly at low ridge and in the Outer Mission and its been a Great Program to give away hundreds of bikes every year. And so really the question is, why im here, and this gets back to the final question that ill ask, how we can be better partners. So when we talk about biking and when we talk about accessibility, heres a couple efforts that ill highlight that you may be familiar with, and so the image on the left is something that the city of San Francisco put out and i want to say like in 2014, and as the guidelines for accessible Building Blocks for bicycle facilities and it was to be this document that was dynamic i think, that when it came to bike infrastructure and our street design would set th guidelines whether policies or dimensions or policies to make sure that the new bike infrastructure that came in would actually be accessible for all users regardless of people including for people with disabilities. Sorry. And then on the right is something that actually just came out quite recently, just earlier this year at the city of vancouver called their triple a guidelines. All ages and abilities of cycling groups is similar to the Building Blocks but the problem i see with a lot of these is that when were talking about biking the way that we talk about accessibility doesnt often either include people with disabilities like the triple a guidelines of vancouver and i attended a conference where they presented this and like this is really great for everyone, people of all ages and abilities and i said, great, this is about accessible bike lanes and were saying are you talking about people with disabilities and they said, no, but look at all of these other things and i thought, hmm, maybe theres a problem there. And we looked at the Building Block documents, its not dynamic and it doesnt its not the reality of what we see on our streets and we see bike infrastructure go in and it doesnt work for a lot of people with disabilities. So this next slide, what is the reality what we see . The reality is what you see on the left, even though we have this Building Blocks guidelines, the photo is of two and f. Theye of f. D. A. Where the streets just arent designed and this is seventh street . Sonoma street in sonoma where the new protected bike lane went in and theres not sufficient travel space for people like jessica who is in a motorized wheelchair. And that while its great for biking as you can see for pi on the bike on the left, the infrastructure design, there still could be improvements. On the right what we see is cali bike, this is a Bicycle Coalition, and its still pushing for in 2017 the idaho stop law, what you may have heard a law in 2015 which i know was in conflict with a lot of folks, probably Council Members here and certain with folks at m. O. D. And, you know, if this is the reality i would say that is really not okay and that bike advocates need to be engaging accessibility folks and Disability Advocates early and often and not allow these things to be the reality after the fa fact. Can you explain what the idaho stop is . Sorry, idaho stop is a law in idaho, where bicyclists can treat stop signs as yield, meaning you do not need to come to a full stop. And i think that in idaho additionally that bicyclists can treat red lights as stops. This was something that in 2015 that the coalition strongly supported and we did not do our legwork in connecting with Pedestrian Safety advocates at walk San Francisco and not m. O. D. Or nonprofit advocates in that push and i know that that was very problematic in a lot of dissent ways. You know different ways. Sorry, i truly apologize for how we engaged in our advow case and our campaign work. You know, over the last year i have been working more closely with Disability Advocates in i dont want to say clean slate because you cannot erase history but working together to answer and this is my final explied my contacslideand my co how to be allies in safe streets addosadvocacy. And to that point ill end my presentation and im here to either answer questions but more than anything to take your feedback back and i know that you have been in this field of work for a long time and that im hoping that we can have conversations offline and that this really isnt just one meeting or one presentation so i can check it off my list and say, well, i talked to you all and well all good. I see this as a relationship builder in that when an issue comes up that you have a face and a name that you can talk to me and that these conversations continue on a variety of different things, because oftentimes were working with the same people around a lot of the same issues. Thank you. I appreciate willing to partner with the council and for you coming forward and, you know, acknowledging people with disabilities and to have that, you know, impact and working with the community. I appreciate that. So im going to open up quickly to questions. Council member, you have a question . Thank you. Thank you for your presentation, janice and also thank you, you come off very sincere and i think that we all appreciate that and i look forward proved working relationship. My question that slide that you had shown when you referenced the idaho stop, i have a daughter in a wheelchair and we follow pedestrian walking rules. I couldnt understand from that slide what the i mean, theres obviously your colleague in a wheelchair and in an automatic wheelchair in the road, but whats the solution there . A wider bike path . I was unclear what was so the slide was one where its like the reality, and they were not connected to pictures. One picture was just speaking to the designs are inadequate and that i dont have the solution but i know that weve been working i think that nicole has been part of these meetings with other Disability Advocates and walk s. F. In trying to find improvements to design and really make the building document more dynamic. And the second photo is a screenshot of the cali bike advocacy and theyre pushing for policies without engaging Disability Advocates early on so theyre not connected. Okay. All right. Thank you. So just to be from my own understanding and thank you for your patience i understand you know if a stop sign is allowed to just be a yield sign for a bicyclist, how that could impact detrimentally people with disabilities who are accustomed to having the crosswalk, etc. , and when the walk sign appears that we can go. What is beyond that issue, what is the biggest problem that you see in terms of what bikers want . And what the Disability Community is saying also needs to be taken into account. So ill answer with two things here. The first thing is just being very clear that the s. F. Bicycle coalition is not supporting and not pushing for the idaho stop or what was then called the bike yield law. We are quietly not supporting cali bike and we have not thrown our name and we recognize state level they might still push for that but were not pushing for that here locally an or doing ay work at the state level on that issue. To your question, you know, as to what do people who bike, what do they want . And it would be i would imagine similar to saying what would people with disability want for x, y, z, whatever it is and youll have a diversity for opinion. If youre a mother who bikes and you have two kids on the back, versus if you are a dude wearing a spandex and you just want to zip everywhere or like me who does no recreational riding and i live in the outer sunset and i just bike to work every day and thats the only biking i do or when i go shopping, and Everyone Wants different things. So its really making sure that were hearing from our members and that were working with stakeholders across the board and in figuring out what the right thing is, whether its a policy or whether its a street design or whatever it is. Thank you. Cochair blackston has a question. Good presentation. I would like to draw your attention to the blindness community. Some of my friends and colleagues who are visually impaired and blind ride bicycles and how do they do that . Well, they have partners and someone is on the front of the bike and the blind person is on the back. I know that the lighthouse has the lighthouse of the blind here in San Francisco and other organizations have outings where, you know, we can go out on bikes with partners and just have a great time. You know, and thats in all kinds of situations. Have you reached out to the blindness community . And can you tell us a little bit about that . So, first, you make a great point, terry blackston, that these are not mutually exclusive communities, that there are certainly people with disabilities who also bike and you make a great point on that. And i should have said that earlier that we are not totally different groups of people. In terms of working specifically with the Blind Community, i have not. I have been on staff for four years and i have not always been in this role and so i will honestly say that in the past two years in this role that i have not. And i will have to talk to you afterwards to see what joint programming or ways that we could engage, that would be great. Will do. Council member alex madrid has a quick question. Thank you so much for coming and talking to us. My question when you showed us the photos of the bike and with the bridges, my confusion is that. With the bike lane, is that right . Thats a great question and i dont know the exact rules whether people in wheelchairs can use the bike lane, i would defer to fsmta on that. What im trying to show in that photo is that there isnt really comfortable space in that buffer area and between where jessica is and where the bike lane is but the design is made for that. And so the design is inadequate. And it is not comfortable for someone in a wheelchair to get out of a car or to get out of what is in that photo is jessica is a transit boarding island. So youre in a wheelchair and getting off the bus and you need to get to a curb cut, that is very uncomfortable because youre so close to the bike lane. Lets talk about how, you know, there can be a better design. Again, i dont have an answer for that. But this is something that, you know, im working with nicole and others on in building better guidelines for bike infrastructure. Thank you. Council member sasoni. Yes, i i do support the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and i was a cyclist myself for a period of time and i see both the positives and the negatives in encouraging safety and design, well designed streets is really important. And its hard to know sometimes where to go when youre keeping those things in mind. I feel like i had to stop cycling for safety reasons and im no longer comfortable doing that and, you know, i think that some people are incredible cyclists but i personally dont cycle anymore just because i didnt feel like a safe option for me. And so i think that, you know, i think that the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has a way of keeping the city on their toes and the ways that you promote different types of programs and continued advocacy keeps the city focused with this aspect in mind as far as design and im, you know, a huge supporter of that so great job. That aside, as a deaf person, it was difficult to go to your workshops and there wasnt accessibility in your workshops provided and the only time that i was able to go to one is when it was held in the San Francisco Public Library and they were responsible for providing access. So its great to have a bicycle culture and so forth and it was fun and theres benefits to that, but from an accessibility standpoint i just wanted you to know that it was difficult to navigate your organization for this reason specifically, access for deaf patrons. And last thing that i wanted to mention is that the Golden Gate Park thing, i really hope that San Francisco Bike Coalition works on that j. F. K. Drive initiative. I know that they are focused in on expanding that so that theres a cycling and a pedestrian lane so im a mom and, you know, i just think about, you know, how that would be great but theres always an issue for parking there and i would prefer that that initiative is left i like the Current Situation of how that street is designed and i dont think that some of the points in the initiative are actually things that i support and i do like the sunday streets idea and its an important one for working with the community, especially focusing on the museum and other patrons that frequent the events and buildings and places inside of the park, just some things to consider. I have a question for this Council Member. Is that okay . Yes. So you mentioned that you no longer bike because you dont feel safe . Can you explain by what you mean by not feeling safe in San Francisco . Yeah, for example, some of the street lights, you know, theres not enough adequate lighting for me to ride and at a red light, you know, of course i would stop at that i dont i wouldnt blow a stop sign or a stoplight. So, you know, it makes sense and i think that theres common sense approaches to cycling that i would follow some of the rules but not everyone necessarily did. And some of the ways that the Cycling Community navigates some of the streets and so forth isnt very safe so it gets a little sticky in that and when youre adding the aspect of traffic and cars to consider and buses and, you know, pedestrians and all kinds of things it just didnt feel like a safe option to me anymore. I think that even the most densely used areas, this is in particular what im talking about and i dont think that theres supplies in some of the more quiet neighborhoods but definitely for the urban areas that are quite densely packed that was an issue. And it feels like a soup of things and pedestrians and bicyclists and people in the mix. Thank you. Thank you, Council Members and ill close the question from the council. Staff, any questions . This is nicole. There we are. Hello. Thank you, janice, for being here today and i wanted to echo on behalf of the benefit of the council that the work that janice has done with us, especially in the last year, with my coming on board and weve really had an opportunity to reengage with the Bicycle Coalition and i want to say on behalf of all of us that we appreciate that and we know that in learning how we can best Work Together that theres a lot that we can learn and we have been learning from each other and i want to echo that things in gratitude and to say that we really appreciate your being present in these conversations and i was actually invited as part of that as part of our walk through to look at different parking or protected bike lanes to see what some of the some of the analysis was and ill say that it was very educational experience for me and janice and the Bicycle Coalition were completely engaged in that process and i suspect that well continue to be as well as the other issues that as they cross o