[Ebbc-Talk] TOMORROW NIGHT: Final SFMTA NE Mission Parking Meeting

The time to show your support for a real change in how San Francisco treats its public space has come. And your support is truly needed.

> Now those clinging to every last parking space are en route to kill the advancement of bicycling as a real choice in San Francisco. 

Lessons from Polk St

At the Polk St community meeting about protected bicycle lanes, fearmongering overwhelmed evidence. Now those clinging to every last parking space are en route to kill the advancement of bicycling as a real choice in San Francisco. And this is a story that gets repeated again and again.

Let's be clear: the only proven solutions to parking congestion are pricing and richness of alternative travel modes. More supply of free or cheap parking will not relieve congestion nor allow more movement of people nor more business. Alternative modes will allow some drivers to transition to walking, bicycling and transit. Market pricing of parking will discourage those who don't truly have to drive to switch to other modes, while those who really do have to drive to be able to without circling around and slowing and endangering everyone else.

But let's not be fooled by those who claim that Muni must be improved before instituting any policy that places a real price on the cost of indiscriminate automobile use. That would be a false choice, since one of the main reasons for the disrepair of alternative modes is the indiscriminate prioritization of the automobile. Bicycling is not as attractive because it is not safe, thus the solution is to make it safer, as the Polk project proposed. One cannot demand bicycling be made safer before any amount of parking is removed. Muni moves slow because of constantly competing with automobiles. One cannot demand that Muni improve before any street space is taken from the automobile.

Support smart parking management in the Northeast Mission

We all want to support and respect neighbors and neighborhood businesses. And we listen and try to accomodate them. Polk St businesses will suffer long term if pedestrian and bicycling conditions are not improved, but they are not just hurting themselves. At the end of the day, no neighborhood exists in a vacuum, and those who don't respect the evidence are not only hurting themselves, they are hurting everyone in San Francisco. They are hurting that pedestrian or bicyclist who doesn't know yet, it but will be mowed down by an impatient driver. They are hurting the large population of Muni users who patiently come home late in order to accomodate a selfish impatient few.

Enough is enough! Please reject the status quo that favors the selfish impatient few, and support progressive parking policy that benefits everyone in the Northeast Mission tomorrow:

Northeast Mission Parking Planning – Community Meeting #3
Thursday, March 21, 2013, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
John O’Connell High School gymnasium
2355 Folsom Street 

Thanks,
Mario Tanev
www.sfmore.org 
 
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