Transportation & Mobility Justice

As a Muni rider who doesn’t own a car, I rely on safe, efficient, and reliable transportation to get around San Francisco. San Francisco needs a bold vision for public transit, a vision that includes fast, frequent, safe and affordable service. Mission, Bernal, and Portola residents rely on public transportation to get to their homes, jobs, or schools, and our communities should have equitable access to these services, and the environmental benefits that come with public transit.

District 9 is also one of the most deadly for pedestrians. Last year, 5 of the 14 fatal pedestrian collisions in the city occurred in District 9. In order to achieve a safe, efficient, and accessible transportation system for ALL, we must implement robust changes to our infrastructure and funding models for transit.

Our transportation system has for the better part of a century been dominated by needlessly expensive transit because it isn’t treated as what it should be: a true public good. With all the wealth in this city, we should be able to provide affordable, reliable, and efficient public transit. Such a system increases ridership and is one of the most cost-effective and equitable solutions to the climate crisis.

Mobility is a fundamental right that should be guaranteed by the city to all--regardless of age, ability, language, race/ethnicity, or level of income. We can remake our streets in an equitable way by engaging transit riders, transit workers, pedestrians, multilingual communities, elderly residents, people with disabilities, and low-income communities of color in transportation decision-making processes.

Here’s my plan to bring more mobility justice to District 9:

Improve public transportation safety and frequency

San Francisco can advance public transportation safety by making service more frequent so people don’t have to wait alone at stations or stops for long periods of time. For example, if every Muni line that existed as of 2019 ran with a minimum frequency of at least 1 train or bus every 10 minutes, waiting times would be greatly reduced, especially for trips involving transfers. Infrequent lines that currently come every 20 minutes or more like the 33 Ashbury-18th St, 48 Quintara-24th St, and 67 Bernal Heights, would go from useless to useful for lots of District 9 residents. To ensure public transit is clean, accessible and safe, we must also improve transit stop amenities, such as more lighting, trash cans, and better bus shelters, as well as Muni safety ambassadors.

Revamp the Valencia Street center bike lane and get everyone at the table to create a new plan

Valencia Street is featured on Vision Zero’s High Injury Network. Few people actually like SFMTA’s new center bike lane on Valencia, for different reasons. One driver killed a pedestrian making an illegal left-hand turn, and just recently, a car rammed into El Buen Sabor’s corner pillar. The center bike line is a step in the right direction, but needs some serious work. It’s clear that SFMTA needs to go back to the drawing board with the community in the room--cyclists, pedestrians, neighbors, public housing residents, and small business owners to solicit feedback and come up with a new design to satisfy everyone’s concerns. As supervisor I would work with SFMTA to bring in mediators to town hall discussions to ensure everyone is heard and push for a working group that is representative of the various constituencies affected by the bike lane.

Fix the potholes and roads to make them safe for all modes of transportation; justly compensate small businesses for lost revenue during construction

The wear and tear our streets see in District 9 are compounded by the district’s central location and many high-traffic through-streets connecting the freeways with other parts of the city. This makes the roads more dangerous for everyone, not just car drivers. More streets are finally being repaved but some have taken a while to finish, which squeezes small businesses that are already struggling to bounce back. We need to compensate small businesses justly for any lost revenue during construction, and stronger contract auditing protocols to make sure projects are finished on time and of the highest quality.

Ensure SFMTA planning is transparent, multi-lingual, and accountable

There is a long history of SFMTA and other key planning agencies making decisions about the community, without the community. When it comes to drastic decisions such as cutting bus lines that disproportionately affect low income families, seniors, disabled people, and workers, or drastic undertakings such as the Valencia center-bike lane, SFMTA needs to have proactive, multi-lingual, transparent, and to the furthest extent possible, democratic decision making processes to serve SF residents. Though SFMTA commissioners answer to the Mayor, I will be sure to work with SFMTA to ensure the voices of District 9 residents are not just heard, but acted upon.

Work with neighbors to identify prime locations for more Slow Streets

With the recent economic downturn and horrific instances of pedestrian injuries and fatalities that have been associated with poor transit planning, now more than ever, we have a clear mandate to experiment with the Slow Streets program. As has been shown in numerous national and international test-cases, protecting certain streets for pedestrians and bikes can be a boon to small business, dramatically increase public safety, and foster a built sense of community. We should focus initially on a handful of blocks, then expand based on its success and community input. Community input is key in decisions made about District 9, and without it, the Slow Streets program will fail.

Expand Permanent & Protected Bike Lanes

Biking as a form of transit is universally regarded as being one of the most spatially efficient, safe, and ecologically friendly modes of transportation; and yet, due to a lack of proper planning and funding by the city into biking infrastructure, many in our district--including myself--lack the option. The current design of semi-protected and inconsistent bike lanes are wholly inadequate as they are easily damaged, do not provide a true demarcation between cars and cyclists, and have no consistent layout. This makes the roads more dangerous for everyone. For example, 17th Street is a popular route for cyclists, yet dangerous for everyone. I will push the SFMTA to complete the 17th Street protected bike lanes all the way through District 9, and create consistent protected bike lanes wherein cars are unable to breach into a bike lane due to driver error. This makes everyone on the road safer.

Fight for more funding for public transit

As of January 2024, the governor’s budget proposal included a commitment to provide $5.1 billion in critical funding to California transit agencies necessary to avoid devastating service cuts and advance major transportation and capital projects that support transit-reliant communities, riders, families and workers. We must ensure that we continue to advocate for more state support for our struggling transit agencies. We need to be bold and think big on any future funding opportunities. After SFMTA and the current administration failed to pass Prop A in June 2022, the agency continues to operate with significantly less capital funds. I support moving forward a bold regional bond that advocates and the MTC are pursuing for the November 2026 ballot. A regional transportation bond would advance a climate-friendly Bay Area transportation system that supports transit-reliant communities, riders, families and workers by making transit faster, safer and easier to use; repairing local streets and roads; and improving mobility and access for all people, including pedestrians, wheelchair-users, and bicyclists. I also support community-led efforts to tax rideshare companies subsidized by our public roads, to fund public transportation.

Expand Free Muni to low-income people and essential workers

One of the greatest barriers towards establishing a truly world-class network of public transit in our city is its prohibitively high cost for those who require its services the most. We have Free Muni for youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness. But there is no Free Muni for low-income people. The Lifeline pass and Clipper START are both 50% discounts. Currently, an individual making minimum wage in San Francisco is considered too high-income to qualify for the Lifeline/START discount. District 9 has some of the poorest communities in San Francisco. We must expand Free Muni to include low-income people and essential workers and work with state and federal legislators to secure funding.

Expand e-bike subsidies for low-to-moderate income workers

As a commissioner on LAFCo, I’ve supported a study on e-bikes for delivery drivers, which showed tremendous promise for reducing traffic, double-parking, and pollution. E-bikes also allow people to ride up San Francisco’s hills without exhausting themselves. The city should offer more subsidies for residents of low-to-moderate incomes, especially if they work in the city, so we can reduce traffic, double-parking, and pollution.

Pilot bike lockers for secure long-term parking of bikes and cargo e-bikes

Many apartment dwellers (myself included) have nowhere to store a bike or e-bike without lifting it up stairs, which they might not be physically able to do. Many also get their bikes stolen, even when secured with U-locks on sidewalk bike parking posts. Bike lockers could help prevent theft and expand bike ridership.

Fully electrify our MUNI fleet

All transit agencies in California have to electrify their fleets by 2030. Using our existing infrastructure of in-motion charging trolleybuses is the operationally, environmentally, and economically superior approach to meeting the state's regulatory goals. We can double our clean electric bus transit service by leveraging MUNI’s extensive overhead line system to quickly electrify high opportunity lines.

Expanded Bus Rapid Transit

Muni accessibility extends far beyond who can afford to ride. People living in low-income neighborhoods are drastically less likely to be able to access the reliability and quickness that is afforded by infrastructure such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). BRT is perhaps the most cost effective way of expanding transit capacity city-wide as it relies heavily upon existing infrastructure and requires relatively little in expansion cost when in comparison to our other modes of mass transit. An ideal pilot program would include the initial incorporation of BRT routes through hubs situated in what are now the most underserved communities with a steady expansion outwards. BRT, if fully implemented, would—throughout the entirety of the city—expand the accessibility of a mode of transit that would provide similar benefits to that of car ownership. This program would be directly expandable and able to meet the growing demands for public transit.