The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) developed a new flier to inform motorists of the new curbside queue while awaiting their turn at the Arco station. The flier provides clear images of the correct and incorrect ways to use the line-up whereas an earlier version was limited to a photograph of what not to do. Interns began talking with drivers blocking the bike lane on Fell and offering them one of the fliers. I've heard reports that once one driver gets in the queue, others follow, but the practice remains far from the norm. Interns can reach relatively few people during a one to two hour stint two days a week, but SFMTA regularly provides traffic advisories to the media. The new Arco access lane seems a prime candidate for a similar alert.
Do you know the owner of the Arco station? It'd be great if he could post these at the pumps.
ReplyDelete@Tom: I haven't met the owner, but I believe SFMTA has contacted him to help get the message out.
ReplyDeleteit'd be great to paint a big left turn white arrow, right on the lane. say in this picture below that gray car (in the yes picture)
ReplyDeletethat would help motorists understand that lane is entirely for them.
Um, why aren't the pictures taken from the same vantage point? It feels like a "Spot The Differences" game.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Wow, login required *and* captcha to comment? This much be a high-traffic blog. Congratulations!
@meligrosa: The arrow now on the lane directs drivers only to the Left Turn Only on Divisadero. As a rule, SFMTA does not direct traffic/customers into private property or a private business. But it sure seems your suggestion would get the point across!
ReplyDelete@Eric: With this configuration just a few weeks old, few motorists have been actually lining up curbside...making it difficult to get photos of correct use of the queue. I imagine SFMTA grabbed a shot from whatever vantage point was available.
ReplyDeleteIn the few times I've been through there since the change I've not see anyone queuing up correctly, except once when a car couple cars were lined up in the side lane and another was trying to merge in ahead of them and again blocking the bike lane.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the next step if (since) this doesn't work?
@ Jamison: I'm looking forward to seeing the first for me as well, but I pass through only twice daily usually. Next step: MTA will study this phase,then perhaps tinker with a few adjustments, but the next major addition will be painting the bike lane solid green. The green lane will very likely make cycling safer on Fell; whether it gets motorists to use the queue more is unknown.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest problem is that the bike lane is a solid white, not striped. Many people feel that solid white = no crossing. Maybe the best treatment would be a green bike lane with no white borders (like the long beach green sharrow lane)
ReplyDeleteI ride this route to work and I think it has gotten worse. There is a false sense of security among bicyclists, and the dumb drivers are even more confused now. Until they put up posts like on Market St, I say it is a FAIL.
ReplyDeleteClearly if this does not work, the next step is to have the gas station shut down and replaced with a learning garden.
ReplyDelete