the livable city

Preparing the streets of today

for the residents of tomorrow
By Bethany Polentz

nyone familiar with San Francisco

knows that South of Market, or SoMa,
is synonymous with speeding trafc, large
impersonal buildings, and somewhat
desolate environs. But the Planning
Department is appraising the area with an
eye toward zoning it as San Franciscos
next residential neighborhood.
SoMa is already home to thousands
of workers and residences, close to transit
and services, and at for easy bicycling.
But with its narrow sidewalks and wide
one-way roads, a walk in SoMa is a
utilitarian task, not a pleasurable stroll.
Its not a place for window-shopping,
or chance encounters with neighbors.
Open space and pedestrian amenities
are scarce. With nearly every inch of
public space designed to move cars
instead of cultivating life, SoMa lacks
the community feel that makes other San
Francisco neighborhoods so vital and
makes it possible for retail businesses to
thrive.
Seizing an opportunity to shape
SoMa after the dot-com boom and
bust, neighborhood resident Peterson
Architecture formed a pro-bono and
advocacy arm called Public Architecture
to lead the charge to transform Folsom
and Howard into more pleasant residential
streets. In drawing up plans for the SoMa
Open Space Proposal, Public Architecture
had to keep a number of factors in mind.
SoMas wide mix of uses, population
density, and homelessness issues preclude
the possibility of traditional open space
models, such as large parks for kids and
dogs. Instead, the proposal needed to
address the existing diverse population,
from auto repair shops to clothing
continued on page 3

Increasing San Franciscos housing

supply will only make the city more
livable if we prevent cars from
overrunning it.
Look inside for articles on transportation.

Geary Blvd...................... Page 2

Central Freeway............. Page 4
The Price of Trafc........ Page 4

livablecity.org
No. 2 June 2004

Thousands to Call Downtown Home

New towers will ease housing crunch, but will the new downtown be a truly livable
neighborhood?

hat San Francisco faces a housing crisis

is not widely debated. Most people accept
that there is a scarcity of housing, and the
evidence is obvious.
Vacancy rates are at near-record lows. Rents
remain high (despite slight drops recently),
forcing some people into substandard housing
and preventing others from moving out of their
rent-controlled apartments. Purchase prices are
also high: only 11 percent of San Francisco
households can afford a median-priced home.
Statewide, the rate is 30 percent.
Solving the housing problem is important
not just for San Francisco residentsit will
also help stop suburban sprawl from gobbling
up the Bay Areas farmland and open space.
Indeed, if you believe its important to curtail
the expansion of environmentally destructive,
economically expensive, and socially alienating
car-dependent suburbs, then you should
also support large increases in the supply of
affordable housing in existing urban areas,
where car-use is an option, not a necessity.
The difcult question is, How? What
realistic solutions do we have to make housing
more plentiful and affordable? How can we add
more housing without adding more trafc, to
maintain efcient transportation and safe streets
for bicycling and walking?

The public supports more

housing, theoretically

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

SoMas
Metamorphosis

ournal
J

Creating more livable

neighborhoods through
reduced car-dependence

The Transbay plan depicts pretty alleys like this one, but wont be able to achieve
this serenity because it calls for a parking garage on almost every block.
only has a 24 percent car-ownership rate.
Some existing residential neighborhoods could also accommodate
substantial amounts of new housing. The Better Neighborhoods planning
process conducted by the Planning Department found public support for a total
of 8,500 units of new housing in the Octavia corridor, Balboa Park area, and the
central waterfront.
These plans also call for preserving livable streets by locating new housing
along transit corridors and limiting parking in the new housing, therefore
reducing the trafc such projects will generate. If those plans are implemented,
and the new residences in transit-intensive downtown are also built with limited
parking, the city can accommodate more people who choose to live without a
car, solving the housing supply problem without increasing trafc that creates
even more dangerous streets.

An October 2000 Chamber of Commerce poll

indicated that 58 percent of San Franciscans
supported zoning changes to promote more
Affordability requires subsidies
housing construction, but less than half supported
Thousands of new units downtown, plus thousands more scattered throughout
zoning changes in their own neighborhood. It
the city in small, sensitive buildings, will provide many new housing choices and
would seem that more housing is only a good
help to keep costs down. But, increasing the supply of housing is not enough to
thing if happens elsewhere.
reduce the price. The law of supply and demand will have some effect, but San
It should be no surprise, then, that the bulk
Franciscos attractiveness will continue to draw people from around the world
of new housing construction in San Francisco
to housing at all income levels. A study in 2000 by real-estate consulting rm
is downtown, where few people currently live.
the Sedway Group estimated that adding 12,000 units of ownership housing
Planning Department plans for the future will
to the citys supply would only reduce prices by 4.1
make the neighborhoods
percent. A signicant price decrease calls for subsidies.
around the Transbay
If you believe its important
San Francisco currently subsidizes housing in a
Terminal and Rincon Hill
to curtail the expansion of
number of ways. Local fundsusually public bonds
the densest residential
car-dependent suburbs, then
paid for by property taxesare supplemented by
neighborhoods in the
you should also support
federal funds for direct subsidies for the construction
entire United States (yes,
increasing affordable housing
of new affordable housing, ongoing rent subsidies, onedenser than Manhattan).
in existing urban areas, where
time down-payment subsidies, and homeless shelters
This not only avoids
car-use is an option, not a
and temporary, supportive housing.
the public opposition to
necessity.
Another important subsidy is indirect: the inclusionary
denser development in
housing ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Mark
current neighborhoods;
Leno in 2001, requires developers to build 10 to 17 percent of units that are
it also focuses housing development in an area
affordable to low-income residents in projects 10 units and larger. For the
well-served by local and regional transit. The
developer, its just another cost, like architectural or engineering services, that
new residents will be able to walk to work,
is factored into the project nancing, says Marc Babsin, director of real estate
and take subways and buses to destinations
development at the Emerald Fund.
throughout the region.
The Planning Department released a study in January 2002 that showed an
Already this year, nearly 3,000 units of
even greater requirementup to 20 percentwould be economically viable
housing have been approved for downtown.
for most developers. This study has enabled some Supervisors to reap more
Unfortunately, the Planning Department has
public benet from market-rate developments: Supervisor Jake McGoldrick
also approved parking spaces for every single
is considering requiring developments to help pay for parks, streets, transit,
unit of new housing in the downtown areain
community centers, and more affordable housing at varying levels, including
effect subsidizing car ownership for 100 percent
middle income.
of the new households. Manhattan, by contrast,
continued on page 3

the livable city journal

Citys Busiest Bus Line to Get Big Improvement

Speed and comfort at issue on Geary

San Francisco County Transportation Authority

By Kurt Shuck

Running on a dedicated path, BRT on outer Geary will give riders a

light-rail-like experience.

What is a Livable City?

Geary BRT makes

city more livable

Joshua Switzky

TLC believes the success

For the bargain price of
of the transit improvement
$400,000, Phase 1 will
program could do a great
widen the transit lane by
deal more than reduce
eliminating one mixed
commute times for existing
trafc lane, separating
Inner Geary gets restriped lanes and eliminates
38-Geary bus riders. Some
transit a little better
side-to-side jostling on buses in Phase 1 of the
travelers who currently
from trafc, widening
Geary Improvement plan.
drive will switch to transit.
the sidewalk at some
The new faster connection
bus stops, and reducing
to BART, Muni Metro,
AFTER
the number of bus stops
and eventually Caltrain,
from 19 to 14. Express
will make it possible for
buses will be able to
some residents to give up
pass stopped local buses
their cars altogether. More
and
parked
delivery
people will be able to live,
trucks, and even stop for
work, shop, and pay taxes
passengers at the sidewalk
in San Francisco, without
bulb-outs, without having
adding to the parking and
to swerve even slightly.
trafc mess.
By eliminating side-toIn
fact,
with
new
side jostling, passengers
comfortable and fast transit on Geary Blvd.,
will experience the comfort associated with xed-guideway
increasing the housing supply there will
systems such as light-rail.
actually have the effect of reducing trafc.
While these short-term improvements will improve ride
More people will provide a larger market
quality and speed up the trip, the full-blown BRT proposal for
for City CarShare, which right now supports
west of Van Ness is even more dramatic.
only one car (at 8th and Clement) for the
entire Richmond district. New housing will
Phase 2: West of Van Ness
provide more passengers, who help pay for
BRT is criticized by many Geary light-rail advocates, including
Geary BRT, and higher tax revenues to pump
Rescue Muni, as a big step short of the light-rail extension that
money into city coffers for expansion of BRT
should happen on Geary. Indeed, by the measure of current
into other neighborhoods.
ridership, the Geary extension should have been built before
The Geary BRT project is a great
light-rail on Third Street. Depending on how it is implemented,
example
of affordable transit improvements.
however, BRT could end up serving the residents of the
If
it
comes
with sensitive and modest new
Richmond as well as, or better than, light-railat a fraction
housing,
it
will
also illustrate livable city
of the cost.
land-use
planning:
better transit, more
From the look of them, the only similarity BRT vehicles
housing,
less
trafc.
have to typical Muni buses is the presence of wheels. Their

P.S. I am thrilled to welcome Tom Radulovich

as TLCs new executive director this month. Tom is
one of San Franciscos most ardent advocates for what
we mean by a livable city, and is looking forward to
making this organization even stronger in the years
to come! As for me, besides volunteering for TLC,
Im going to focus on bicycle planning, working to
squeeze in the facilities that will make it possible for
everyone ages 8 to 80 to feel comfortable riding in our
wonderful, compact, temperate city.

interior looks like a subway train, with low oors that dont
require a step to enter, and more doors, like a BART train. On
outer Geary, they will run in a separate and dedicated path of
travel, with the ability to preempt trafc lights. Passengers
will pay the fare when they get to the boarding platforms, so
that loading and unloading can happen as fast as it does on a
subway. But unlike light-rail, BRT offers exibility. Express
buses can pass locals, and spur lines will be able to branch out
from the main line to reach neighborhoods a few blocks away
from Geary Blvd.

Dave Snyder

TLC Staff
Executive Director: Dave Snyder
Policy Director: Jeremy Nelson
Interns: Kearstin Dischinger, Luke Klipp

he 38 Geary is one of the slowest, most crowded transit

lines in San Francisco. The trip from Ocean Beach to
Market Street during peak hours takes longer than 47 minutes.
The journey itself can have a carnival-ride quality, as the bus
weaves around double-parked cars and delivery vehicles,
makes sudden stops for other trafc, and pulls into and away
from the curb with last-second maneuvers that can throw the
most seasoned rider off-balance.
The industry standard, in fact, calls for adding lightrail when passenger loads get as high as they are on Geary,
but nancial constraints have forced Muni to look at more
innovative solutions to upgrade the ride and reduce travel time
on the busiest bus line in the city. East of Van Ness, plans are
already underway for subtle changes using existing buses that
will smooth the ride and speed up service by 17 percent. West of
Van Ness, planning has begun in order to convert Geary to a bus
rapid transit (BRT) corridor
BEFORE
that could rival light-rail
for comfort and speed.

Phase 1: East of
Van Ness

Livable is one of those words, like progressive.

It sounds good, but what does it mean exactly? What
does it mean for us, advocates of livable transportation
and land-use policies?
First, theres the literal denition. San Francisco
is livable if our streetswhich make up most of our
open spaceare safe and pleasant places to live next
to. Our ever-increasing car trafc causes injuries or
deaths every day. In just a generation, many streets that
used to be good places for ad hoc soccer games or safe
for children to ride to school have become unlivable
death zones. We focused on reducing car trafc and
improving safety in the inaugural issue of the Livable
City Journal (see livablecity.org).
In this issue, we tackle the practical denition
of a livable city: you have to be able to afford to live
here. Besides looking at what can be done to reduce
San Franciscos appalling housing costs, we examine
how to increase our housing supply without increasing
the trafc that would destroy livability. The public will
understandably continue to oppose more housing if we
cant solve the trafc problem.
A place with safe streets and lively sidewalks,
housing thats affordable to someone who works a
full-time job for modest pay, and access to the citys
charms conveniently and inexpensively without a
carthats a livable neighborhood.
Livability means other things too, but protecting
and improving the character of our neighborhoods
through land-use and transportation policy is what our
organization, and this newsletter, focuses on. Thanks
to our growing membership of livable city advocates,
San Francisco will become even more livable for the
next generation.

Editor: Stephanie Groll

Designers: Laurenn McCubbin, Tristan Crane

Limited BRT is expected to be ready

within ve to seven years, but due to budget
constraints, the initial rollout might use
Gearys existing buses. Residents can get
involved by attending a meeting of the Geary
Corridor Transit Study Citizens Advisory
Committee (held on the fourth Thursday of
every other month. The next meeting is on
June 10: sfcta.org/geary).
We are losing transit mode share along
this historic transit corridor to the auto,
says Tilly Chang, manager of planning at the
Transportation Authority. The aim of the
Geary Corridor Study is to evaluate a range
of BRT and other transit options designed
to maintain and increase transit usage on
Geary. Besides investigating which transit
options will reduce travel times and increase
reliability, the study will also look at ways
to improve neighborhood
access, and streetscape and
urban design.

Kurt Shuck is a corporate librarian, bicycle

commuter, and 24-year resident of San
Francisco. He was raised in the Detroit area
and knows well the results of a transit last
policy.

the livable city

Journal

The Livable City Journal is published quarterly

by Transportation for a Livable City, 1095 Market
Board of Directors
Street, Suite. 402, San Francisco, CA 94103.
Shannon Dodge, President; Michael Lozeau,
Phone: 415/431-2445, Fax: 415/431-2468
Secretary; Bert Hill, Treasurer; Marc Babsin; Annie
livablecity.org, [email protected]
Bourdon; Jim Buckmaster; Kristi Kimball; Dan
Krause; Quijuan Maloof; Val Menotti; Joshua Switzky 2004 Printed with 100 percent union labor

TLC works to create more livable neighborhoods,

where walking, bicycling, and transit are the
best choices for most trips, and where housing is
more plentiful and more affordable. TLC focuses
on transportation funding, parking policies, and
promotion of the vision of reduced car-dependence.

the livable city journal

SoMa continued from page 1

lanes. Except for two hours during rush hour,
the streets will still have sufcient automobile
capacity even with two fewer lanes.
To date, the project has received no public
funding. While there is no guarantee from
city agency heads that the project will move
forward, many are interested. Proponents
of the plan and those at the negotiating table
include representatives from the Department
of Public Works, the San Francisco County
Transportation Authority, the Municipal
Transportation Agency, and the Redevelopment
Agency. Others involved include Walk San
Francisco, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition,
and the Neighborhood Parks Council.
With this powerful backing, the SoMa
Open Space Proposal can function as a model
for other post-industrial, mixed-use areas
throughout the country.
Bethany Polentz is a UCSF project manager
and a freelance writer. As a edgling bicyclist,
she wants more safe bike routes in the city.

Public Architecture

retailers to design rms to gay leather

bars.
So Public Architecture introduced
small open space proposals along Folsom
and Howard streets by using some of the
existing vast space between the curbs.
They envision the installation of pop-out
mini-parks in some of the space currently
occupied by parked cars. Very inexpensive
and quick to install, the purpose of miniparks could change with the desires of
the neighborhood. The goal was to
create a proposal that is more responsive
than prescriptive, rather than try to
change the neighborhood, says principal
architect John Peterson, founder of Public
Architecture.
To be truly pedestrian-friendly, the
ow of trafc will have to be reduced a little
bit. Public Architecture accomplishes this
by changing the one-way streets into twoway streets, and adding bike lanes or bus

Public Architectures vision of the future of Folsom Street includes two-way traffic flow
and sidewalks that are more pedestrian-oriented.

Housing continued from page 1

Inclusionary units provide housing for
people with low to moderate incomes, for
whom little is being built, according to Lisa
Feldstein, an affordable-housing consultant
who recently quit her post on the San
Francisco Planning Commission to run for
Supervisor in district 5. The biggest needs
are for ownership housing in the 80 to 125
percent of the area median income range and
rental housing for those below 50 percent of
the AMI.

Eliminating parking subsidies

will also reduce housing costs

Another way to bring housing costs down is

to unbundle parking from housing, so that
only home buyers who want the parking have
to pay for it, and to eliminate the requirement
that each new housing unit provide a new, offstreet parking space. Such requirements, on
average, add 20 percent to the cost of housing
while increasing the value of the house only
by 11 percent. According to Calvin Welch,
a nonprot housing developer, the parking
requirements at some of his projects add up to
a third of the cost of development. Reducing
parking requirements would increase the
amount of public money that is directed to

affordable housing. It would also bring down the

cost of market-rate housing.
Creating housing that ts within
neighborhoods, has access to transit, and adds
to the broader fabric of the city ensures that
no one housing development is an island. One
organization in particular, the Housing Action
Coalition, has succeeded in bringing together
diverse views from both for-prot and nonprot
perspectives to promote smarter housing
development.
By applying their endorsement guidelines to
different housing development projects, the HAC
has raised awareness about housing and built a
broad-based coalition that, to date, has endorsed
more than 1,700 housing units. The criteria for
endorsement embrace smart planning and each
sites ability to promote density and scale that
complement existing neighborhoods, and ll
in vacant or poorly used lots. The key to smart
planning, says HAC Executive Director Kate
White, is proximity to transit corridors, which
allows housing to take advantage of existing
infrastructure, makes lively commercial districts
easily accessible, and frees residents from
needing a car.
Benjamin Tomkins, Dave Snyder, and Joshua
Switzky contributed to this article.

In recognition of your support, we thank you

Foundations

Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund; Hellman Family Charitable Trust;
Lane Family Charitable Trust; Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund;
Rose Foundation; San Francisco Foundation

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Housing on November Ballot

A rare opportunity to make a dent in the citys affordable housing needs
has emerged in the form of a $185 million bond on Novembers ballot.
Giving developers incentives to build housing for the lowest-income
brackets isnt realistic, says former planning commissioner Lisa Feldstein.
Federal and state funds are needed, plus local bond measures.
Mayor Gavin Newsoms $185 million bond would be divided as
follows:
$85 million for supportive rental housing accessible to those earning
zero to 30 percent of the area median income (AMI)
$50 million for rental housing affordable to those earning 31 to 60
percent of the AMI
$50 million for ownership housing, half for new production and half for
down-payment loans for those earning 61 to 105 percent of the AMI (up
to $83,000 for a single-person or $95,000 for a two-person household)
While most housing advocates including TLC agree that a unied
campaign is essential for reaching the two-thirds threshold needed to win,
opinions vary about the merits of the specic elements in the proposal.
Although many disagree with me, I believe we should focus on rental
rather than ownership housing, Feldstein says. With resources so scarce,
we must make tough choices and more people can be housed with rentals.
Opponents argue that San Franciscos home-ownership rate is low, compared
to the United States average, but our home-ownership rate is actually
higher.
Another issue related to down-payment subsidies is the loss of public
equity. If public funds are used to buy a home, the public should keep its
share of the equity. In general, its better to have the equity stay with the
unit rather than go with the person, says the Emerald Funds Marc Babsin.
That allows the unit to remain affordable rather than the public subsidizing
a one-time windfall for the original buyer.

Proportionally higher rental than ownership rates in big cities create a natural balance that
fosters a dynamic, transitory population and serves as a first stop for new immigrants.
& Gillian Harris; Morley & Elizabeth Singer; Ralph Sinick; Kyle Sosebee; Raphael Sperry; Janet Stedman; Carl Stein;
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Trepanier & Holly Reed; Ana Validzic; Gail Weinstein; Tony Wessling; Kate White; David Whitman; Diana Williams;
Jane Winslow; Carol Wood & Graham Leininger; Abbie Yant; Andrea Zytkovicz

the livable city journal

The
Price of Traffic
Looking to London for decongestion tactics
D

By Lauren Schiffman

rivers traversing Central London used to spend 50 percent of

their time stopped in trafc. In surveys, city residents cited
congestion as one of the areas biggest issues, clogging roads,
threatening businesses, and damaging Londons status. But that
was before congestion charging was implemented in February 2003
to encourage drivers to use alternative forms of transportation.

Photo-Transport

How does congestion charging work?

Londons congestion charging program, which went into effect a year ago, has
reduced traffic congestion by about 30 percent.

Vehicles entering central London on weekdays during peak hours

are charged about $8. Drivers can pay in advance or on the day of
travel in a variety of ways, including on the Web, by phone, and at
retail stores. Cameras throughout the zone register drivers license
plates and check them against a database to make sure payment
was received by midnight on the day of travel. If not, the driver
pays a penalty ne.
Six months into the congestion-charging plan, Transport for
London (TfL), the agency responsible for the citys transportation
management, reported trafc congestion reduced by about 30
percent and auto journey times shortened by about 14 percent.
Fewer cars, trucks, and vans enter the zone, and the number of
buses, taxis, motorcycles, and bicycles has grown. During morning
peak hours, buses now travel 7 percent faster. Tom Bogdanowicz,
campaigns manager of the London Cycling Campaign, says the
plans greatest benet is the chance to improve conditions for
walking and cycling.

Would it work in San Francisco?

Jeffrey Tumlin, a partner with Nelson/Nygaard Consulting

Associates, specialists in transportation planning, thinks a similar
plan in San Francisco will not only improve quality of life but also
spur economic development by allowing the city to add housing

Dodging the Shadow of the Central Freeway

By Dave Snyder

tand at Market Street across from Martunis and look

down the beautiful Valencia Street streetscape at night:
youll notice the gentle curve of streetlights outlining a
dip in the road at 18th Street where Dolores Lagoon used
to be. Youll notice some of the thousands of bicyclists
that ride every day along Valencia. Look up Market Street
and youll see wide sidewalks and some of the thousands
of pedestrians walking to and from the Castro along San
Franciscos most important pedestrian street. Youll also see
a vast construction zone, where Caltrans workers are busily
destroying everything I just described.
By the end of next year, a massive ve-lane 80-ft. wide
freeway will dominate the sky. Eighty thousand cars will
enter and exit the freeway here, destroying the newfound
tranquility of the neighborhood. Neighborhood residents
led by Jason Born have organized against the freeway
reconstruction and in favor of a more pedestrian-scaled
residential neighborhood without an ugly elevated freeway
dividing ita vision endorsed by the Planning Departments
Better Neighborhoods plan. But the current project, was
supported by most environmentalists as the best compromise
available in a series of ballot ghts that culminated in 1999.
The Board of Supervisors conrmed the current plan in a 92 vote in April.
Livable city advocates have two goals now. First,
improve the design of the freeway ramp so cars will be less
likely to kill people. The current design, with pedestrians and
bicyclists crossing ve lanes of freeway trafc, creates one of
the most dangerous intersections in the city. Second, prepare
a plan to replace the freeway with a surface boulevard that
restores the sunlight and vital street life to this part of town,
while still moving trafc. We can implement the plan in 10
years, which Caltrans says is the end of the lifespan for the
Central Freeway surface deck east of Mission Street. Instead
of spending millions replacing it, lets use that money for a
better vision. For details, visit livablecity.org/visionblvd.
Dave Snyder is Transportation for a Livable Citys executive
director.

Thor Swift

Activist Jason Born is fighting to prevent the city from rebuilding

the Central Freeway.

By touching down at Market Street, the Central Freeway could create

the deadliest intersection in San Francisco.

and jobs. Tumlin says, Right now in San

Francisco, we act like the suburbs. Any
time new development is proposed, people
complain that we cant build more housing
because there will be more trafc. He
maintains that by creating resources to
improve transit, bicycle, and pedestrian
amenities and [reduce] travel time, we could
dramatically increase the number of people
who could move through the transportation
network
without
increasing
trafc
congestion.
Deciding where to draw the zones
boundaries is challenging, however, because
wherever you draw the line, you have the
potential of displacing trafc and altering
the market for a specic commercial district,
Tumlin says. But he thinks that merchants
in Fishermans Wharf and Chinatown, for
example, who feel entirely auto-dependent
arent seeing the big picture: If the money
raised through congestion charging were to
fund access improvements to those zones,
they could actually signicantly increase
their trade. Tumlin believes that since places
like Fishermans Wharf and Chinatown are
major regional destinations, visitors would
be happy to pay a few dollars to get there,
especially if driving and parking were much
easier.
Tumlin sees Van Ness as a natural
dividing line in San Francisco, with areas east
located in the charging zone. He points out
that one advantage San Francisco has over
London in setting up congestion charging
is the exibility of the zones boundaries.
San Francisco streets generally run in a grid,
while Londons city center follows a circular
medieval design, with few entrances and
exits. The number of nearby San Francisco
streets that travel in the same direction will
make it easy to shrink or grow [the zone] as
conditions and politics change, Tumlin says.
And the boundary can be drawn to exclude
areas east of Van Ness with auto-dependent
businesses, such as parts of SoMa with a
heavy concentration of auto repair shops.
We [also] have the incredible luxury
of more street space than London has, so we
could actually run a rapid-transit network
on the surface, without having to develop
an extensive subway system, Tumlin says.
What congestion charging allows us is
a funding stream to make surface transit
actually work.
Winning political support for this plan
would be difcult today, but if the city fails to
reduce reliance on cars, worsening congestion
over the next 10 to 20 years will make a
charging zone necessary and politically
feasible. Bogdanowicz believes the success
of congestion charging in London came down
to common sense and public acceptance that
something needed to be done. Tumlin says
success here will depend on the support of
bold leadership and a good plan for putting
the money raised towards improving access
to the zone and increasing the number of
people who go there.
If a congestion-charging plan can make
public transportation a much more attractive
choice and turn central San Francisco into a
truly pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly area,
while boosting economic development, the
idea is certainly worth exploring.
Lauren Schiffman is a writer and editor in
Berkeley, Calif. She founded Crack Press
(crackpress.org), which recently published
a poetry collection called hinge: A BOAS
Anthology.