Aaron Bialick
Aaron was the editor of Streetsblog San Francisco from January 2012 until October 2015. He joined Streetsblog in 2010 after studying rhetoric and political communication at SF State University and spending a semester in Denmark.
Recent Posts
Pandering to the Parking-First Contingent Won’t Win Transportation Funding
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Some pretty specious rationales are being used to peddle some pretty terrible recent transportation policy decisions in San Francisco. Yesterday, the SFMTA Board of Directors repealed Sunday parking metering, caving to pressure from Mayor Ed Lee. Board members said they bought into the mayor’s thinking that bringing back free Sunday parking would help win support for […]
SFMTA Board Repeals Sunday Parking Meters
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The SFMTA Board of Directors today caved to pressure from Mayor Ed Lee by removing Sunday parking meters, a move folded into its approval of the agency’s two-year budget. The Sunday meter reversal was supported by all but one of the SFMTA’s board members, who are appointed by the mayor. Board member Cristina Rubke said she […]
Speak Out: SFMTA Board Could Scrap Sunday Parking Meters Tomorrow
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Correction: The SFMTA Board meeting begins at 2 p.m., not 1 p.m. as previously stated. Depending on the number of speakers, the meeting could last hours. You can view the meeting live on SFGovTV 2. Tomorrow is your chance to speak out about the SFMTA’s proposal to repeal Sunday parking metering, as the agency’s Board […]
PLUS2 Planning and Land Use Strategies Summit: Infrastructure and the New City
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From AccessPlus2.org: The demand for modern infrastructure in California is greater than ever, as is the demand for bold leadership and solutions. New projects must take shape in a dynamic landscape and balance century-old infrastructure, declining budgets and dramatic growth in cities with the real needs of stakeholders. Urban realities must also drive solutions for facilities […]
SFMTA Announces 24 Vision Zero Bike/Ped Projects for Next 24 Months
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At this morning’s Walk to Work Day press conference, SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin announced a plan to implement 24 bike and pedestrian safety projects over the next 24 months [PDF]. This is the most concrete safety plan unveiled so far, ever since city leaders pledged to pursue Vision Zero. The projects (listed below) include bulb-outs, […]
Chevy: What Better Way to Explore the Divisadero “Microhood” Than by Car?
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The marketers at Chevy totally have this urban millennial thing nailed down. The car manufacturer sponsored this promotional video for a Divisadero Microhood Art Walk held last week, along with the website The Bold Italic. In this virtual tour of the microhood, local business owner Erin Fong gets into one of Chevy’s electric Volts, driving an […]
Six Months for Killing Hanren Chang: Even Drunk Drivers Get Off Easy
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It’s hard to imagine a more egregiously clear-cut case where a driver deserves a harsh prison term than when drunk driver Kieran Brewer ran over and killed a minor inside a crosswalk. Surely, unlike other cases where sober drivers killed pedestrians and faced few consequences, these circumstances would spur the judicial system into action. Yet Brewer was sentenced […]
Safer, More Transit-Friendly Streets Planned for the Upper Haight
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Update 4/10: The Planning Department posted an online survey where you can weigh in on the design proposal for upper Haight Street. The Planning Department has drawn up early plans for three of the Haight-Ashbury’s major streets: upper Haight Street, Stanyan Street, and the southern end of Masonic Avenue. The proposals for the Haight Ashbury […]
Mapping San Francisco’s Most Speeding-Plagued Streets
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A new online map begins to show which San Francisco streets have the worst speeding problems, according to data from SFMTA engineering and traffic surveys. The map was created by Stephanie May, who works for the SF-based organization Urban Mapping and teaches cartography at SF State University and history at Stanford, according to her Twitter […]
“Muni TEP Approved”? Not So Fast
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The Muni Transit Effectiveness Project took a major step forward on March 28, when the SFMTA Board of Directors approved plans for route changes and street upgrades aimed at streamlining transit service. Judging from the headlines on major media reports, the vote sounded like a green light for the entire TEP. However, the reports glossed over some […]
Fourth Pedestrian Killed by Driver on Deadly Van Ness This Year
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A car driver struck and killed a man who was crossing Van Ness at Golden Gate Avenue at about 11 p.m. last night. According to the SFPD, “Early reports indicate that the pedestrian was not in the crosswalk,” but the crash is still under investigation. Police didn’t say how fast the driver was going, or how close […]