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
How Google Busers Can Avoid Bus Backlash: Get a Car
| | 64 Comments
Tech workers’ humdrum daily commutes in San Francisco have recently become anything but. An environmental appeal was filed (and later rejected) against the city, on the grounds that the “Google buses” are a direct cause of skyrocketing rents and housing displacement. Protestors blockading tech shuttles in bus stops have drawn a frenzy of international media attention. So what can […]
Preview the Upgrades Coming to the Castro’s Jane Warner Plaza
| | 7 Comments
Jane Warner Plaza, the first plaza created using semi-permanent features as part of SF’s Pavement to Parks program, will get some repairs and upgrades as part of the Castro Street overhaul currently underway. The worn-out painted asphalt will be replaced with an easier-to-wash colored asphalt, and a pedestrian island will allow a more direct link between the […]
The Case for Evening Parking Meters, Graphed
| | 6 Comments
Every day at 6 p.m., San Francisco’s parking meters shut down. But in many neighborhoods, motorists continue to seek parking, and without the turnover brought by meters, the streets become clogged with drivers circling around for a spot. The big mismatch between meter hours and actual demand for curbside parking spaces in SF was demonstrated […]
SFBC, Walk SF Push SFMTA to Make Room for Bike/Ped Projects in Its Budget
| | 5 Comments
Bike and pedestrian advocates are pushing the SFMTA to make more room in its budget for safety projects and programs as the agency’s board of directors weighs its priorities. Bike/ped funds currently make up less than 1 percent of the SFMTA’s operating and capital budgets; the vast majority goes towards Muni. And although the agency […]
Reiskin: Let’s Keep Sunday Parking Meters, But Not Enforce Them
| | 19 Comments
SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin said today that he thinks the agency should keep Sunday parking meters but back off on actually enforcing them. At an SFMTA Board of Directors meeting, Reiskin said he recommends “that we significantly re-deploy our resources away from Sunday meter enforcement. We have a lot more higher-pressing needs, particularly during the week during the […]
Will SFMTA’s Board Buck Mayor Lee, Keep Sunday Parking Meters?
| | 38 Comments
It’s hard to believe that San Francisco officials are seriously considering repealing Sunday parking metering, and thus abandoning the entire basis of its lauded parking management program. But next month, the SFMTA Board of Directors could send us back to 1947 — the last time parking meter hours were changed, before they were updated last year […]
Friends of Caltrain Meetup
| | No Comments
From Bay Rail Alliance: Do you use Caltrain in San Francisco? There are lots of projects and decisions coming up affecting how well Caltrain serves SF. Proposed November ballot measures will enable San Francisco to pay its annual Caltrain bills without annual last-minute heroics The Transbay team is exploring ways to pay for and accelerate the […]
Bold Vision Needed From SFMTA’s Next Sustainable Streets Director
| | 6 Comments
The SFMTA is searching for a new Sustainable Streets Division director to replace veteran traffic engineer Bond Yee, who retired in January after four years on the job. The broad umbrella of Sustainable Streets includes all SFMTA programs that involve street design and parking management, and its next leader will play a critical role in moving […]
Detailed Polk Street Designs: Plans for Safe Bicycling Still “Lackluster”
| | 89 Comments
The SFMTA and the Planning Department presented detailed plans for Polk Street at the project’s final open house meeting yesterday. The new aspects include specific locations of bulb-outs, dedicated bicycle signals, left turn prohibitions, loading zones, and new trees and landscaping. Plans to improve bicycle infrastructure are still composed of a mix of protected, buffered, […]
Leland Yee’s Downfall No Loss for Livable Streets
| | 6 Comments
Now that State Senator Leland Yee has been arrested on charges of accepting bribes to facilitate trafficking of illegal firearms from a militia group in the Philippines, it’s probably a safe bet that his political career is over. State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has called for Yee’s resignation in light of the FBI’s charges. Yee […]
Tonight: Final Open House on a Safer Polk Street
| | 29 Comments
Tonight is the SFMTA and Planning Department’s final open house on the Polk Street redesign, the last chance to weigh in on the agency’s preferred design before it goes to the SFMTA Board of Directors for approval. As you can see from the above flyer, the parking-obsessed “Save Polk Street” group is still fighting against […]
Friday: SFMTA Board Considers Final Proposals for Muni TEP Service Changes
| | 14 Comments
Service changes to 15 Muni lines are headed to the SFMTA Board of Directors for approval on Friday as part of the Transit Effectiveness Project. The proposals were revised through input at community meetings and approved by the board’s Policy and Governance Committee (PAG) last Friday. Many were fine-tuned largely to appease complaints from riders who […]