Streetsblog brings word of a bafflesome episode in the life of San Francisco:
Two-and-a-half years after a judge issued an injunction preventing the city from adding any new bicycle infrastructure to its streets, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the San Francisco Planning Department have released a 1353-page Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on the San Francisco Bicycle Plan.
At a cost of more than $1 million, the city has attempted to demonstrate in excruciating detail what would seem to be obvious: better bicycle amenities contribute to increased cycling and an improved environment.
Apparently SanFran undertook this research in response to an injunction arising from a single lawsuit filed by Rob Anderson.
I hadn’t heard of this guy. Up in Seattle we have our own self-appointed Transit Crank, Tim Eyman — he’s wasted untold municipal time and money putting forward an endless series of anti-transit, pro-road-building state initiatives. But $1 million and two years with a single lawsuit? Against bike paths? That’s a special brand of crankery.
Anyway, having scientifically proven that fewer drivers means fewer emissions, it looks like SanFran is clear to go forward with its ambitious bike plans, increasing capacity by 75 percent starting, probably, in mid-2009.
