number. >> chairman: good morning, everyone. today is the may 11th meeting of the san francisco transportation authority. i'm the chair, raphael

mandelman mand. we have aaron peskin, madam clerk, will you please call the roll. >> clerk: commissioner chan? >> present. >> clerk: commissioner haney? >> present. >> clerk: commissioner mandelman? >> present. >> clerk: commissioner mar? >> prent. >> clerk: commissioner melgar? >> present. >> clerk: commissioner peskin? >> present. >> clerk: commissioner ronen? >> present. >> clerk: commissioner safai? absent. commissioner stefani? absent. commissioner walton? >> >> clerk: we have quorum. public comment will be available for each comment

via telephone by calling 415-655-0001 and entering access code i.d. 1873480602, and then pound and pound again. once you join, you'll be able to listen to the meeting as a participant. dial *3 to be added to the queue to speak. when the system says your line is unmuted, the operator will tell you you're allowed two minutes to speak. calls will be taken in the order in which they are received. best practices are to speak slowly and clearly and turn down the volume of any radios or telus televisions around you. and that concludes the announcement. >> chairman: thank you, madam clerk. >> safai is present. >> chairman: safai is present. the stefani has informed she has to miss portions of the meeting.

please call item 2. >> clerk: item 2, the citizens and advisory committee report. this is an information item. >> chairman: chair larsen, take it away. >> okay. good morning, chair mandelman, vice chair peskin and comirgses. commissioners. commissioners. a meeting was held virtually on april 28th. the c.a.c. voted to support the allocation of two prop "k" requests and approval for the program of projects for the 2021mid-cycle regional transportation improvement program, which comprised items 5 and 6on your agenda today. the area is park area, which the minnesota and 25th proposal will extend and it is a good

example of community reuse of former transportation's infrastructure. in this case, a disused railroad spur. with regard to the art projects, there is a slide in your presentation today depicting a vehicle on fulsom street that indicates the continued need to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety on fulsom street despite the improvements that have already been made. which illustrates why the c.a.c. supported this proposal in particular. the c.a.c. also heard a presentation on the item related to the urba (indiscernable). from the end of the eastern span of the bay bridge down to treasure island. in particular, the plan's ferry terminal on the west side of the island. that generated discussions about bike storage, and

the number of bikes that would be allowed on ferries, especially given the short hop and the number of expected users of these ferries when they go into service. sfmta staff with the water emergency transportation authority is in development that would help address these concerns. the c.a.c. members were also interested in the timelines for the western span multi-use pathway and bike path and the timeline that would give full bicycle connectivity from the east bay to san francisco over the bay bridge, but that project has a much longer timeline, unfortunately. the c.a.c. also engaged in a detailed discussion about the updating of community of concern boundaries in san francisco, as part of a metropolitan transportation commission's update to planned bay area 2050. the board will be looking at this as part of the review of the san francisco transportation plan overall. although c.a.c. members

appreciate block data and census to put a final analysis of san francisco's c.f.c.s, the timing of the update seemed odd given that the 2020 fund -- [audio cut out] >> chairman: do you want to try it again, chair larsen? >> clerk: try unmuting, chair larsen. >> chairman: have we muted chair larsen involuntarily?

[inaudible] >> i don't know what happened. it decided to mute me, but i'm back. >> chairman: let's try it again. >> okay. can you hear me? >> chairman: yes. >> okay. well, let's see. the -- although the c.a.c. members appreciated the block data, and addition to the census track information, to put a finer analysis on it, the timing of the updates just seems odd given that the 2020 census has just been completed. so although the boundary changes were relatively small, they still seem to show ongoing displacement, which is an ongoing concern in the city. and also concerns about the politicization of the census and the impact on participation and the very communities that we are concerned about, also resonated within the c.a.c., so an update or an analysis using the actual 2020 data, when it becomes available, might be

warranted in ongoing discussions about planned bay area. that concludes my report, and thank you. >> chairman: all right. thank you, chair larsen. and if there are no comments or questions from colleagues, which i don't see, we should open this item up to public comment. >> clerk: i'm checking right now. and there is no public comment. >> chairman: great. public comment on item 2 is closed. thank you, chair larsen. madam clerk, please call item 3. >> clerk: item 3, approve the minutes of the april 27th, 2021, meeting. this is an action item. >> chairman: thank you. are there any comments or questions on three? i don't see any. let's open up item 3 to public comment. >> clerk: there is no public comment.

>> chairman: fantastic. public comment is closed. is there a motion to approve item 3? >> moved. >> chairman: moved by peskin, i think seconded by chan. madam, please call the roll. >> clerk: an approval of minutes. [roll call] >> clerk: there are nine

ayes, the minutes are approved. >> commissioner stefani is here as well. aye. >> clerk: chair, there are 10 ayes. the minutes are approved. >> chairman: thank you. please call our next item. >> clerk: item 4, state and federal legislation update. this is an action item. >> chairman: great. i believe we have mark watson and amber craft here. looks like mr. watson just popped up on my screen. >> good morning, chair and commissioners. my internet went a little fragile in the last few minutes, but i'll get through this as...today i have several bills for you to act on... [audio is cutting in and out] >> so briefly, new bill

positions in your packet on the first table. we're recommending move from a watch to a support position. this is senator weiner's -- >> chairman: mr. watson, you are breaking up. so we should -- >> i'm so sorry. >> chairman: you can connect a different way, or we can have ms. craft -- you can do your piece and then you may have to do mr. watson's as well. >> mark, do you want to try muting your video. try that. >> does that seem to work? >> chairman: that's better. okay. go ahead. >> i am apologetic.

>> chairman: maybe it is not better. >> can you hear me? >> no. >> director chan, how do you want us to deal with this? >> is amber able to go? >> i'll go ahead and cover the bills that are on your matrix. the first is assembly bill 859. this is a bill that basically restricts the authority on data on bike share, uber and lyft. and it allows them to collection information that allows them to monitor and regulate and evaluate the vehicles has part of the existing pilot

program. this bill will remove that ability and restrict the ability to continue with the same purpose, as well as be able to see how the new (indiscernable) of tmcs and autonomous vehicles are operating on our streets for safety purposes. so recommending -- sfmta has also taken the position of working with cities across the state to try to not request information about the individual riders, but just requesting information about the devices to be able to continue the same programs. so the next position is a support position on senate bill 339. this is the bill that we currently have a watch position on. and this is a bill from senator weiner creating or extending the existing road usage charge pilot program. this would continue the

next phase of it, which would actually implement the pilot program. and we're recommending moving from watch to support because some additional information has been introduced about the pilot and how it would operate, and we believe it is in the final form and supportable because it also brings in collecting information on the difference between if you collect fees on electric vehicles versus really only on vehicles that are paying gas taxes currently. and then, finally, just an update on assembly bill 550, the speed camera bill, that we have a support position on. i just wanted to flag recent amendments that place further limitations on how many safety systems could be implemented implemented pe jurisdictions, and that

would limit san francisco to 33. unless mark is able to hop back on and give an update to the budget, i know the revised was released on monday, but he would have the latest and greatest on what that means for transportation. i will conclude my report. >> chairman: all right. thank you, ms. craft. i'm not seeing any comments or questions in the chat. so let's open this to public comment. >> clerk: okay. at this time, we are taking public comment for item 13 -- i'm sorry, item 4. >> chairman: yes. >> clerk: i'm sorry. i was looking at two numbers at the same time. >> clerk: item 4, state legislation -- state and federal legislation, and your two minutes begins now, caller.

>> caller: thank you. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. >> chairman: yes. >> caller: thank you, chair raphael mandelman. i hope i got that right. my name is alita dupri. my pronounce and she and her. it is good to be back with you. i am generally in alignment with you on your positions of table number three. i am, however, concerned about this opposition to ab859 in table number one. now, i share data all the time. my phone is on location, and enables location services. i get notifications all the time. i share data because i often get lots of good deals and advertisements that interest me. and it works to my advantage. but i am concerned that the opposition of the

bill, 859, could lead to an erosion of data privacy because if we don't have robust data privacy in scooter in c.n. c. and a.v. sharing, could the city of san francisco some day get unfettered access to personally identifiable information, such as names, addresses, the state that a person's driver's license is in, and their credit card numbers. i am concerned about an erosion of data privacy. while i really don't care where people -- if people know where i go on my scooters, i really don't want them knowing my address or my credit card numbers. even the scooter companies

don't know my credit card numbers because they're held by a third-party bank security system. and i don't want my personal information to be used by people against me because i take a position in support of scooters. >> clerk: thank you, caller. >> chairman: okay. thank you very much. >> caller: thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> clerk: there are no more callers. >> chairman: thank you. public comment on item 4 is closed. director chan or ms. craft, do you want to try to address the privacy concerns that were raised by the commenter? >> yes. thank you, chair. just to be clear, the amendment is not seeking any kind of personal, identifiable information, so nothing about the rider. the information that they would like to have access to is about the devices. so i think the concern is

well-noted, and i think we are not seeking that level of information. >> chairman: thank you, ms. craft. is there a motion to approve item 4? >> moved. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner haney. is there a second? >> second, chan. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner chan. madam clerk, please call the roll. >> clerk: on item 4. [roll call]

>> clerk: there are 11 ayes, the item has approval on its first reading. >> chairman: thank you, madam clerk. please cul item 5. >> clerk: item 5, allocate 640,000 dollars improper "k" funds. and this is an action item. >> good morning, commissioners. let me pull up my presentation. mr. chair, can you see my presentation? >> chairman: yep. >> just to request to present to the board today, the first request is a neighborhood program

request from district 10, commissioner walton, and this is for minnesota and 25th street intersection improvements. and so this would add curb ramps at 25th at the northeast corner, and curb ramps at the southeast corner, and make some paths of travel improvements as well at the intersection. the it improvements will both complement a street scape project that is already under way or planned in the area, to be administered by the department of public works. it includes landscaping, passive traveling and improvements through the minnesota grove, as well as other sidewalk and, um, buildout improvements. this will be done by june of next year. the second of the two requests is for the safety to schools administration. this is the program that

is focused on safety and roads. it would allow for the administration of the program between now and august of 2021, and in september of 2021, that is when a new funding program from the quick-strike program, the federal funds from the quick-strike program -- these are covid relief augmentation funds, that the board recommended to the schools program, starting in september. there is an existing grant that this particular request would help to leverage. that is one bay area grant that would run out of funds in august. this would carry the program through august. as part of the programming action that the board took in february, commissioner peskin had requested -- and other commissioners were interested as well -- in an equity plan for how sfmta and its safe routes

to schools partners support schools that are in what are called equity schools, that have a high percentage of students enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program, and on the high injury network, and have had a certain number of collisions between a fourth of a mile within a certain amount of time. the materials you have in your packet outlines the plan provided by sfmta, and shows how it supports the schools primarily through in-person programming and also in language. with that, i can answer any questions, and we have project managers here as well. >> chairman: thank you, ms. laporte. do any of my colleagues have comments on questions about this item? vice chair peskin. >> thank you. this goes back a little ways. it goes back to the

collaboration between my office and supervisor tang's office around safe routes. and while well all support the mode shift and we all support safe transportation by foot or bike by our kids to school, there is a profound difference between those areas of the city that are less dense and more suburban in nature and those parts of the city that are in urban core, that in many instances do meet those equity standards. and to that end, in the tenderloin, back in the days of supervisor kim, the safe passage model has been remarkably successful. a couple of years ago, before the pandemic, supervisor -- commissioner haney and i had the pleasure of accompanying a

large number of kids and their parents from the tenderloin to redding elementary, which is in the core of the city -- technically sits in direct 3, but it is along the district 6 border. and we asked the safe routes folks to start listening to the parents and the kids. with the pandemic, when it hit, the whole thing has been on hold. while i certainly support this $240,000, it is high time that we copy that tenderloin model and bring it to redding elementary as those kids and their parents walk through some of the densest, high injury corridors in the city to redding elementary. i don't want to put words in commissioner haney's mouth, but i think we both

support that. the price is quite low. it is under $150,000 a year to emulate that program. i think all of the kids and families qualify relative to the equity criteria. so i really want to double down and make sure that by september we have addressed the needs that have been expressed by the parents, by the principal at redding elementary. and now that the pandemic appears to be over, and kids are and will be returning in mass in september, let's do that and let's do it quickly. so i want to thank -- i want to acknowledge supervisor tang for the restructuring of safe routes and thank supervisor -- commissioner haney for his collaboration on what is, i think, a long, overdue

effort. >> chairman: would staff like to respond to that? >> yes. that would be great. >> thank you, commissioner peskin, and also commissioner haney, for your support of the program and all of your help. yes, redding is definitely a key area, as you can see from this table. the collision report supports redding. the number of other schools, also, that the program serves -- so with regards to redding and that specific program, my colleagues can answer where we are in the agency, but i did want you to know that it is a priority school. we do work a lot in redding, and that we are full steam ahead preparing for full in-person learning in the fall. thanks to commissioner haney for the kids and the support group, which

started last summer. we've been working very closely, hand-in-hand, hand-in-h the district. with regard to redding and next fall, i'll let my colleague talk about that. >> thank you. and good morning. hopefully you can hear me. supervisor peskin and commissioners, we have sent an outline. we have been working with the tenderloin safe passage program to identify what it would take, as commissioner peskin highlights. it cost would be about $150,000, and we're working currently with sunny to identify where that funding may come from. the funding that is requested tonight is obviously -- today -- is obviously through the end of this august. and so it would not be able to support the program up and running in september, but we are working very hard to identify how to do that. as we've discussed with staff, both at the

tenderloin and safe passage and other locations. we've still looking for a community-sponsored group that could do that work. the tenderloin safe passage work is not 100% funded through the school program. they get funding from a number of different places. and because of their tax status, they feel uncomfortable trying to expand outside their legal boundaries, but what be willing to work with us to make sure we had training in place and a program that could launch. and we are ready to move forward as soon as we know we have the funding in place so that we can start the hiring. >> chairman: thank you. vice chair peskin? >> john, through the chair, the various sources of funding that fund tenderloin safe passages, can you break those down for us? >> i can tell you that they get some funding from the safe routes school. i didn't spend a lot of time looking into the funding of them. but i did confirm with

them they are not 100% funded in the safe passage work. because it helps not just that, but they support seniors and others as well throughout the day. >> and thank you for mentioning my chief-of-staff, who has been dogged on this and i know has been in recent contact -- actually, has been in contact with the safe routes folks and with the m.t.a. for the last couple of years around this issue. what i think we should do is take this off-line, get together with t.a. staff and m.t.a. staff, b.p.a. b.p.a.staff and try to figure out that funding package. i am pleased to report that the lower polk community district may be willing to house this effort. so there is progress there, but let's all get together and figure out the funding sources for a

pilot program, and i will get my staff to make that meeting happen. >> great. i will be back in town next week and be happy coordinate with sunny to make sure we get that on the books in a week or two. >> excellent. thank you, john. thank you, mr. chair. >> chairman: seeing know other comments or questions from colleagues, let's open this item to public comment. >> clerk: we do have two callers at this time. hello, caller, can you hear me? hello, caller, your two minutes begins now. >> hi, commissioners, this is christopher white. i'm program director at the san francisco bicycle coalition, and oversee our team that is part of the safe routes to school

partnership. i just wanted to call in support of this funding, and also to wish you all happy bike and roll week. one of our annual tent poll events for safe routes to school is this week. it has been a really challenging year for students, of course, and now that we've got a lot of students who are heading back to school, we're really proud and happy to be able to support those students across the city participating in this event. we've been doing lots of research across the city, including at the still existing community hubs to make sure that all students across the city have access to this program. so thank you for your continued support of the program. >> clerk: thank you, caller. hello, caller, you're two minutes will begin now.

caller? >> caller: yes. i was waiting for the kids safe j.f.k., so you can put my hand down for right now. >> clerk: okay. thank you. we have another caller. hello, caller, your two minutes will begin now. >> hi, good morning, chair mandelman and commissioners. my name is jody mediras and i'm executive director of walk san francisco. we have been a proud partner for several years. we have two amazing family and school coordinators on our team. and we just wanted to ask that you definitely approve the safe routes to school funding so we can be well-prepared for the new school year, as we know we have so many challenges. we need to help children safely get to school.

this is funding that is desperately needed so we can ensure we kick off the year wise. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you, caller. there are no more callers. >> chairman: all right. public comment on item 5 is closed. is there a motion to approve item 5? >> moved. >> chairman: is there a second? >> second, haney. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner haney. madam clerk, please call the roll. >> clerk: on item 5. [roll call]

>> clerk: there are 11 ayes, the item has approval on its first reading. >> chairman: thank you, madam clerk. please call our next item. >> clerk: item 6, approve the san francisco's program of projects for the 2021mid-cycle transportation regional. this is an action item. >> chairman: all right. i believe we have april smith, senior transportation planner. >> clerk: april, you are still on mute. >> chairman: uh-oh. >> good morning. can you hear me? >> chairman: we can. >> great.

are you able to see my screen? >> chairman: we can see your screen. >> april smith, i'm happy to present this item today. this is a five-year investment plan for state transportation funds. it is administered by the california transportation commission, and it is updated every two years. the current program was adopted in 2020, and the cycle program was (indiscernable) to make up funding shortfalls and existing transportation programs due to the impacts of the pandemic. [inaudible] the transportation authority recommends the san francisco program and projects. the board has long-standing priorities which designates the central subway for the next $32 million. all of the contracts have

been awarded. thus we are honoring the commitment by programming our tip to other eligible projects. with the covid-19 relief funds, there is about $3.2 million available for programming, with $160,000 for the transportation authority's planning, programming and monitoring. this funding is for planning, administering state programs and performing oversight on state planned projects. the remaining $3 million is available for capital projects. there is strict eligibility requirements, which narrows the lists of potential projects that would be a good candidate for these funds. sfmta has recommended that we request the funds for the fulsom street project. the project has to comply with the c.t.c. guidelines because they were awarded

an active transportation program, which was also administered by the c.t.c. the request for the full fulsom street project is approximately $3 million. the improvements are to protect the bike way, upgraded bike and vehicle signals, raise the crosswalks, transit only lanes, and public improvements. the project will be open for use by june of 2024. by may of -- by the end of may, we have to send the program of projects to m.t.c., and c.t.c. will approve the program of projects in june and allocate the funds to san francisco's projects. and with that, i can take any questions. >> chairman: thank you, ms. smith. colleagues, questions or

comments? concerns? i'm going to indulge myself. ms. smith, you may not be prepared to answer this, and director chan might have some thoughts. one of the questions i've had about a lot of these streets, and we're doing these revisioning and adding other things and bike lanes and transit-only lanes and trying to reduce the flow of six lanes of cars all moving in the same direction, feeling like they're on a freeway. have we ever done a more comprehensive analysis of the one-ways that are, frankly, predominantly in district 6, but that feel like they create these streets that just are not -- supervisor haney and i have talked about this before -- and i think he worked with you all on getting one street turned into a two-way, and that has had some positive impacts. but has there been a more

comprehensive analysis about turning a lot of these into two-ways. i'm sure it would a traffic engineer's nightmare, and it would probably slow everything down, but isn't that the most likely thing to reduce this number of people dying? >> it is a really, really great program. i know that we have studied both configurations. many of the sort of general expertise is that we do want to convert back to two-way, and to have less sort of these big. pikes that are fast-moving. and we still have some of the cuplets, as we know, the bush-pine pair and others. some of them have been starting to turn back into two lanes, and, actually, there is a gap in part of the western addition that

remains one way. so it is a fair question to turn back to the sfmta. i believe we have looked at -- they've looked at fulsom-howard several times, and i think the decision was to traffic calm and make them more multi-modal. to try to traffic calm and improve safety. but the two-waying is not just the streets, but the whole area network is affected. and i believe that a network like this, that is so complicated, ultimately they decided to do that for the benefit of the, i believe, transit and bikes. >> chairman: thank you very much. >> let's go back and check with them and get back to you. >> chairman: that's the thing i was curious about. i will stop indulging myself and we will open this up to public comment. >> clerk: okay. we are -- for those members of the public, we are taking public comment on item 6. you can press *3 if you

would like to make a comment. hello, caller, your two minutes begins now. >> caller: good morning, supervisors, roland from san francisco. i would like to make a couple of suggestions for your consideration that you may have heard before. it is under the d.t.x. i would suggest allocating an additional $1 million to study the second street alignment. and second, i would really like them to increase the prioritization of the p.e.x. the one at seventh treatment is not viable, regardless of the ultimate alignment. thank you. >> clerk: thank you, caller.

hello, caller. >> caller: my name is sara deger, and i live in district 5. and i'm really here to weigh in on the next item, but i wanted to amplify mr. mandelman's suggestion of looking at all of the one-ways. there are a lot in district 5 as well. and i think that we, as neighbors, have been talking about the fact of eliminating some of the one-ways would really do a lot to make our neighborhood feel more neighborhoody, and less like we're in the middle of a freeway. >> clerk: thank you, caller. hello, caller. your two minutes will begin now.

>> caller: thanks. i just wanted to also support commissioner mandelman. i really appreciate your question about two-way streets. i wanted to restate for the record that the agency has stated that the safest configuration is to convert them into two-way streets. i mention this for the record because there is increasing precedents in the courts. the whole city is known for dangerous streets. i think it would be a good experiment to see if that shield can be broken, to hold you accountable for supporting known dangerous streets. so thank you for supporting safer streets, commissioner mandelman and commissioner haney. >> clerk: thank you, caller. there are no more callers. >> chairman: all right. thank you. public comment on item 6 is closed. is there a motion to

approval item 6? commissioner haney? moved by haney. thank you. >> i just wanted -- >> chairman: you want to speak? go ahead. >> just real quick. and i appreciate the comments that you brought up. i've expressed this before, as well, that we have many streets in dense residential neighborhoods, like soma and the tenderloin, that have fast-moving traffic that are designed for people to move very rapidly through them, and are not designed for the safety, quality of life of the people who live and work there. i think what we're looking at here is moving in the right direction, but in some areas, we have to do even more, including, in some cases, moving towards two-way streets. in some cases creating more space and room for crosswalks and block crosswalks, bikes, public

safe walking and slower speeds. i think what we're approving here is in that spirit, and obviously a lot more needs to be done. and i'll move the item. >> chairman: thank you. is there a second? >> second, melgar. >> chairman: seconded. madam clerk, please call the roll. >> clerk: on item 6. [roll call]

>> clerk: there are 11 ayes. the item has approval on its first reading. >> chairman: thank you. please call our next item. >> clerk: item 7, accept the final report for the golden gate report, and planning, and this is an action item. and you received about 130 public comment on this item, and they are posted to the website. >> chairman: all right. we have rachel hyatt. >> good morning, commissioners, rachel hyatt, assistant planning for sfcta. let me share my screen. >> chairman: actually, you know what? before you go, i'm

wondering if commissioners chan and mar want to make some introductory remarks? >> thank you, chair, i do. rachel, i'm going to put you on hold for a minute. i want to set up a quick contact for what raphael rachel isabout to present today. this golden gate park really started out with my predecessor, commissioner sandra lee fewer, with this and she called for the working group. i want to put in context to talk about the fact that, you know, given this amount of public comment and some of you may be aware my constituents living in district 1 have a lot of feelings about this. but i want to put it in

context that this is really just the beginning of a community conversation, not just in district 1 or on the west side, but really it requires a citywide conversation. in the previous meetings that we know, what is happening on the west side, you know, it does impact the rest of the city. and golden gate park is unique. while some of us are very fortunate living in the richmond can call it a neighborhood park. we know it is really a city park and a world park. people do come from all around the world to san francisco to visit golden gate park. so i want to also put that in context that, you know, we have a lot of thinking about what should be happening in golden gate park in terms of road

closures, specifically on j.f.k. drive. my great mentor and former board, supervisor sophie maxwell, who also started the safe streets all around the city, has taught me from that lesson is that when everyone walks away just a little bit unhappy from a situation, from a solution, it actually means that we're doing something right. it means that we bring stakeholders together, create compromise and solutions. there is also a saying that, you know, the devil is in the details. i really believe that the solution is actually in details, to allow us to really dive deeper, beyond this study at this point, which will help us find solutions along the long-term, to make sure that golden gate park is bikeable, walkable, and safe for everyone to share the roads. i want to talk about the

fact that, you know, from just listening to my constituents, but also everyone all across the city, you know, there are issues like parking garage accessibility for seniors and disabled communities. and the eastern end entrance, which actually, frankly, there was a pretty serious injury with a cyclist in that part of the park entrance. also, fulsom street improvement, and i want to see increase in the public safety in the north/south direction. all of these things is what we need to talk about while we think about what is happening inside golden gate park. i really want to encourage everyone, colleagues, you included, and really my constituents, is to reject the false choice, the false choice of either close it or open it.

i think that we can do better, we can do more. i also want to put in context that previously, before the pandemic, that this portion of j.f.k. drive was already -- it had its closure on the weekends, sundays, and also saturdays, april through september. and so with all of that, i look forward to having rachel to present us this presentation today. but i just, again, wanted to remind everyone this is just the beginning of a community conversation, and i look forward to it. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner chan. commissioner mar? >> thank you, chair mandelman. i just want to briefly add to commissioner chan's very good framing remarks about the importance of this study and the decisions that we're considering ahead regarding golden gate park and j.f.k. drive. and i want to appreciate

the thoughtful work of the entire working group, as well as the contributions of the t.a. staff in guiding this process in repairing the report. one thing i do want to stress here is the importance of thinking and planning proactively and holistically for transportation access and needs on the west side. as this report highlights, we can't think critically about the impacts of streets in golden gate park without thinking critically about overall park access, mobility, and circulation in the surrounding neighborhoods. our streets are a network, and the changes that have been made in the last year reactively, urgently, and without public process affect the entire network. both the benefits and the negative consequences of these changes are accumulative, and the frustration many are feeling about these changes isn't about a single street; it is about the accumulative disruptions on travel patterns, when j.f.k. is

closed at the same time as the great highway, and at the same time as major construction on 19th avenue and taravel. the open spaces are very significant and real, but so are the challenges they've created for north/south travel and circulation, and we have to address these challenges as urgently as we move to create the open space in the first place. and as i said before, and i will say again, at the end of the pandemic, as it grows nearer, we must shift our work from temporary, reactive measures, to permanent, proactive ones. this report represents an example of that shift, and our planning for the next phase of these streets must prioritize the public process, community input, and a comprehensive planning process. it is also just the start of the conversation, as commissioner chan said. and i really appreciate the commitment for additional outreach and public engagement. a year ago, we were reacting to an emergency,

and it made sense to move urgently to meet the needs of the moment. agencies didn't have time for a public process then, but we do now. and this is absolutely necessary to realize better outcomes. these streets belong to the public, and so should the decision for how they're best uged. thanks. used. thanks. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner mar. we'll go back to ms. hyatt, and bible we i beliee we have two more from the m.t.a. >> rachel hyatt, assistant deputy for planning at sfcta. i believe my screen is sharing now. >> chairman: it is. >> all right. so as mentioned, at the request of former district 1 commissioner sandra fewer, sfmta convened a working group of community groups and park institutions to discuss

and articulate and make sure are heard the range of access needs for golden gate park. focusing on the eastern half of the park. and this scope of our effort here is really not a conventional study. it was to convene a working group. and the goal was to make sure that the shared needs for access were heard so that they can be incorporated and inform the city's next steps. the subsequent park access planning that will happening through the rest of the year, as well as the long-term operations. j.f.k. the working group was designed to be, you know, a collaborative space, where working group members and stakeholders could share and voice the values of their members. and in most cases these needs were independent of the operational configuration of j.f.k.

drive. so the background has been shared, but i'll just mention that the stretch of j.f.k. was closed seven days a week by the mayor in response to the covid-19 pandemic. this is the stretch from chesar drive to transverse drive so people could socially distance. the sfmta convened our working group over four meetings, starting in december 2020. this stretch has been car-free on sundays since 1967. and a shorter section has been car-free on saturdays since 2007. this current car-free configuration will -- the designation will expire 120 days after the covid-19 emergency order

is lifted. some other transportation context that is useful to know, this map shows the muni bus and rail lines that serve golden gate parks, and the neighborhoods highlighted are muni equity strategy neighborhoods. this portion has about 18% of the total parking spaces east of transverse drive, and about 20% of the total accessible parking in that section of the park. the spaces are all unmetered. about a third in golden gate park took place on j.f.k. drive, east of transverse. the working group included 17 active members, representing short distance, long distance, citywide park interests, park institutions,

transportation organizations, travelers with special needs, such as people with disabilities and children. we did invite working group representatives from the c.d.c., chinatown community development center, and sought a district 10 representative through a number of different groups, the participatory budget and task force, and the facility commission and others, and, unfortunately, none were able to participate. from this shows the ark of the four meetings that we convened. in the first meeting, members confirmed the group's shared values, which there were a lot of shared values, and provided input on draft city goals for park access. in meeting number two, members referred to relevant policies governing -- or guiding park access, reviewed

existing data on access and safety. the city presented the changes that they have been making to park access in response to the car-free designation. in particular, the addition of more accessible parking spaces. [please stand by] they're meant

access and experience for all in golden gate park and are meant to be considered as components of more comprehensive transportation plans for the park and they will be further considered by the city as the city goes ahead as they continue to develop along. overall, the frame work and the full framework is part of the closure enclosure. one example are short and long

term actions identified to address mobility challenges for people with disabilities. and the examples here are the discontinuous sidewalks and pedestrian access along the border streets, along lincoln and fullton and so a limited number of access points into the park on the surrounding neighborhoods. these are the short and long-term actions identified to address transit and retail access needs and an example is a shuttle that is operated by rec park and circulates within golden gate park, but it can be made more effective through operational and design changes. today, the proposed action is to accept this final report which documents the working group process and the resulting

action framework following potential acceptance of the report by the sfta board. sfmta will lead the public design process which will ultimately develop a recommendation for jfk. that process will build on and take into consideration the contributions of the working group and also conduct fraud public outreach in parallel sfta will conduct at the april 13th meeting and we anticipate bringing an appropriation request in the coming months to support that work. and so i will now turn it over to sfmta director jeff tollen.

>> and i see commissioner haney. do you want to jump in. >> supervisor haney: thank you. >> thank you, rachel. i'm director of the sfmta and we're so grateful for the work staff has completed. this will include detailed analysis covering transportation looking at the eastern part of golden gate park, more like a university campus than a typical park and also expanding beyond the boundaries of the park. as rachel already said and as the supervisors have mentioned earlier, golden gate park is the flagship park of the entire city. so the other critical piece of

work that we'll be doing is outreach covering the entire city, but particularly neighborhoods that have the least access to parks. including places like bayview and chinatown neighborhoods. we'll also want to make sure that that outreach is done in ways that reach people that are least likely to participate in our online processes. we firmly believe we need to put equity first and this includes looking at the demographic as well as people with disability choices. we'll also be doing a traffic analysis not just at golden gate park, but of the entire west side and while we're doing all this work, we will continue supporting rec and parks to expand disabled parking beyond the numbers that were in the eastern park pre-covid. reinvent the park shuttle. reinvent the management and

expand access to bike rental and scooter share options. we're also, as you know, continue to work on bringing back muni service so that all of our golden gate lines are operational again. we, of course, will then evaluate a whole variety of alternative and bring our recommendations to a joint rec park and mta board meeting and then on to the board of supervisors for your final consideration. we need to bring that recommendation to all of you before the end of the 120 day period after the lifting emergency declaration. thank you. >> thank you, director. i'm wondering if we have a way of muting that person who's doing their dishes over whatever it is? but there is a person who is not muted and we are hearing their morning which we do not need to.

so, anyway, thank you. we're still with the dishes. okay. and i'm sorry, did you want to have sarah jones speak or were you concluding that? >> sarah jones is here for questions. yeah, she'll be leading our study. >> thank you director tumlin. >> thank you chair haney and director hiatt. a little noise there. i also want to thank supervisor mar and supervisor chan for their leadership on this. i think it's important to bring people together to move forward and address the myriad of issues that are related to this

you know, i think i've been open and clear about how i've felt about this. i think what has taken place on jfk drive over the last year south of market. i think it's been exciting for safety on that straight and on the park and i'm also excited about what it can mean for access to children and families. i've been out there a few times and seen an incredible use of kids and families out there and we want to make sure everyone adds access to it and i appreciate it. i know there's a disproportionate impact on some of our neighborhoods and for that reason and because of the close contact to other neighbors and because of the access that all of us have from our districts to golden gate

park, this is a citywide. i appreciate the acknowledgement of that as well and the focus and clarity around equity. with that, i had a couple questions. one of the questions i had was how we're including children and families in both what's in front of us and the steps moving forward. we did get a number of e-mails and calls in such feeling that their voices and their needs are not adequately centered in both what is in front of us and in the framework that has been created. if you can speak to the role that parents and families and kids have had in this and how we're thinking about their safety and their access from across our city to the park. >> yes, i can speak to the working group. so what's before you today really reflects the we also had

a member of the working group on the district 5 pedestrian safety advisory committee who frequently brought up what was raising up on the perspective of children in her contribution. and. >> and i can answer the second question. sarah madlin. i really appreciate you elevating the question. as you know, our kids and families are some of our main customers in the parks business and so as we continue to do our outreach on this topic, we plan to work with many of the groups we have existing relationships from the ymca to the boys and girls club as well as the purchases in our own program

throughout the city. >> thank you. i appreciate that and both with what is here and moving forward. it's a really critical part of this conversation and having making sure they have a safe place to play and sometimes children are not guilty including in some of these processes and i think we should take strides to make sure not just their needs, but their voices are included as well as the families. one thing that i wanted to clarify as well is a little bit more about what happens now. i know that there are a number of processes and steps and i want to thank commissioner walton in his role in speaks to some of the equity questions, or president walton. but in terms of what happens in

the interum, can you clarify what happens around that. will the current situation, the car-free jfk remain in place as is while these recommendations and next steps are taking place? what will happen now and in the interim as you develop the next set of recommendations? >> i can speak to that again. sarah melvin from from the parks department and sarah jones. our plan as director tumlin noted to keep the current closure in place through the covid emergency, we have authority to keep that in place for 120 days after the emergency declaration is lifted. that said, many of the recommendations in the action framework including includes

ada parking in we felt like they benefited to the access of the park and so we wanted to begin implementing those and i know muni is doing the same i'll let them speak to that. >> yeah. sarah jones. i would just add that even now and during the time of the closure, there has been adjustments as activity going on around the park has restarted and increased. so we work with rec parks to create a pass through for the buses and to allow for droppoff at the museums conservatory drive west will be re-opening to get better access.

so we keep making adjustments and changes as needs demanded. >> does that answer your question? >> for the most part. so there will be some changes in terms of shuttles and muni, but the plan right now as we move forward with a more permanent plan will be to maintain the current until we receive recommendations for a more permanent plan, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> correct. i want to emphasize before covid, this stretch of jfk was one of the most dangerous

streets in the city and so we we feel it's necessary to keep it safe until we have analyzed alternatives that we can maximize safety and accessibility saement. in the meantime. we're working very rapidly to max particularly for those getting to the park. >> all right. thank you for that and i'm definitely in support of that approach and i do think that taking the full set of community income and recommendations and some of the issues and questions that still need to be figured out and worked out i do want to

underscore the tremendous benefits that the current car-free stretch has provided in terms of safety and access and i think both of those things really need to be centered as well as the broader questions of ensuring access that you've brought and i'll look forward to seeing the outcomes of the great amount of work that still continues to make sure we get this right for everyone. thank you. >> chairman: thank you commissioner haney. commissioner melgar.

>> supervisor melgar: i had a question and a request also. so thank you so much for all the work that went in to this report and all of the many hours of community folks being involved. i appreciate that. there were some things that were missing for me in the data and i hope as we go forward with the recommendations, one is race. i think that we sometimes use neighborhood as a proxy and i think that's not good enough. i think we need to really just invest the resources into getting that data, the second one was time traveled. so i appreciate that you quantified access from from the neighborhoods in my district to the park, but i do think that it is not the same to spend an

hour on a bus versus, you know, walk across the street or just take a light rail. i think it's significant and particularly for families when you have strollers and barbecues and soccer balls and spending an hour on a bus comes across town it's a significant thing and so i wanted to have that included, you know, if we're looking at data into recommendations. and, because i think that, you know, equity is only real if you put, you know, resources into it.

i'd like to have some recommendation for mitigation be part of this proposal. and the question that i had was in terms of if, you know, we are talking about closures, my question specifically is about the soccer field in the western end of the park because as you remember, we went through a lot of controversy we resurfaced the fields here years ago to --

>> chairman: uh, oh, commissioner melgar. >> commissioner: sorry. >> chairman: we started with soccer field and then we lost you. >> commissioner: so kids across town use those soccer fields, access, if we close the section at the bottom permanently. you can only access it with all those soccer fields from from the top. and you have to go all the way around. i'm having a hard time seeing how people would access those fields, but it's closed to traffic and, you know, given that we went through such angst to fix them up i want to make sure kids in the mission and bayview and ingleside. so thank you. >> thank you. i think rec park can address

some, especially the soccer field. we have been asked by commissioner walton to undertake anning fi study and to collect some of this data that isn't available at this so we will and we will also be collaborating using rgis tools using what are called isocrones so we can look at the intersection of time as well as cost and then look at that geography and demographics. so we can look at all the impacts and how those might be mitigated either through

improvements or in terms of parking at garage or whatever else we might come up with. >> i'm happy to speak to the question. you made me smile, commissioner. sarah jones and i were in the trenches on that one as well back when you were planning commissioner. thank you for triggering all of our, but i would just point out that the stretch of jfk remains open and there is a slow street treatment and partial closures in the west end at this point. they were constructed with mayor's office of disability and, of course, the fire department, but also very much focused on having people have

access to during much of that closure, there were not activities. part of what we will be working on with the and your questions are all exactly what we need to be looking at and make sure people can still access those features. our goal here is not to make it difficult or bringing your giant picnic and we want to make sure that that can still

happen. >> chairman: okay. supervisor walton. >> from my point i'm concerned about what's happening when we do all these studies. it just seems like people are comfortable with who is accessing jfk right now and so no matter what data you're trying to manipulate, it makes me sick to my stomach. and the fact that folks are okay with that and let's rust research and study, that's a

problem. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner walton. >> chairman: if staff would like to respond, i will allow them to or we will go to public comment. >> yeah. this is supervisor safai. can i speak if staff's not going to respond. >> chairman: commissioner safai, if you would like to speak you're able to. >> supervisor safai: yeah, i just want to comment on some of the comments my fellow commissioners made. i think that when we're approaching i understand this conversation is about jfk, but

i think that's too much of a narrow perspective. i think there needs to be a study and an analysis of the entire park. director tumlin used the analogy of looking at it like a campus, i think that's the right approach in terms of all of the networks. i think those are all the things disability access that some of the things that maybe haven't been accessed are and many of the institutions are there, you know, our institutions, the museums, some of the attractions were built in the intoor interior of the park. you need roads to access them

and you also need roads to protect them. so i think it would behoove all of us. i think it would make a better analysis if we were looking at this in its entirety and i think that we definitely need to approach this with care. thank you, mr. chair. >> chairman: thank you commissioner safai. so i think we need to do a little bit of agenda management right now. i believe i'm understanding that we have and last i was texted about this about 80 folks waiting to speak in the queue? is that right, director chang? >> i believe so. it could be fewer, but there's quite a few. >> chairman: all right. we're in the 50 to 80 range. i am going to have to reduce the time that folks have because we have a 2:00 board of

supervisors meeting and i think supervisors should have at least half an hour or hour to grab some food. so we're going to do one minute of public comment and for staff, we are not going to get to items 8 or 9 today and so i'm going to continue those to our next meeting. and now, let's open this up to public comment at 1 minute each. >> chair. i believe our operator is having some technical difficulties.

apologies. >> chairman: okay. >> i will continue to keep you updated. just a reminder that to make public comment on an item, dial star 3. once you dial star 3, you will be added to the queue to speak. do not press star 3 again or you will be removed and added back to the bottom of the

queue. >> okay. we're going to need about two minutes to break to reset the public phone line. we're having technical difficulties. >> chairman: . okay. let's reset until 11:35. >> board commissioners and >> operator, can you hear me?

>> hello. >> hello, caller. can you verify that you can hear me? hello, caller? >> it's been established.

>> let's try this again. can you hear me, public? okay. >> thank you, caller, your one minute begins now. i appreciate your patience. >> hi.

thank you. good morning. i'm zack lipkin in district 6. i'm a strong supporter of a car-free and kid safe jfk. jfk was one of the least safest streets in the city. for this to, work, we need the park to be accessible to everyone and seniors with disabilities. and i think the staff already implementing them, especially the expansion of the accessible biking space. i'm most concerned this report balanced the need for car-free space for children. the car-free access for children has been watered down to putting up signs begging people not to run children over. the climate emergency, vision zero. 80% sustainable mode share, does this commission mean any of it? as we implement these actions

to make our accessible safe for everyone. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller, your one minute begins now. >> my name is charlie doris. i'm a resident of san francisco. commissioner chan said that the devil is in the details. the closing that jfk would create and especially true when it comes to lewd disability parking spaces. not accessing access. space must be near where the disabled person is trying to get to. for example, a blue space if someone is in the wheelchair. the shuttle would have so when

you come up with solutions, come up with real solutions and not just things that look like a good idea or paper over an access problem. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> hi, thank you. i am a parent to a 6-year-old. i lived in the city my entire adult life and i've been a homeowner in the city for that time. i am also a current member of the academy. until a year ago. i have felt safe enough to purchase a bike. this is not just about safety

and health and joy for san francisco's children. of course, it is so much about that. but it is also about my own safety and joy. and the current closure of jfk has prompted my 71-year-old mother of riding a bike in the park. >> thank you, caller. thank you. i advocate for a car-free golden gate park. i come from outside of san francisco to access the park and i use public transit. muni transit sometimes three or

four different trips to get to the park and so i advocate we could develop a shuttle system and power access, but not cars. we have climate and pollution goals and we shouldn't be polluting the park and most of all, the more cars that you bring in, the most access you have. and more injuries. so i think we need to have a car-free golden gate park, just the central park to new york city is free of cars today. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller, your one minute begins now. >> hi. it's impossible to achieve the goals to improve equity and access for all residents while keeping it a car-free space in

golden gate park. so i encourage the commissioners to support the final report and a car-free jfk drive. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your minute begins now. >> my name is luke bornhumaner. i'm a father a two-year-old. i along with my 2-year-old daughter and 5,000 supporters urge you to take action today until all studies, outreach, and access studies are completed. san francisco needs more not less kids safe spaces for the kids in our city and you have an opportunity to send a clear and uplifting message that those kids' lives are valued and kid safe spaces belong in our city. the equity can and must be addressed. but make no mistake, the calls to delay this decision for

months and stakeholder working groups is a failed attempt to tie this up in bureaucracy. for those of you experience jfk, you know it's full of life, and human connection. i urge you to take action today to save kids safe jfk and move towards a better future for our city. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your minute begins now. >> good morning commissioners. my name is sarina unger. i participated in the golden gate five committee group as a parent and as an advocate for child friendly cities. i believe the framework resulting from the working group represents a very good starting point for sfmta. it will give them a good baseline for which they will be able to diligently look for options to access the park. please accept this report and

move forward to address the goals and needs that we identify and to work on solutions. i also urge you to keep jfk car-free while mta and rec and parks do their engagement. as a spokes person, i know car-free jfk is a valuable resource to many families, seniors and especially young adults and teens who need open spaces to give them a chance of self-determination and independence. we owe this -- >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your one minute begins now. >> hello. my name is judy dorsey. can you hear me? >> yes. we can. >> my name is judy gorsky. i live in d4 i would like to say and thank commissioner the

board and connie chan for their comments and also president walton for his. i don't think there's any reason to stop sharing the road as we did before the emergency. bicyclists have always biked in the existing biking lane and the bicycle lanes are plentiful and the bicyclists have been safe in the past. i think it's unfair to the general population who own, drive, and park vehicles to redesign the streets with bicycles as the top priority when so many taxpayers and voters cannot use it for daily transportation and couldn't use them even if they wanted to. so i believe that during the time once the order is lifted that things should go back to the way they were pre-pandemic and we should share jfk. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your two minutes begins

now. caller? >> hello. am i on the line? great. my name's greg gar. i volunteer in the park every day. and motor vehicles are the greatest threat to people in golden gate park and i believe that closing jfk to cars permanently is long overdue. we should just abide by existing city policies. it's a transit first city. i take muni every day into golden gate park. it's no problem. we have the golden gate park master plan stating reduced the impacts of motor vehicles on the park experience. the board of supervisors has unanimously declared it an emergency on ped fatalities. we're pursuing vision zero and it's just a no-brainer. so let's make golden gate park a joy rather than a parking

lot. thank you very much. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your one minute begins now. >> hi, can you hear me? >> yes. >> super. good morning chair and commissioners. i'm a parent of a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old and a dog owner. we're family members of the cal young for several years and i ask that you accept the study as a first step and call for city agency to begin community outreach. and i want to add my boys to the future of car-free jfk. my husband and i bring our kids and dog to the golden gate park every day and all of us have been enjoying a safe place to run and play without bringing our cars. also, our two kids have been learning to ride bikes and that

car-free stretch has been a safe place for them to ride and i know that families all over the city have enjoyed bringing their kids to that park for that purpose. it's anomaly. let's keep our status as national leaders indigenous park spaces make it safe. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. caller, your one minute begins now. >> hello. >> yes, caller. >> hello? >> yes, caller. your minute begins now. >> are you ready, caller or should i move on to the next? >> yes. good morning. my name is luscious i live in district 5 of supervisor

preston. my mom is white my dad is black. standing cars in if golden gate park. i need space to feel free shake off the shakies and get energized. i have a bike [inaudible] like the local parks wild life. the park is our home. we just [inaudible] one, do the action plan to do the san francisco climate action plan. cars are trash. stop polluting with green house gases. >> thank you, caller.

hello. caller, your one minute begins now. >> hello, chair mandelman and commissioners. i live in d1 and i don't have a carment right now, jfk is a space where kids can ride a bike while also learning the rules of the roads where their mistakes are not deadly. my 4-year-old will not be killed by a commuter in a car. we hope to continue using jfk after the pandemic including for getting to school. safety and learning are not only for weekends and climate change does not take a break monday through friday. i really imagine what our city could be. if it's more accessible and convenient to take public transit. i also agree that it's not a question when more trips in our city are taken without cars. those who need or still choose to use a car will benefit from less traffic. thank you. >> thank you, caller.

hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> thank you. i'm a resident of d10. i just want to add some facts to the conversation. the two museums sit on top of an 800 space garage. there's currently 12 miles of absolutely free curbside parking that results in about 4,000 curbside parking spots which are all free. golden gate park is one of the most car-friendly parks in the united states. we're asking about a 1.5 mile stretch in addition to those 12 miles of free parking to be reserved for everyone else. so the idea that bike lanes in the park are plentiful. >> so i called the management company and they gave me that number. >> caller. >> that's someone else's line.

>> 100%. >> i'm sorry. i made my point. thank you very much. >> okay. thank you, caller. >> chairman: can we mute that other line? >> we don't know what caller it is. >> supervisor safai, mute yourself. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner walton. all right. let's go back to public comment. >> okay. hello, caller. your one minute begins now.

hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> okay. i guess i'm back on. i'll just add quickly. appreciative on the time. there's twelve surface parking lots. there's a giant parking lot on ocean beach. there's pick up and drop off access on the music concourse. cars are in no way in any way a minority kind of access group for golden gate park if anything. what we should do is price parking in golden gate parks to make people have higher rates of car turnover for those who are going to enter the park via jfk. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> am i on? >> yes, you are. >> okay. my name's sean mcgeefr.

i'm a resident of san francisco and i would like to echo what greg gar just said a few minutes ago. i would like -- i'm here to support keeping jfk car-free. in fact, i would like to suggest a car-free corridor jfk all the way down to the beach so that people could actually enjoy being on a bike and running and all of the rest. last cars in golden gate park means less co2 emissions, less accidents and less damage for property and less garbage. so i -- golden gate park like a lot of older parks was designed for people to enjoy. let's enjoy it without the threat of cars everywhere. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now.

>> thank you very much. my name is maneesh champsy. i'm a resident of the sunset. i really enjoy car-free jfk. we never went out to jfk all that much until the pandemic and with the car-free space, it's been wonderful. i'm probably there once or twice a week. i do want to talk about vision zero. i had never realized that jfk was part of the high injury network. i think that's shocking. there was a city report years ago that noted that victims of traffic crashers are disproportionately lower income and people of color. obviously, i don't know the race of any of the people who are who have been injured on jfk, but i think that that is an important thing to note that, you know, i think the biggest thing that we owe our

residents is to make sure that they're safe. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your 1 minute begins now. >> good morning. my name's winston parsons. i used to teach at the y. i'm urging commissioners to accept the report so we can move on to the next phase of this process. the one thing is i'm frustrated and policies and statues around the park for 150th. i think they can start throwing down some fresh asphalt. ultimately, while there are a wide range of opinions, pedestrian. few ever felt safe on jfk before. 40% are over 65. and call me crazy, but a

disproportionate number of seniors are ending up in the hospital is worse to access further for some of my neighbors. this has been unprecedented mobility even after she experienced the stroke because now she can take her tric out to jfk. >> thank you, caller. >> hello, caller, your minute begins now. >> yeah. thank you. my name is stuart collins. i live inspect district 9 at the southern end of the mission. i want to thank everyone for putting together this report. it's a lot of work and i like all your diligence looking at what works for our city. i'm a big supporter in keeping jfk car-free permanently. i have a three-year-old daughter and my wife and i need to get out to the park and we strapped our bikes to the back

of a cargo bike which is cheaper than a car to buy. we bike all the way up golden gate way. it's doable with that kind of bike and we're able to bring that out and really enjoy the space in jfk and it's just a happening place that's something to brag about for our city. so thank you for this report. i'm a big supporter for car-free jfk in the city and letting everybody in the city make it there in ways that work for them. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your minute begins now. >> hello. my name's richard rothman and i was a member of the working group represented prozac and most of our members want to support supervisor walton's study and we want to make sure the park is accessible to everyone and, second, as a

richmond district resident, we want to make fullton street slows down the traffic so that our residents can walk to the park. they can't walk to the park if they're scared to cross fullton street and there's just too many speeding accidents on fullton street and also stanion street is becoming a problem. so i'm happy to hear the director of transportation saying that he's going to look at the whole problem. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your minute begins now. >> hi, thank you. my name is cliff barger. i want to thank everyone for their hard work on this report, but i feel like it overlooks jfk drive's important role in our bike network as a crucial safe link. for those of us living on the east side of the city to access the west side and vice versa, i'm really dismaid by the

number of people calling in asking to return car traffic to jfk when so many alternatives for cars exist, but there's no safe alternatives for people to bike across town and get to the beach and get to other destinations. it's just hard to do with so many roads for cars and relatively few for bikes. i really hope that the commissioners will consider maintaining car-free jfk and kids safe jfk for the duration of the study and we'll ask the working group to include more of these perspectives. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> this is daniel yost. chair mandelman and commissioners, please make jfk safe. we're moving back because of

car-free jfk. my husband and i moved to san francisco in the 90s. we're headed back to san francisco with our kids because we want to live in a place that he can walkable and bikable and where you don't need a car to get around. we've driven up regularly and jogged and biked on jfk frequently and not once had a problem finding parking there. a huge portion of the space is dedicated to cars. we have an opportunity to keep a small portion committed to keeping people first on one of our most dangerous streets. please make kids safe jfk permanent. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> charles perkins, district 7. it's really easy for politicians to throw out things

like children and families and to support anything they want to -- anything on their agenda because who can argue against children and families, but keep in mind that anti-car sentiment that permeates so much of what the city does, often the victims of it are the families who have kids and must drive them to school and tote strollers like commissioner melgar said. i raised two kids in san francisco. we went to golden gate park all the time. sometimes, we would walk. we were forced to drive our picnic baskets, we could not do that on a bike or on foot. jfk just recently in the last couple of years was reconfigured so there are bike lanes on the closed off part right now. it's too early to say what the effect of those new bike lanes will be on accidents in the park. but it will certainly reduce them. >> thank you, caller.

hello. caller, your minute begins now. >> hi, i want to share my strong support, sorry. this is patrick. i want to share my strong support for keeping jfk car-free. it provides so much needed. including kids and people without being hit by a car driver. that's so important. we don't have enough of that space in our city. also, please expand the car-free portion of jfk. right now, it's only a mile long. it should expanded full length of the park all the way to the beach to provide this important public space. also, you know, as a reminder, central park is close to cars years ago in new york city and that has been shown to be a very effective and popular decision made by their leaders and i know new york city is not san francisco, but our park is

bigger than central park and i think deserves to have all the cars removed from the park in time. i think that's inevitable. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your minute begins now. caller? hello, caller. your minute begins now. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> i was just unmuted. thank you. my name is sarah balker. i live in district 5 and as a person who regularly rides my bike and walks to golden gate park and as well as a parent with two teens, uses jfk to ride bicycles. i also support this permanent car-free space throughout jfk and golden gate park.

it's part of what makes san francisco an international gem and it deserves to shine addressing access concerns and can and should complement a safe park rather than compete with those goals. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. hello, caller, your one minute begins now. >> hello, thank you. my name's barren, i live on 8th street from district 1. i wanted to say that ever since the pandemic started, i've been going to jfk about four to five times a week and what i see it's a thriving flourishing site. there's a lot of pedestrians having a good time skating, bicycling, jogging and the number one thing that people aren't mentioning here is that as a pedestrian, if you're

trying to share the road with a car, really what it needs is you have to think about the car number one. that car could kill you, maim you, hit you, and for them it might be a bad day on their insurance claim or something but it could be your life and studies i'm advocating for ways to keep jfk car-free permanently. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> yes. my name is peter bell don, i live in district ten and i'm a parent with two kids and i'm also urging you to keep jfk car-free permanently in addition to enjoying biking and walking on car-free jfk, i have driven a car there several times recently and had no trouble parking nearby the park

deck. for the studies up coming, i would encourage you to also look at income. particularly the lowest income people who cannot afford cars parking on jfk will provide them no benefit and that is one of the most vulnerable groups we should be looking at. secondly, i appreciate your remarks who encourage to look at people going through the park, not just to the park as you noted, this is a corridor for transportation. it's one of the only safe spots for those lowest income folks who cannot afford a car to get from a to b and finally, on these studies it's critical we compare the now to before so we're not looking at isolation numbers without a comparison. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hello. thanks for having me. this is dr. adam davis. i'm a pediatrician and a resident of district 1 and a father of an 8-year-old and

7-year-old keeping jfk park open -- jfk road closed to cars is better for our children. as many callers have called it leaves it a more safer city and it should be done 24/7 from here on out. thank you for your time. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller, your minute begins now. >> hi, commissioners. my name is david miles. i am in district 1. i've been skating golden gate park for the last 42 years and it seems like ground hog day to me because we're going over the same things. the lesson is you cannot put the tooth paste back into the tube. people have discovered how wonderful it is with the park loads car traffic. they know it. more and more people people that pay these taxes and and

the roller skating scene, we've got people coming from all over the central valley. they come to golden gate park. they have a great time. keep the park closed to car traffic, please. thank you. >> thank you, caller. >> hello. i'm calling in today to support the final support for the golden gate park working group and action framework which i was able to take part in. i also urge you to keep the closure on jfk drive closed

after the past four months, it's become clear, accessibility and equity are top priorities in golden gate park. i'm confident we can have a car-free equitable and accessible jfk drive. there are a few things i would have liked to see in this report. data for the current usage for the past year. accessibility in place for the past year and more directions to determine how we can better utilize the concourse garage. these will be addressed. i also want to note that this report is a small portion of the robust conversation the working group had and i'd like to acknowledge we were just at the beginning of the process. thank you for your time. >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your one minute begins now. >> hi there. my name is sarah and i'm a district 5 resident and i want jfk to remain car-free.

and john f. shelly drive. that day, my friend courtney tweeted a response, the very next day on april 29th. courtney biked from the department through golden gate park along the great highway down to stern grove and back. she even saw a baby owl. two days later, courtney was shot and killed on the way home from a walk. courtney was a hopeful san franciscan who loved the city and wanted to see a car-free transit city come to life. the answer is not re-open jfk to cars to increase access. the answer is increase access to car-free jfk. >> thank you, caller.

hello. caller, your 1 minute begins now. >> hi, i'm lisa. i permanently support the closure of cars to jfk. even with limited mobility issues, i do access the park. but the only real issue is in park car grid lock blocking the bus. i hope that every member of the stakeholder working group was required to visit and experience the jfk space as it exists now before making recommendations and that everyone voting here was required to do the same. the space is full of joy and activity in a way i've never seen in the park. separately, it is a disgrace that we've had to listen to members here wash their dishes

or make personal calls -- >> thank you, caller. hello. caller, your one minute begins now. >> hello. good afternoon, commissioners. my name is kieran far. i live in the mission district nine along with my wife and two kids. like 44% of the mission, we do not own a car. our only access to the west side of the car or mission is by bike or transit. i'm asking you to keep jfk car-free. i'd like to share a fact. our most vulnerable community members whether you define that by income, age, geography or cultural heritage do not own cars at the same rate as the general population. it is not how it works. this is not about walking away happy or unhappy. this is a matter of life and

death for your residents. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller, your minute begins now. caller? hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. may name is ann christy here representing surrender. i'm here in support of a car-free and safe jfk drive. jfk has become one of the city's more beloved outdoor used spaces. and incomes play, exercise, relax and recreate. a kid safe jfk does not need to come at the expense of access to the parks or museums especially for disadvantaged communities. let's take advantage of this

moment when so many are focused on golden gate parks to not just restore but increase access to the parks and museums especially for those low income communities and communities of color. in addition to the strategies outlined in this report, there are over 4 empty spaces on an average weekday which should be provided by the museums to their employees and volunteers at reduced cost. and the attraction in the vicinity including ucsf to join together -- >> thank you, caller. >> thank you. >> hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> morning, commissioners. my name's jason. thank you so much for your time in hearing this out today. currently walking my 7-year-old daughter on car-free jfk. it's important to keep this car-free. it's been a great area for kids, parents, and everyone in

the city to experience during the pandemic. i also spend about 360 out of 365 days in golden gate park. i can tell you that it is equitable. i see plenty of diversity in the park and i'm looking forward to a solution that includes people from all over the city but also in the state of the park for our children and also the bike riders, runners, joggers, and everyone that joins the streets of the park. thank you for listening and thank you for your time. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. my name is alex. i'm a san francisco resident and richmond transportation user. like many of the callers, i see

there are very easy answers to increasing access and making sure that it is equitably shared across the cities. i also want to point out this is something we shouldn't be fighting about. i just had a neighbor who's 68 years old who was injured. there were two -- there was a double car accident just outside of the park. we shouldn't be looking at adding cars back into a safe space. that was once part of a high injury network. we should be looking to increase the safe space across the city for everyone. that's it. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> hi. i live in corona heights. i am a scientist at ucsf. i use my cargo bike to take my child to and from day care.

and even though being in the bike lane, we have been hit and killed multiple times. but when we go to jfk, we're so impressed with the open road and we can just enjoy the space. my child can be on the scooter or the bike. it's just so important for kids and i feel like a lot of the things in the world are incentiveized by money and such and these kids, who can support them other than parents. they can't support themselves as much in those kind of ways. so i urge you guys to make jfk kid-free safe. and please make an open space just a mile long at least for us to feel safe and free for our kids to live. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> thank you. good morning. this is patricia eric. i'm calling on behalf of the concerned residents of the

sunset. about 10:00 this morning, there was a car flipped over an park presidio northbound at the car filter and 25th avenue. this is just another example of how dangerous the traffic surrounding the park is right now. in the study on page twenty-six says one of the goals is restrict nonparked traffic to streets at the edge of the park that slowly separates business and shopping and commuter traffic from the park experience. this is one of the stated goals and this is another very clear reason why we should open up the upper great highway. the upper great highway is one of the primary conduits to the park. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller.

your one minute begins now. >> hello, can you hear me? >> yes. >> great. my name is francisco. and i live in district 9 and i'm in favor of the possible expansion of closed service roads in golden gate park. i think the problems that this might create for car users are greatly exaggerated and specifically i'd like to address the one of folks who are disabled in one way or another. getting to the park just makes a place like a check point where people come in and they have to show their disability card to bring their car to the park. it'd be like the buses that come through for public transportation. so that's not a good valid argument to say people are not going to be able to get to the park space. that's done to people of color.

low income people. all those folks have a harder time getting to the park when there are cars in the park and cannot enjoy it as much. so transit first. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, my name's nancy arbackle. i'm a total supporter of car-free jfk. i'm a member and regular visitor to the museum. i just love car-free jfk. i go to the park more often than ever because i love feeling safe as i enjoy walking to and from the museum and in the park. it's just great. so i totally support a car free jfk. thank you very much. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> hi, my name is jason alley.

i'm a resident of district 5 and i'm calling to also throw my support to keeping jfk drive car-free not just throughout the current outreach process but i hope permanently as well. i like others have really enjoyed to take advantage of jfk drive and use the space for what it should be which is an open space in a park for everyone of all ages and all backgrounds and i do want to also reiterate what others have called out about being able to more efficiently utilize infrastructure that's already in the park like parking garages and parking on the other streets in the park that allow for vehicle traffic. thank you for your time. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now.

>> good afternoon chair mandelman and commuter. we also love to load up the stroller with our skates. we now picnic near the conservatory weekdays. car-free jfk is one of the best things that happened to golden gate park. this is an incredible places where we don't have to hear or

fear traffic. >> hello caller. your minute begins now. ♪ jfk to the great highway ♪♪ keep it car-free. it is not 1950, supervisor walton. it is two thousand twenty-one. one day last september, the sun did not rise the sky was orange and we were choking on wild fire smoke. one bay when the shelter-in-place order was in effect, i could see san jose from the marin headlands. that is our our air should be every single day. here's the news, we are in a climate emergency. this study is a relic of a myopic 20th century paradigm in which we are dependent on cars. you might as well adopt an

owner's manual of a range rover. peace. i yield my time. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i'm fortunate to live in richmond right next to golden gate park. for the eight years i've lived here, i've seen the change recently. it's been so beautiful to see it activated. i see people of all ages and ability skating, biking, walking doing whatever. you're talking about 0.8% of the streets san francisco controls being made car-free. this is our easiest opportunity. while i definitely want to see

more people getting to the park i don't think 300 more spaces that we don't have traffic control for are going to make a difference. we need real plans to get people to park other ways. so keep it car-free and continue to figure out how to get people to the park without cars. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. i'm calling in from district 5. i'm a proud immigrant to this country, i'm also a proud resident of san francisco and nothing makes me prouder than when we give space back to people and take it away from cars. truly, jfk being car-free has been one of the most brightest spots in the pandemic and it's a shame that we're debating

such an incredible piece of san francisco. you know, we should keep jfk car-free not just because it allows for boundless recreation for all of our residents, but quite frankly, it was because of our high injury corridor. there was people being maimed and killed on that street. we've done it through the pandemic so we should just keep doing it quite frankly, through the sunset and the richmond it's very difficult to bike to the beach. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller, your minute begins now. >> hi, my name is amy morris. i'm a district two resident. i'm a member of cal academy and a mom of two middle schoolers. i just wanted to say i'm on

car-free jfk. it's been a huge bright spot for us during the year where our family has felt really frustrated about the lack of prioritizing kids in our city and i feel like it's a rare place where they can get out and be independent and safe and connect to nature and be active and i really encourage to keep jfk car-free and find equitable ways to do that. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> i live in district 9. my family does not own a car like in others on the car here and we've been enjoying car-free jfk on weekends and

it's been great having a safe space for my 13-year-old daughter. there are very few places in the city that provide a safe area for these activities. i understand there are equity issues in accessing the park and it's completely disheartening to hear commissioner walton describe the park as the 1950s south. we are also facing a climate emergency. 1/3 of san francisco's carbon emission comes from cars. bringing back car traffic to jfk would be a step backward. please accept the study as the first step and keep jfk car-free as the process continues. thank you. >> hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. my name is stacy randecker. i've lived in san francisco for 21 years. 20 of them in district ten. i have two teenagers.

they haven't been to car-free jfk. you know why? because i don't like to drive cars. i ride a bike and it's not safe for them to get there on a bike. i can't believe we are fighting over this. we are a transit first city. we've doubled and tripled down on it and the rates of death only go up. we are in a climate emergency and we are talking about a mile and a half. there should be hundreds of miles of streets just like car-free jfk around the city so that people in district 10 don't have to go there to experience that magic. i cannot believe that as our elected leaders, that you are even hesitating on this. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now.

>> hi, james morrowick district 9. my family supports car-free and kids safe jfk in golden gate park. it does not adequately prioritize kids. makes no mention of the open space to play, scoot, skate, stroll, bike, and dance, which families from all over the city are doing now in huge numbers. the only thing the framework proposes to offer children is signs on the ground. preschool aged kids are tiny and invisible to drivers in large vehicles. we deserve safe joyful spaces open to all people and i bet you to make our city less hostile to kids. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now.

>> hello. can you hear me? >> yes. >> all right. i'm a resident of district 5. i go to the park and through the park most days of the week and take my daughter to day care. i fully support permanent car-free jfk at the very least. i want to say that all this concern about equity and access to the park, if you make jfk accessible to cars again, then i, a roll resident who is fortunate to have a bike, to have a car, i will be the one going through the park with my car. i go north of the park every day. i don't want to take my car through the park and my neighbors will use that road. i don't want to. please don't make me do that. >> thank you, caller.

hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hello, commissioners. i'm a resident of district 1. jfk has opened the city to my family. every week, i bike my one and a half-year-old on jfk. i can hear my song chatter as things open up, i have started biking my 8-year-old to school as well. i hope my little ones learn to bicycle on jfk with the same freedoms his brother was afforded. and support active transportation. i look forward to participate engine the next phase of

outreach. please keep jfk car-free and open to my kids while we do the hard work to make it permanent and work better for all users. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. i live in district 3. no safe streets anywhere near me so i've spent a lot of time on concretejfk even with the car night mayor. i just want to mention one thing. cars really inherently not equitable. every person you're trying to help is members who don't use cars. disproportionately people with disabilities impossible to drive. can even less likely afford the high-cost of cars. teenagers and other children have gone their whole lives without driving. you're talking about equity.

equity solution involves making streets safe to use. when you solve the accessibility problem for people who don't have cars. just because you have a car, doesn't mean you have to bring it everywhere. long past time for us to move past cars and the solution. let's move forward and hopefully it helps everybody. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, my name's matt. resident of district eight, parent of two and organizer with kids safe sf. i'm asking you to reject the golden gate park working group framework. this framework elevates the needs of marin county car museum director and condoners over the safety of san francisco kids. this framework doesn't represent the needs of children who rely on kids safe jfk to play and travel independently. the children of san francisco and san francisco's of all backgrounds are in love with

kids safe and car-free jfk. kids safe jfk is a place where grandparents can roll side by side with a parent pushing a stroller. i can tell you from personal experience, we don't have sidewalks wide enough for that. where kids learn to ride bikes, scooters, and skate. where kids can be kids. we need more of these spaces across the city, not less. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> hi, my name is jay from the richmond district. i support car-free jfk in the future process but disappointing that a few walking and biking families. the single line item for child height warning signs most

drivers ignore is pathetic. the by not exmrift acknowledging the value of car-free jfk is a need for all san franciscans and regional visitors. there's a track record. disconnected from the topic being discussed today. members while defeated a measure to reduce the golden gate park speed limit from 25 to 15 is too slow for drivers to once again come through the park and speed throughout the city. it prioritizes personal convenience and casual disregard for public safety. i do agree with president walton's perspective -- >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. caller? hello, caller.

hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> as i've been listening to these public comments, i've got to admit i'm completely sicken. the city is detouring tourists and money. no one is commuting on jfk. let's call it what it is. i have a 20 month old and unfortunately, if you can't control your children, you can't have them be in a safe place, golden gate park has so many green spaces to every parent that's calling right now and saying that there's no green space for their children. it's completely ridiculous. i'm sorry that pedestrians can't look where they're going and look off of their phones for one minute and walk across the street and i just don't understand how this city does not care about other people coming in and enjoying our

spaces. you can't -- the young museum and the academy of sciences need people to come and, guess what, that means there's cars that need to come in. >> thank you, caller. >> if you want to use your children as a reason -- >> hello, caller. your one minute begins now. caller? ? okay. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> hi. my name is raul. i'm current a district 11 resident. i'm half lower income background from southern california. i support jfk car-free space. in particular, i just want to point out something.

i noticed that as we venture into data and analysis and things like that, i want to make sure we're not going to something called the simpsons paradox where we're not trying to find data points to confirm. are they just, you know, doing that as a side distraction until they find a point or are they actually considering things? another thing i want to point out, being part of my past modesto, california, it's kind of hard going to a congested area paying for gas just to get somewhere when i know i can't afford to do that. >> hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. my name's maya sadu. i'm a district 5 resident calling in support of car-free jfk drive. i just wanted to call in

support of the issue as a person of color. my family is a family of color and a middle class family. we cannot afford to buy a home here. i have $100,000 in student loan debt. jfk drive being car-free has been an absolute joy for our family. we don't live in the area and we need these kind of safe spaces for our son to scoot. and so we've been driving there. we're lucky enough to have a car to do so. but without an issue, i have to say, so i look forward to enjoying jfk drive car-free in the future. keep san francisco a city for all families. it's very difficult to raise a family -- >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now.

>> my name is paul valdez. first, i'm deeply concerned by commissioner walton comparing jfk to the one thousand nine hundred fiftys like many families of all different ethnicities walking in serenity or many enjoying biking with their friends. i experienced and witnessed the ultimate joy of children and their parents revelling in a fun and safe space. i think to myself, this is on jfk drive or jfk thrive should be forever. let me remind you jfk is considered a high injury corridor. 41-year-old heather miller was biking in golden gate park and was killed after being struck by a car going 50 miles per hour on jfk. you don't need a report to decide it's unsafe in the park. with that said.

i want to use my time for a quick moment of silence to honor heather miller's life. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. my name is charles whitfield. i live in eureka valley in d8. i urge you to reject the ggp action framework. the framework includes safety for noncar users and wrongly equate its access to the park with car access when transit pedestrian and bike access to preserve equal or bitter consideration. in 2019, i was hit twice and hospitalized once by cars while biking. since 2020, jfk has been part of a safe street network enabling me to get safely across town and go for a run or walk where i couldn't before.

moreover my sister who is a car owner. there's plentiful parking all over the place. i urge you to extend jfk's car-free status until it safely projects access for all users. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> my name is jessica generalkins. i am a district 5 resident. i have a 6-year-old son and we walk our bikes to golden gate park several times a week. we get to destinations. i got two of his friends to bike last year and felt that critical care is being able to safely park through golden gate park with multiple kids on

their bikes. also kindergarten class at mirror elementary and car-free jfk has resulted in increased visits to golden gate park. i'm so supportive of the efforts of rec and parks and sfmta to increase accessibility, but allowing cars back on jfk makes it unusable for children and multiple users. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller, your minute begins now. >> hi there. my name is robin and i live in district 8. i'm calling in to ask you all to reject the working groups framework and keep jfk car-free while the work continues. i go to golden gate park every day and i am passion ate about it because i'm afraid of being killed if traffic comes back to jfk east. the it is not.

there were hundreds of injuries on jfk drive in the past two years when it contains car traffic because human bodies and cars cannot mix. people of all ages, color, creed and can relax without stress or safety risks. we can hear birds chirping and musicians playing without car traffic. if you bring cars back, there will be blood on your hands. this is our city's crowned jewel park and it has never been more safe or bustling or loved than it has been this past year. don't ruin that. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> i'm the executive director of walk san francisco and we were very pleased to be part of the sftca working groups.

so the group was put in place to identifying the needs to make jfk a safe and worry-free safe for all to enjoy. all the requests that were in the report were definitely not near requests. our city agencies know that jfk and all the streets surrounding the park are on the high injury network. they've all been requested for years in the senior and disability community. so i definitely want to say this report is a step in the right direction in how we can make jfk the safe, accessible and equitable space and so grateful that the city agencies are committed to doing this

work. >> thank you, caller. caller, your minute begins now. >> thank you. me and my son go all the time to golden gate park. we haven't seen any difference in our ability to find parking. i ask that jfk remain car-free and that they look for other ways to solve the equity issues. thank you. >> thank you, caller. caller, your minute begins now. >> i've been hit by a car in a bike lane. i found it deeply offensive when the previous commenter said she didn't see a problem with people, with bikes and pedestrians sharing the road. that is literal survivor bias.

this framework fails to address climate change and park safety and recreation. the idea that traffic can be addressed by more lanes and more parking is based on the assumption that it's scientific clooe proven. more lanes creates more cars and more congestion. it also enables faster cars which are more dangerous. i found my comment -- >> thank you, caller. caller, your minute begins now. >> hi. my name is david gray. i hope to be able to watch my

2-year-old ride a bike on car-free jfk when the time comes and i think this whole conversation is just frustrating. i look at what other parents are doing and it's infuriating in a we can't create a mile and a half car-free space in the jewel part of the city. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hey. my name's chris and i'm a district 5 resident i'm calling today in strong support of keeping jfk drive open to people and close to vehicles. the improvement to safety pedestrian families and people who don't have car are too great to go back to the status quo. we need to make important improvements to access. so further away neighborhoods like chinatown and bayview.

but none of the changes need to force people using the park to risk their lives or major injury just to use the park like a park. i personally have never felt safe biking in san francisco. and so i strongly argue support in keeping a car-free jfk drive. thank you very much. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. thanks. hello. thanks to the commission and to the members of the working groups. my name is matt dove. i'm a d1 resident. i've been appreciative of having jfk opened as a space for safe recreation and nonmotor transportation during the pandemic. my kid learned to rude a bike and used the space every day for transportation and recreation. i've been commuting on foot and bike for the past 20 years and also leave groups as part of a

bike educator. none of the previous configure rations of the street made me feel safe. i hope that we keep this car-free space for the remainder of the pandemic and while we continue to craft a plan. additionally, i hope that as apart of this work, we can look at ensuring that we are progressing towards a safe network of corridors to and from ere neighborhood from the city. thanks for your time. >> thank you, caller. . >> hello, commissioners. my name is david alexander. i don't support the jfk's working groups framework or how it was chosen but definitely support the mta rec and parks mitigation. so, yes, on the one-year pilot. great work everyone. there's been accessibility

issues prior to covid-19. the mayor's office of disabilities. kid-safe jfk should be kept car-free. there 2,500 free parking spots east of transfers. look at the operational transfer of the concourse garage. the course is key to access for all. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hello. my name is will murphy. i'm a resident of district 5. i personally use jfk every day. more importantly, over the course of the last month, i've interviewed over 30 parents and families who use electric bikes in the city and specifically along the corridor in jfk through the panhandle into the

wiggle and accessing other districts in the city. every family i've spoken to is getting hit by cars. and this is district 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, in the city. over half the families mentioned replacing a car with an electric bike. so i want to highlight the behavior change that has been the result of car-free jfk and improved bike lanes and, specifically within the last year, i've talked with many families who've replaced their cars or have not purchased a car due to their electric bikes. >> hello, caller. your minute begins now. caller. >> good afternoon, my name is robert. i live in district 5. as someone who has been cooped

up for awhile during the pandemic, it's been amazing to go to car-free jfk and to be able to ride without having fear of cars. you know, i've gone to the beach or the park chalet a couple times and one time when it was open to cars was a lot worse during a time when it was open to people. now cars can go along pretty quickly and it's pretty scary when you're going 15 miles an hour in a car with no protection is right next to like going double that speed. so i support keeping jfk car-free and i ask that the framework be modified to keep in mind the needs of people like me who do not have a car. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller.

your minute begins now. >> hi. my name is adim and i live in the mission because i don't have a car and i live in the mission and i can't afford one. i bike through jfk to visit my friends in the sunset even though it takes much longer using the most direct route. over-99% of the streets in san francisco are dominated by cars, so why can't we just have one street that's for bikes and pedestrians. please keep jfk car-free permanently. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, my name is emily grek. i am a resident of d8 and have been here for the last ten years. my husband and i are proud

parents of a two-year-old who also like many parents on this call who have made public comment have seen their child enjoy car-free jfk and totally support keeping jfk kid-safe and car-free. and our two-year-old has learned how to scoot. she likes to blow bubbles in the park. share those experiences with other children she meets there and she constantly requests every day to go to the street park playground. so she calls it a playground. there is no way she would be able to call it a playground if cars were reintroduced. and, furthermore we should report car-free areas throughout san francisco. let's take a page of new york city's book -- >> thank you, caller.

hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. i live in [inaudible] district 1. [inaudible] i enjoy a safe space in the city. jfk drive is connected to the panhandle to cut out so. once again, i would love to see [inaudible] access. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, my name is dave brown, i live in district 5. i'm calling in support of car-free jfk.

i do think it's important for the city to have places for kids to go and ride bikes and skateboards and learn how to do that safely. and, also i think it's important for us as a city to think towards the future that doesn't include things like electric bikes, electric scooters, those kinds of vehicles and we need to have places for them in all parts of the city. so let's keep jfk car-free and open up some other streets in other parts of the city to car-free vehicles as well. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> i'm leslie rod. i'm in district 1 right across the street on fullton from the park and 10th avenue. i can see the trees as i look out the window and i have had a

stroke. what with my husband as companion, i'm learning to walk and three wheel bike again with car free jfk very important. i support extended jfk car-free and i go there whenever i can to get myself better and now my husband has a few words he wants to say. quickly. >> yes. just a few. we have lived here for 24 years right across the street and i have never seen more children and more seniors using and enjoying jfk and the entire park and it's a lovely to see. we urge you to keep jfk closed permanently. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now.

caller. hello, caller? hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> i'm michael smith. a san francisco resident and park user for many decades and was a cofounder of walk san francisco. the park was created for people to enjoy. park and recs achieved a huge success to increase the usage of the park. look at the other successful changes made over the years when roadway was converted into the rose garden. would you possibly consider getting rid of the rose garden now. another roadway was the incredibly popular skating area. we can now take this away from many users. increased transit and shuttle access would open up the process further to focus on

kids and take the time needed by extending the road closure by another year so that these changes can be implemented. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, my name is heidi. i'm a d4 resident and an organizer at great highway park. another space we hope will be made permanent and car-free. i with my kids along with 5,000 supporters urge you to take action today to extended jfk closure until all studies and access are completed. we're all coming out of a relentless year. we need more car-free spaces not less. let's address the important access and equity needs identified in the report and then creatively to address bottleneck around the surrounding streets.

jfk we. full of life, joy, and human connection. so take action today to safe car-free jfk and move this towards a better future for our city. >> hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, i just wanted to say i'm in full support of car-free jfk. i live in district 6, where we don't have much in the way of open space or slow streets. i think it's important to remember that the average cost of a car in san francisco is $750 a year. we're talking about a very small part of golden gate park. we're not talking about closing all of the streets in the park. i think that shamann walton's

comments about the 1950s is completely opposite. that is going to be the 1950s. if we want equitable access, if we want it to be open and safe to all, keep it open and car-free. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. caller? >> hello. my name is derek johnson and i am a district 2 resident. i'm asking for you to keep car-free jfk in place 24/7 during the current outreach and i support car-free space here throughout golden gate park.

now that a which i never would have done. the current car-free jfk is giving countless other san franciscans a place to breathe, play, and enjoy our city. please keep car-free jfk. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> hello. the fact that the overwhelming number of speakers are in favor of the road closure illustrates that they are the ones with the leisure free time to call in the middle of the work day. all of those persons who are not well organized like they are, the worker who is can't spend two or three hours on the phone participating in this are not being heard.

there has been no mention of people with disabilities and these people who have called have just talked about their kids, but they completely ignore nose of us who are older and those of us who are disabled and we all deserve access to the park. so we urge you to keep the road open and to accept this report and we support supervisor walton's remarks. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins. >> hello, caller? >> hi. can you hear me? >> yes, caller. >> yes. i'm rich conquer from district 7 and i just wanted to say i do not own a car and like a lot of people getting outside has been tough for the past year. i don't own a car so i ride my bike all over san francisco and it's pretty scary.

twelve people have already been killed by cars this year and whenever i'm riding, i have to be hypervigilant. when i'm an the car-free jfk, i love seeing all the kids and families scooting around. it's really a big shame in san francisco. we have transportation and equity ask in places like district 10 is completely cut off. it takes so long to ride your bike or take buses from that part of the city because the highway's just slicing through and making it difficult to get from there to other parts of the city. i think we need to address that. but in the meantime, we need to make sure we're creating more and more car-free places. we are doing literally nothing to decrease the use of cars in the city. >> caller, thank you. hello, caller, your minute begins now.

caller? hello, caller? >> hello. >> hello, caller? >> hello. i apologize. caller, are you still there? >> hello. >> our minute begins now. >> hi, my name is chris, i live in oakland and i'm just calling in support of car-free jfk. i live with an elderly person who is disabled and we go to san francisco regularly to visit the museums and we have no trouble finding a parking space when we choose to drive with car-free jfk closed to cars. there's tons of free parking. muni goes there and it's totally okay. we should close more. thank you very much. >> thank you. caller.

hello, caller, your minute begins now. caller. >> is that me? >> hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hello. thank you. no one has mentioned there was a completed eir and there was no way to fund the $2 million project. since then, we have a nearly $2 million dog park and $13 million going to a tennis club. if we can get the stables which would help a myriad of problems for people with ptsd, disabilities, all kinds of other things back and built, how does this closure affect the access for people to get to a striving riding academy and

nonprofit disability therapeutic riding in that historic stables location. i have heard nothing about this and i would bet that quite a few people have no idea who are listening to this right now -- >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hey there. my name's brian shulman. i live in district 8. i'm also calling to support car-free jfk. a lot of people have made really good points but i'd like to reiterate injuries and accidents that happened there. some of which can be avoided and also car-free spaces are really cool right now and we should probably be working to prioritize transit walkability in general from a safety, environmental and from a human standpoint.

thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hello, commissioners. i live in district 1 and i wanted to share my concerns about public process. there really needs to be an equitable process. part of the mayor's emergency order. there needs to be better outreach. to inform the public process like this meeting. no one has that. and outreach isn't really being done. i'm also concerned about the fact that regardless of whether or not the road states closed or does not -- there are many institutions in the park that have large vehicles that come in and out and that's never going to change so that's going to continue the liability of the city with the assumption of no cars going into there and it's only going to create a greater risk. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now.

caller. >> hello. am i on? hello? >> yes, caller. your minute -- you're on the clock. >> okay. hi, i'm an east bay resident and i moved to this city precovid. i'm calling in support of car-free jfk and more car-free streets in the city. but i've been in the bay for two years and the 1 time i road my bike, i was shocked by how hostile and dangerous it was to get to the park. and it's just extremely dangerous and car-free jfk kind of through the dark times of covid, but even then, there's occasional motorists who slip by and kind of do their best to disrupt that and it kind of shows it's their road and they

deserve to be there and they speed and rev and yell at people and so people who kind of drive who urge that we should share the road. -- >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your two minutes begins now. >> hello. i'm called to support car-free jfk. support that will prioritize cars and people. define a good path for traffic through the park. maintain parking for those who can't afford their garage. the cars access to park, our city will go backwards. which is then supported in the highest level. it's inconceivable how there's no clear mention on how car-free and we cannot let

private interests influence the city's decision. please, alter the support, specifically the metric we evaluate success and please keep jfk drive car-free. thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. i've lived in san francisco for 20 knife years and been a driver, cyclist, walker, and solo muni rider for many of those years off and on. i use the parks times a week plus or minus and i meet my parents there from out of town who have never had a hard time parking. it makes me sick to my stomach, president walton. my 70 something-year-old parents drive to the park and find parking within a block or two. they are low income living in low income housing even up in

sonoma county. the accessibility shuttle. if we walk somewhere, we can always take that back to wherever we park the cars. we can't find parking near the museum. we can park, walk into the park and get a shuttle. so i urge the park and rec to make that shuttle more robust, but that has been great. i also enjoyriding to the park. >> hello, caller. your one minute begins now. caller? hello, caller. >> this is district 9. >> hello, caller. your one minute begins now. >> hi. my name is erica simmons. i'm a resident of district 9. i'm calling for car-free jfk.

i also traveled through golden gate parks. i drove there this past weekend and parked and didn't have any problems finding a place to park. i find the car-free jfk experience to be a place for joy, a place for community, a place for people with all abilities to safely use the road and i think it would be a real lock to the city to go back to the high injury corridor that it was before and, you know, i would encourage the city to find ways to accommodate people's concerns about accessibility and about access, but i don't think re-opening the road to vehicles is the correct way to solve that. so thank you. >> thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now.

>> hello, my name is pie ra. i was also one of the members of the golden gate stakeholder working group or taskforce and i want to point out it's not whether or not it's going to be car-free. it's whether or not how we can make it accessible for people with disabilities and seniors while we make it car-free. that has not really been addressed enough. for instance, we need to make the shuttle service much better to make it accessible. we have no representation from the outer district bayview, excelsior and we really didn't from enjoying car free.

>> hi, can you hear me? >> yes. >> hi, my name is ian and i'm a resident of district 8 and i just wanted to say that last weekend, my parents who are seniors and and it was the first time and it was really magical to see them watch on a weekday as, you know, dozens of pre-k kids enjoyed car-free jfk. so i urge the board to maintain as much car-free space as

possible especially on jfk. thank you so much. >> thank you, caller. there are no more calls. >> chairman: oh, my goodness. public comment is closed on this item. so i am seeing that commissioner preston has some comments. commissioner preston. >> thank you, chair. i will try to keep it short because i know we are going overtime here. but i did just want to first off thank supervisors chan and mar for their leadership and comments. i want to specifically thank someone who was referenced indirectly by in response to commissioner haney's comments

around her for kids and families and she is a d5 rep and really a phenomenal champion for kids and families not just on this process, but others in the city i am quite supportive of car-free jfk and i won't repeat including the climate crisis that we face as well as the to automobiles which is not proposal and for folks who spend time in the park, there is as many callers who pointed out that make quite

extensive parking options and i think we're at the challenge with rec, park and mta and kind of anyone who will listen is i think we really need a robust shuttle system to get people to and from the park and i think that needs to be part of any permanent plan going forward. just one thing that i think would be great to get a response through the chair would be -- i think there's -- >> she's crazy. >> we have somebody not on mute. >> whoops. >> chairman: all right. >> supervisor preston: so one

thing that's not been parsed out that i think is important is we keep talking about access to the park. my understanding in terms of traffic patterns in golden gate park on both jfk and more broadly is that there's a large proportion of the traffic particularly the high-speed traffic that people are commuting through the park and i just wanted to ask through the chair to director tumlin or whoever has that information, do we have any estimates of how much of the car travel in the park either on jfk or in the park is folks using golden gate park as a quicker way to speed from one part of town to another where i think a lot of commissioners are concerned about and a lot of the callers are concerned about which is folks who are trying to access the park for their picnic or museum trip. do we have information on that? >> we do.

the numbers vary a little bit depending upon whether you're coming eastbound or westbound in the park. on eastern jfk, about 3/4 of the traffic is commuter cut-through. that's about 8,000 cars per day. >> supervisor preston: thank you for the clarification and i'll just end with that because that to me is a huge -- i mean, for anywhere in the neighborhood 3/4 of these cars when you don't have car-free jfk in the eastern portion, 3/4 of folks who are using this to not to go to destinations in the park, but to go through the park, i think that has to inform our discussion and frankly, i think there are very real concerns about access that we are all working to address, but i don't think we need to accommodate using our parks as mini freeways to help people get quicker than they can get

on fullton or on lincoln from point a out to the ocean and, frankly, i think that's a lot of the impact. and i would have to guess it's far more likely a lot of the dangerous high speed travel is probably not folks looking for a picnic spot in their car, but it is folks zipping through the park just as a quicker means to avoid lights and stuff. i'll leave it there and thank you all for your advocacy on this. appreciate it. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner preston. commissioner walton. >> thank you so much, chair mandelman and i just want to really first of all start off by saying this is not about cars versus bikes or pedestrians and it never has been. it's really more complex than

that. but this is 100% about equity. it's 100% about lack of transportation options. it's 100% about transparency and decision making and we know across san francisco and as a member of this board of supervisors that everyone was not included in conversations around not only this process right now, but even the immediate closure or the closure that happened that took place in the beginning of the pandemic. there are so many complex elements. this is not about cars versus pedestrians. i am not supportive of more cars on the street, but i am supportive of desegregating san francisco and this is a policy that does completely opposite of that. when you look at who's enjoying car-free jfk, when you look at who's out there, it is evident that so many people are excluded and so when we make policies and think about

things, that's very important to disregard the equity conversation, to disregard the lack of transportation options, to disregard the lack of transparency and decision making is very problematic and i want to continue to fight to make sure that we don't support segregation in the city and we don't try to keep black people from enjoying the city. i'm going to shout that at the top of my lungs because it's true and important. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner walton. commissioner chan. >> supervisor chan: thank you, chair mandelman. through chair mandelman and do a quick response to supervisor preston's response and driving through a vehicle park. i think i recognize that as well and i agree it's one of the reasons why my office has

been really pushing the fullton street improvements. we recognize that in order for us to whatever we end up doing with golden gate park, i think both improvements have to take place. i think one of my constituents called in during public comment richard rothman and just mentioned the importance about fullton street and i hope, colleagues, you support fullton street improvements. i think this is more as a comment, well, comment, but still a question as well to get a confirmation from both i think all three agencies, sfmta, rec and park, and ct avm. i want to quickly point to slide 15 from rachel's presentation, but also to the actual more detailed report.

in the pdf, it's page 20, but page 2, this is really about the next steps from here and on. it's a list of actions that are supposed to be completed within the next four to five months which is starting now until the end of 2021. i want to confirm that this very point is that, you know, starting out from once we finalize the action framework which is what we're looking at right now, in may of this year, then it kicked off golden gate park access study would start in june. at which time, it seemed to me though, what i see the timeline here, june to october that including the requests that commissioner walton has on issue like for equity, would

also be completed. i just want to confirm that is a timeline that we think we could actually meet that timeline to say we will have the equity study and then the project recommendation is that we're about to see that would include in october a one-year pilot project and that we don't know yet because the june to october, that is the time frame where you actually will develop a scope of work for the one-year pilot. so could we confirm that? i just want to understand the process. i want to understand that, you know, when we look at a project or recommendation, it's really not a permanent project so to speak, but actually a one year pilot that we're talking about in that short time frame which

is you know june to october, it's four months time. it's really that four month's time where community outreach process and data collections to create a scope for a one-year pilot, not a permanent project. >> yes. thank you. i can speak to the timeframe for the equity study which we very much want to go as much in parallel with mta and rec parks work as much as possible. we will need to come back to the sfdta board here with an appropriation request to fund the work. so the soonest that that probably looks like is the june july board although, it's not calendared yet at this point. so i think what that might put our time frame at is more like a november end. but we, as we bring that before

you, the appropriation request will include a schedule for that. >> and then on the sfmta side, the analytics are subject to all big policy decisions we make and those will be part of the central valuation that we do that work will also be supplemented by the separate coordinated equity analytics that the sfcta is doing and i'll let sarah jones speak to the question. >> whatever recommendation that's brought to the board of supervisors would need to have ceqa consideration and under the california environmental friendly act. you know, at this point, we are really, you know, mapping out and scoping a whole bunch of

work and i think the ultimate question about whether we -- what we come forward with is a pilot or not will depend on a lot of things and a lot of things that we learn in our early outreach and in our early data analysis as to whether we do need to do a pilot to learn more or do we or do we have adequate information to make a sound path forward. >> and, i know you asked for confirmation from all three agencies. just wanted to confirm with the comments of director tumlin. we are working hand and glove in this outreach process and the schedule that you laid out is with a we are committed to delivering. >> then, i think in the followup question will be, you know, knowing that technically

that the current road closures in golden gate park and that is including mlk drive all the way to jfk to the eastern entrance of the park. we know that with 121 days within the health orders lifted, technically then we'll roll back to -- it's not just the golden gate park, but the great highway but the streets and everything else unless we have a decision made, we know that everything will roll back to however the condition was. technically, that's exactly how it works. then we actually roll back to pre-pandemic times or set up. and so i think the question is and i think that it's really what commissioner haney and also commissioner walton have hit on and maybe i understood

them, but i think what we were trying to understand is when that happens meaning like your process right now that you laid out until the end of two thousand twenty-one for this one-year pilot project or however way that you end up having a project to propose before us and the timing of when this actually is now ended. if there are -- there are not going to be overlapped. they are actually going to have a time gap, for example. what then will happen and what does that look like? >> so if there is a time gap between the time period 120 days after the expiration or the listing of the emergency order, then we're required by law to eliminate the changes that we have made under the emergency declaration. so this is one of the reasons why we want to work expeditiously and in collaboration with community so that we can bring

recommendations to the various approval authorities, particularly the board of supervisors so that you can act either to make a final decision if we're ready for that or to authorize an additional pilot that could involve any number of changes to the configuration. so our project, we don't know what the end recommendation is but we'll be touching base with you all as we find different options we'll be looking at. >> supervisor chan: sorry, chair mandelman. the clarification again is that with this scope the pilot so to speak, technically, it will actually have to come to the approval before sfmta board,

rec and park commission and the board of supervisors. that is technically the approval process for a pilot or even a permanent project so to speak. either way. >> that's right. >> the approval would be in the hands. excuse me. sarah jones sfmta planning director. the approval would be taken by the board of supervisors. i think we could all agree it's very important to have a recommendation from the rec and park commission and from the mta board to inform that. so that is the reason i'm behind setting out the process in that way is to give those advisory bodies in this case mta board. >> great, thank you. i just want to clarify time line and process.

and i look forward to more details, community. i really look forward to seeing a scope of community outreach. clearly, they're not. actually whether. i do believe this here's what i believe both written and called in that i think that there are and also doesn't matter really appreciate the space and i want

to link to great highway as well. again, it's a cumulative impact that commissioner mar has talked about with golden gate park. i think ultimately, while we do enjoy this recommendation space, we also want to make sure that there is access and that we can travel from point a to point b whenever we need to safely and efficiently. so i think i'm going to leave that. it's not easy, i think to be somewhere in between and trying to find solutions and it takes awhile and i think patience is a virtue. i'm having way too many cliche comments today and i just want to throw it out there and encourage everybody to be engaged and continue to engage in the process.

>> chairman: thank you, >> actually, i wanted to thank commissioner chan for her questions and her discussion around to clarify the process, decision making process ahead around the car-free j.f.k. drive and also the great highway, and also reflecting on the many comments that we heard during public comments and the e-mails that we received. i think they really show how deeply felt and important these issues are to so many in our city, and like the similar debate about the future of the temporary closure of the great highway, which i did play a key role in initiating, you know, i do think the comments reflect sharply different priorities and perspectives of key streets, and this seems to be especially contentious on the

west side. i believe this vision -- i do believe this vision represents the future, we are living in the present, and there are some very significant issues that need to be confronted and addressed to responsibly plan for permanent car free streets on the great highway, golden gate park, and elsewhere. for the great highway, it's how are we going to properly manage the vehicle traffic that -- you know, especially as it increases with reopening, and it's going to get to the 20,000 vehicles a day that it was precovid or perhaps even more, as more people are driving these days, so how do we properly manage that traffic and maintain safety on our streets on the west side? and -- but with j.f.k. drive, i think the real issue's -- and i appreciate president walton's, you know, strong statements are

around equity -- access and equity for communities of color, for working class and low-income folks, to be able to access golden gate park and for people with disabilities and seniors, and i -- and then finally, i do want to respond to commissioner preston's, you know, good points and questions around cut-through traffic in golden gate park because that's a major issue, you know, around safety on our streets in the park and the surrounding neighborhoods, and we absolutely need to accommodate north-south trips and connections particularly between the sunset and richmond district, and these are real needs, and they are separate issues from park access, but that doesn't mean that the park should function as a cut-through for drivers. it means that we should address the real mobility needs in real travel on the west side, which has been underinvested and

underaddressed, and why the west side operations analysis, i think that's part of the next phase of work, is really important, so i want to thank m.t.a. for committing to do more of a comprehensive west side traffic analysis as part of this next phase of the golden gate park traffic study, and the planning, and i'll leave it at that. thank you. >> chair mandelman: thank you, commissioner mar. commissioner walton? >> president walton: my apologies, president mandelman. i want to say that it's been a long morning, but we will double down at 2:00. >> chair mandelman: thank you, commissioner walton. i will do my best to get us through general public comment in time to allow that to happen, if we have general public comment. >> chair, did you get commissioner preston? okay.

just checking. >> chair mandelman: i think we got commissioner preston. so i guess my only thoughts on this, at the end of this very, very, very long hearing is, for me, personally, i have a long record of supporting car-free j.f.k. i'm a member of the democratic [inaudible] committee back in 2007, supported healthy saturdays, and i think, you know, i have experience, along with a lot of other folks -- i have experienced, along with a lot of other folks, the joy of that car free space. i also think that many of my colleagues and others have raised critical, critically important equity situations touched on by the work of the working group and have been also discussed here, and i know that staff of these different departments and our two agencies, the t.a. and the m.t.a., have a lot of work

ahead of them in trying to figure out how to make the most happiness for the greatest number with always a priority for concerns of equity and fairness and ensuring that everyone is actually benefiting rather than just a few privileged folks, so i do want to thank everyone who was involved with the working group. you know, i hope that their work does not get lost as we go forward. i think many of the recommendations that they have made are available, whatever happens with the conversation with car free j.f.k., and i wish you all well and will look forward to hearing back from you on this body or the board of supervisors. with that, is there a motion to approve item 7? >> supervisor mar: so moved, mar.

>> chair mandelman: moved by mar. thank you, commissioner mar. is there a second? >> commissioner chan: second, chan. >> chair mandelman: second by chan. thank you. madam clerk, please call the roll. [roll call] . >> clerk: there are nine ayes. the item has approval on its

first reading. >> chair mandelman: all right. thank you, madam clerk. item 8 and 9, we're going to continue to our next meeting. >> supervisor safai: supervisor mandelman, i just missed the call, so i'd like to be recorded as an aye for item number 7. >> chair mandelman: got that, madam clerk? >> clerk: yes. >> chair mandelman: so items 8 and 9, we're continuing to our next meeting. please call item 10. >> clerk: item 10, introduction of new items. >> chair mandelman: colleagues, anyone want to try to do this? thank you all, so please call item 11. >> clerk: item 11 is public comment, and we have also received one public comment for this item, and it is on the website. >> chair mandelman: we will stick with 60 seconds for public comment on item 11.

>> clerk: thank you for that, chair, and i will move onto the folks in the queue. >> chair mandelman: and how many folks do we have in the queue? >> clerk: we have five folks in the queue. hello, caller. your 60 seconds begins now? >> in any road closures, could you please consider little road to be a candidate and included in the study? >> clerk: thank you, caller. >> please. >> clerk: hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, this is patricia eric on behalf of concerned residents of the sunset. i've been listening to supervisor mar repeat the same thing several times also in the sunset beacon. mitigations, he said repeatedly

the mitigations are insufficient in addressing the increased impact of traffic volume expected in the coming months. well, that volume's already here, and we have a very dangerous situation. someone needs to be courageous and at least open the upper great highway during the workweek so commuters and residents can feel safe glenn. we have an extremely dangerous -- safe again. we have an extremely dangerous situation, and no one is doing anything about it. supervisor mar has also said safety on our streets needs to be the primary consideration. i have yet to see that be an issue with anybody. >> clerk: thank you, caller. hello, caller, your minute begins now. >> good afternoon, supervisors. roland [inaudible]. in the interest of time, i will be submitting my comments in

writing. thank you, and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. >> clerk: thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hello. charles perkins, district 7. throughout today's hearing, i've heard repeated reference to vision zero and climate change, two things that seem to be cited readily when it's to one's convenience, but i want to go to the closure of the great highway, and this also related to the park closure, as well, but with regards to the great highway, there is not even debatable that the rerouting of 20,000, 18,000 cars of the safe highway that has no cross traffic, no right turns, no left turns, dangerously undermines vision zero. that cannot be debated, and why someone is supporting the

closure when they support vision zero is on me. second, moving cars out of the golden gate park off of j.f.k. into the inner sunset and richmond, that just makes those streets all the more dangerous, so you rob peter to pay paul. >> clerk: thank you, caller. hello, caller. your 60 seconds begins now. >> hi, thanks. this is stacey randecker, and i find it hilarious that people are advocating for opening street, being it the great highway -- be it the great highway or j.f.k. by citing all these studies with more cars. cars are the problem. they hurt people, they hurt our city, they hurt the environment. the solution is what we adopted long ago, that we are a transit first city.

we need more transit, we need better transit to serve people. we don't need an equity study, we need everyone served fairly at a seat and a rate that people can afford. get people on transit, get people out of cars and make so much more available to people who walk and bike and don't have to be chained inside of their vehicle. i don't understand how this is so difficult. please lead us. >> clerk: hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi, thank you. i just wanted to ask, i wonder how many people the commenters today realize that san francisco has a climate goal that 80% of the trips in the city need to be taken by nonautomobile modes by the year 2030, and if we're doing anything to achieve that. i wonder how many of the commissioners have already achieved that in their own

personal lives, and if they have not, what action they're taking to ensure that they personally can and to ensure that the city can do that if they can't do it themselves. the city is on track to overcome a pandemic in less time than it takes to study 1.5 miles of city streets, and the city doesn't seem to be bothered by that. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. hello, caller, your one minute begins now. >> hello. i am luke [inaudible] from walk s.f., and i am encouraging all of you to visit the great highway and the outer walkway to experience those places because as we look forward to the district 4 mobility study as well as the study regarding the great walkway, it would be great for all of you to see

what is out there, the joy on the great walkway and the low traffic that is on the great highway thanks to supervisor mar's great work. i invite all of you to come out this sunday at 10:30 a.m. for our rally, where we will have over 500 people and 200 children celebrating the great walkway and working to advocate to stay -- >> clerk: hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hi. this is adam. i live in soma. i'm just calling to reiterate what others have said about cars being dangerous. we are a transit first city, we should emphasize that. things like the great highway being open to the public, that encourages equity, it encourages access, it encourages the entire city to be out and about, especially with limited open spaces that we do have.

we've seen this with european cities. paris is a great example. it used to very car-centric in 2012 and earlier. now, it is very pedestrian friendly. we can be pedestrian friendly and tourist friendly or we can be an unequitable city that caters to a car first society, and honestly, the car first society was developed by red lining. we shouldn't be car first, we should be pedestrian first as the policy has stated. >> clerk: thank you, caller. hello, caller. your minute begins now. >> hello. my name is julie roberts fong, and i'm a parent at tenderloin public school. i hope we don't lose fact of the families that are walking to school in the tenderloin. as we're talking about the

sfmta budget, that we are finding dollars for the -- to extend the safe routes to school program more north of through the tenderloin and north to the tip of the tenderloin in district three schools. for two years now, parents have been working and advocating. we hope that we can finally find the $144,000 necessary to operate this program and get it ready for a september launch. this is an urgent need of families in the tenderloin, and it's a need that we have been talking about, and it's even more important now, and we hope that the board of supervisors will help us advocate for that in this important budget season. thank you. >> clerk: thank you, caller. hello, caller, your minute begins now. >> hi. my name is jessica jenkins. i was just calling in to second

julie's request for a budget to help fund better infrastructure improvements for families walking from the tenderloin to various schools in the neighborhood, including redding elementary. i helped people to walk from the bus stop last year, and it's uniquely challenging. i believe we had something like 70% of families walking to school who sort of encountered a lot of traffic and other issues every day, so this would be a huge help for sfusd families in that area. thank you. >> clerk: thank you, caller. chair, that was the last caller. >> chair mandelman: all right. public comment is closed. madam clerk, please call our next item. >> clerk: item 12, adjournment. >> chair mandelman: we are adjourned. see you all in two minutes. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners.

>> chair mandelman: thanks, everybody. test

test >> 2021 to order. this meeting is being conducted pursuant to the