>> hello, everyone. to the mayor's disability council meeting. it's friday, january 20, 2023. this is a virtual meeting. this meeting is broadcast to the public on sf gov dot tv. it's captioned. and sign language interpreted. so you'll have both at your disposal. the mayor raise

disability council holding nine public meetings yearly. the generally -- they are held on the third friday of the month. please call the mayor's office on disabilities for further information or to request accommodations at 415-554-6789. voice. or by e-mail at mod@sogov dot org. our next meeting is february 20, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and it will be an online meeting and broadcast on sf gov dot tv. the february meeting will be a joint

meeting between the mayor's disability council and the department on disability assuming the department of disability and aging commission. as cochair, i would like to address the issue of civility during these meetings. we encourage civility. disagreement will always play a role in government, the key is to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of proposed solutions to community problems, not to engage in personal attacks against those who favor different solutions. we welcome all viewpoints on the issues faced by those with disabilities. we encourage ideas

rather than verbal hostile assaults. mdc members pledge to treat each other and members of the public with respect. and we expect the same from the public. as a reminder to everyone joining us, we ask that you speak slowly to help facilitate interpretation and captioning of the meeting. we say slowly and we don't want you to speak too slowly, that doesn't help either. please be aware that during this meeting, mdc members and mod staff will turn off their videos if they are not speaking in order to assist in the interpreting process. and it

allows you to see interpreters louder on the screen. thank you for joining us and now i would like to ask our colleagues -- >> yes. so for roll call, i believe alex madrid is absent. but orkid sassouni? >> here. >> sheri albers? >> here. >> denise senhaux? >> here. >> helen smolinski? >> here. >> gesean lewis woods? >> here. >> ananya tandon-verma? >> here. >> and that concludes roll call.

>> thank you, clerk. number two, on our agenda is an action item, the reading and approval of the agenda. clerk, could you please read the agenda. >> yes. so, for item no. one, we have welcome and roll call. item no. two is the reading and the approval of the agenda. item no. three is general public comment. item no. four is an informational item, the cochair report. item no. five is a report from the mayor's office on disability. item no. six, we have a presentation on the implementation of accessibility commitments regarding jfk drive

in golden gate park. being presented by lucas tobin and brian stokle from the san francisco park and recreation department. item seven is a presentation on the great highway closure presented by lucas tobin and bryan stokle from the san francisco recreation and parks department. number, item no. eight is -- correspondence and item no. nine is general public comment. item no. ten is councilmember comments and announcements and item no. 11 is adjournment. >> thank you, clerk, for reading the agenda. are there any

councilmember questions or comments regarding the agenda? please say aye, if you approve the agenda. >> aye. [multiple voices] >> this is denise senhaux, aye. >> helen smolinski, aye. >> great. thank you to my fellow council members. moving on to number three, public comment. clerk, could you please open the meeting for general public comment? >> yes. we welcome the public's participation during public comment periods. there will be an opportunity for public comment at the beginning and the end of the meeting. on specific items on mdc agendas. each comment is limited to three minutes, other comments may be

limited to go minutes when there is a long queue of people waiting to make comments. at the send of the comment period, we will move onto the next commenter. if you want the council to respond to your comments after the meeting, please provide your contact information by e-mail message to mdca- atmosphere sf gov dot org. with the subject, mdc comment reply request. you may also provide additional comments by e-mail to this address or by calling 415-554-6789. a member of the public can join the meeting as a zoom webinar participate and will be able to make public comment directly during the public comment period. members of the public can join the webinar by using

the zoom link and they can join webinar by using a telephone by dialing 669-900-6833. if you join the webinar using your computer or tablet or smartphone zoom app, click on the three horizontal dots icon and then click on the waive hand icon. you will be recognized when it's your turn. you can use the q&a feature in zoom webinar to be recognized or make a comment. if you wish to be recognized, type into the q&a box that you want to make a comment and hit send. you can put your comment in the q&a box and the clerk will read it for you. if joining by phone, are are dial star nine when you want doing recognized and you'll

be prompted when it's your turn to make comments. we welcome suggestions about how to make the mdc meetings more accessible. send an e-mail. if you need assistance accessing the meeting, please call 415-919-9562, we can send an e-mail to mdca- atmosphere sfgov dot org. -- mdca@sf gov dot org. members may address items that's in the subject matter jurisdiction of the council that are not on this meeting agenda. for agenda items, you'll have an opportunity to address the council when that item is reached during the meeting. the "brown act" prevents the council from taking action or discussing any items not appearing on the posted agenda including the

items raised by public comment. so, let me -- let me look at the participants. it does look like multiple members of the public would like to make a comment. so at this time, william le lang, you have been permitted to unmute and you may make your comment. >> good afternoon. this is william railing for accessible san francisco, which is an unincorporated nonprofit association. today's meeting is devoted to discussing some very, very important issues for accessibility in the future of san francisco. and i just wanted to use this public comment to touch base on a few ongoing areas of concern, which may not

be as weighty but our hope is that there are things that will be discussed later this year, throughout this year. a year ago, january 2022, we had a presentation from the rideshare company on their progress and providing wheelchair accessible vehicles as part of their services. i think that was a very important discussion, but one that needs to be followed up on to see how things are progressing. we've had various reports pro and con. in a similar area of transportation, you know, the mdc has discussed the coming of antonymous vehicle, which, you know, initially the concern, of course, are they going to be a problem with pedestrian with

disabilities? but the companies progressed quite a bit and as many of you may have noticed, there are driveless cars driving around especially in the evenings with completely empty cars, autonomously and although this program is under the state public utilities commission jurisdiction, i think it's worth asking, is it okay for a private company to set up a new transportation company and from the get-go not provide any accessibility whatsoever? the company are clearly heading toward approval to operate as essential taxis, so i hope that's something that can be considered. the shared spaces program, as the shared spaces transition into the permanent

program, i still see a great many accessibility problems and a lot of restaurants that aren't providing accessible seating and we continue to get reports of this, so i hope this is also something that can continue to be monitored and discussed throughout the year. thank you very much. >> thank you for that public comment. clerk, who is next? >> it doesn't luck like -- it doesn't look like -- never mind. richard staff, you have been permit to unmute and you may make your comment. >> good afternoon. my name is richard scaff and i'm the executive director of 501c9 designable accessible communities. in this public comment per, i wanted to verify -- comment per, i wanted to

verify i copied and posted an e-mail to nicole to the mayor's of the disability office and it was an e-mail to the commission and i'm hoping the commissioners and members of the public read the e-mail that i've copied and pasted within the comment page on this zoom webinar. i want to make sure people can see it, both the commission members and the public. can the public see it? >> richard, we got it. it will get read during the public comment session after that item on the agenda on the park item. >> great, thank you.

>> thank you. do we have any further public comment? >> i believe that concludes public comment. >> very good. we're on to number item four on the agenda. since the mdc meeting of december, the mdc hosted a holiday gathering on december 9th. there was a very successful event with many members of the disability community and city employees involved in disability access in attendance. many thanks to the mod staff for making that event happen. and we hope to do that again next year, actually this

year, we're already in 2023. it was a relevantly great event. moving on to item no. five. report from the mayor's office on disability. please note that the director's report to the mdc can be found in the news section of the mod website. are you ready to take it? >> yeah. good afternoon, everybody. nicole bond, usually as you know gives this report. she is at a meeting at city hall and will, she's probably on her way to attend this meeting right now and asked me to give this report on her behalf. and she's not in the meeting right now. so, today's director's report

provides a snapshot of the core issues that mod has been engaged since the most recent public hearing. please follow up with us on any items that we talk about in this report. and we also are providing to you in this report some recommendations regarding future agenda issues that you might wish to consider and as mentioned -- as orkid mentioned, this report is available online at the mod website and i apologize for this weird thing with my video that zoom does every once in a while. i've never seen anybody else have this happen to them. and it

has only been -- well, it's gone. anyhow, for those who couldn't see it, it's the weirdest -- it looks like a little electric light show going on on my show for a screen and it comes and goes. so, the report starts with legislative updates for this month, january 2023. one of the major issues that mod has been involved in heavily is a proposed -- proposal from supervisor mandelman on limiting teleconferencing and remote public comment at meetings of other supervisors and his committees. this item is expected to come up in the rules

committee at 10:00 a.m. a week from monday, january 27th. it passed its legislation was discontinued remote public comment by members of the public a meeting of the board and its committees. it's legally required to enable people with disabilities to participate in the meetings. this legislation is triggered by, um, the discontinuation of the emergency orders that permitted city bodies to legally meet virtually rather than online. that emergency order will be lifted as of march 1st and all public bodies will be required to meet

in person. and city attorney has issued very detailed guidance to everybody in the city about how this will be implemented. there, of course, is a legal requirement for reasonable modifications of regular processes in order to provide equally effective access for people with disabilities and so this legislation would establish a reasonable modification possibly and the mayor's office on disability has been providing advice to our supervisors and working very directly with other parts of the city in order to

make all this work. and come up with a request process. as mentioned in previous director's reports, the community alliance of disability advocates is asking for continuation of all meetings for remote public access and not just by people with disabilities as a request for reasonable modification. so, we strongly encourage members of council to engage on this item to attend a hearing on the 27th because this will have great significant impact on our public engagement process. another

issue that we have been engaged in and what mentioned in one of the earlier public comment is shared spaces. there's a new ordinance that limits issues -- issuance of fines for violations on some businesses utilizing outdoor dining, but it does maintain the ability to fine specific access for those with disabilities and first responder access. the permanent shared spaces program takes effect in march of 2023 this year and the deadline to -- for businesses to apply for shared space permanent

program was january 15th. and you all, council has been very active in monitoring shared spaces and advocating for accessibility and you continue your active overview on this program. in state legislation, the cpuc, california public utilities commission approved a permanent operating permit for crews to be able to operate antonymous or drive-less vehicles and additional approvals are under consideration. mod is very involved together with sf mta in

supporting accessibility of antonymous vehicles. we have met with different antonymous vehicle companies and are involved at cpuc level in advocating for both safety and accessibility as this program just rolled out in san francisco. in addition, we have been involved in advocating at the puc level also, how the transportation network company access for all programs is being carried out. and that involves numerous proceedings as a public

utilities commission level where we've been very, we've been expressing very strong concerns about availability of accessible vehicles and the amount of time it takes for riders to get (indiscernible). regarding several legislation, the report includes a description of several rule makings that we are expecting will be opened up this spring about accessibility of medical diagnostic equipment, other equipment and furniture, web accessibility, sidewalks, curb ramps, street crossing and other pedestrian facilities.

since these are all issues that we share complaints about from constituents and know how -- we know the significant impact and quality this has on people with people with disability in san francisco. we expect to be making public comment possibly in partnership with other parklets and we will keep you oppressed of opportunities for filing public comment to the federal government. as announced by okid earlier in meeting, the february 17th, mdc meeting will be a join meeting with the disability and aging commission. that will be a virtual meeting

also and it will focus on the aging and disability affordable housing needs assessment: the council will also be able to learn more about the age and disability friendly san francisco implementation plan and workgroup at that report and disability and aging services department will also provide updates about their new disability resources and the page is on their website. it provides up-to-date listings of many, many disability resources within the city and you also

will hear an update about plans to move forward with the disability community center. additional agenda items that you may wish to focus on in the future meetings are an issue of saint passage street crisis and accessibility. in august, we presented to the emergency management policy group within this city on problems that we are aware of regarding accessibility and the impact on people with disabilities of street conditions, both for people who are trying to pass safely on sidewalks and also for

people with disabilities living on the streets and we encourage you to think about including that on your agenda. we also are planning a presentation in march at your request on the citywide digital accessibility and inclusion's standard and we also encourage continued work and involvement of the disability employment committee. looking at -- we would encourage you to look at the data collection efforts regarding employees with disabilities accommodation prevision for employees and better employee focused resources for asl

interpretation. and so that pretty much summarizes the report for the director and we thank you for your continued partnership with mod. >> thank you, debbie. there's one piece of information i would like to add. the public needs to know where to find this information online, go to www dot sf.gov slash mod and on the mod web page, you would look for the disability categories and that's where you can find information and a lot of new information is updated there

periodically. great. let's move on then to agenda item 6. it is a discussion item regarding the implementation of accessibility commitments regarding jfk drive in golden gate park. this will be presented by lucas tobin and brian stokle. san francisco and recreation parks department. also, we're going to, after the presentation, we'll have public comment and then comment from the committee members and then we'll like to hear from the mod, so after the presentation, we'll first hear from the public and from the council members and

members of the public, please indicate your desire to make public comment by using the raise hand feature. lucas, take it away. >> thanks for having us here today and i believe brian is going to share his screen. >> yeah. it's saying i can't share my screen right now. can you enable my sharing of my screen, whoever has got the administrative control? >> while we're getting that setup, i'll introduce us. i'm lucas tobin, ada programmer for programmatic access and joined by bryan stokle who is a planner with our capital and planning division. looks like the slides are coming up now.

>> can you see it? >> no. oh, there it is. >> great. >> you can go ahead to slide number two. and we'll go over the agenda for today. we're going to be covering the items from the mdc resolution. we'll also cover items from our general accessibility commitments that were not necessarily included in the mdc resolution. we'll present the diet in three parts. starting with where we are now, meaning things that have already been accomplished. then, items that are in the works, meaning projects that have been approved are in design or have proposals submitted and finally, items that are still to come, which are projects that we're committed to doing but they need more planning and or funding to

get started. so a lot of items to cover so we apologize for the number of slides but we're excited to present today was as you'll see most of the items on your resolution and in our general commitments fall into the completed or at least in the works categories, so now i'll hand it over to brian to get us started. >> hi, thanks, lucas. glad to be here with everybody. we're going to start off with accessible parking. there's an image here of the new parking lots with the blue crosswalk into the new parking lot. so, we had, as many of you may know, but just want to make sure we cover this, in the spring of 2022, we rebuilt the parking lot behind the ban

shell at the music concourse. it used to be off in a place for buses and as the image you see here, there's a smaller image on the left showing construction that it was ripped up last spring and it was repaved 100% with 20 -- 20 new parking stalls for the gen -- for accessible spaces as well as several operational parking spaces as well as the number of sidewalks and crosswalks and also way-finding signage to get to destinations in the area. we've noticed that it's often full but sometimes it's not, but it's definitely getting generally used and with the adapt of bike program nearby, users have been saying that they are really happy with this parking lot in this location. as

i mentioned, there were 20 accessible spaces added here and there are eight that we also added along mlk drive near the concourse as well as near the conservative of flowers in the tennis center on mlk and nancy pelosi and we also added a shuttle stop in the accessible parking lot and overall, there's a net gain in the total parking, blue zone accessible parking spots based on compared to pre-covid levels. moving onto the music concourse garage management. in november, there was proposition n. it passed. it gives us greater flexibility as a department along with our partners mta for the city to manage the existing privately owned golden gate park, underground parking facility. i'll address this a little bit

later but basically, it allows the department and the city to initiate -- address conditions here and better manage the lot including accessible spaces. next up. we have shuttle services and pair transit. on the shuttle service, we -- last march, 2022, we expanded the shuttle service to seven days a week. previously it was weekends and holidays and the new 7-day a week service, all shuttles have accessible lift for wheelchair spot in the shuttle. there's three shuttles on saturdays and sundays, plus holidays and there's two shuttles monday through friday. monday through

friday runs 1 noon to 6 -- 12 noon to 6:00 while shuttles on the weekends are from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., however, on the next slide, i want to note here's the lift in action at the launch. it's showing a picture of a gentleman entering the lift street level and that's being lifted in the vehicle. and then recently starting in december with many of the light shows including the intwined lights at peacock meadow, we have expanded shuttle services in the evening to 8:00 p.m. this service will run until march and note that this service from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. is an on call service with -- you can either text or phone a number that is provided

on our website and on all the shuttle stop signs. it addresses many -- what i have covered, many shuttle access initiatives. we have the, as well as the mdc conditions regarding shuttle service. >> the image on slide 12 is the sf12 para shuttle logo. in the golden gate park, access and safety program, ween sured that marked para transit fans would be allowed on all the closed roads in the park including jfk so they could provide curb to curb service. the only other vehicles allowed on jfk are recreation parks and maintenance vehicles and deliveries for the d-young and other institutions. and the next section talks

about, the ndc resolution -- mdc discusses website and communication access, so the images on slide 14 are a check mark and a blue circle with wcag2.0 inside. first, our website is compliant with web constant accessibility guidelines it.0 but of course -- 2.0 but of course it's important how content is added to the website. we check for accessibility when adding new content but we're planning new training to create an updated training for content providers by fall 2023 and then implementing the training annually after that and the mdc resolution discussed the need for text information whenever visual information is given on the website. the image on slide

15 is an example screenshot from our website showing a map of golden gate park and the closed roads in green. and then slide 16 is a sample of the text information that is under the map shown in the previous slide. this is just a sample and it's titled, it's the section that is title, how do you drive to my favorite spots in the park? explaining how to get to the museums, and the tea garden and music concourse by car. and all this information is in the golden gate park getting their session of the website, so you can access it by going to the golden gate park page and clicking on the getting there link to see this information. so that's just a sample. there's -- you know, it would take several pages, several slides to show all of it. so, also map direction, map applications have

been updated to include the shuttle in directions so the image on this slide which is on slide 17 is an example of a trip from 18th and castro to still lake. and the map shows how you can connect to the golden gate shuttle as a part of the directions visual low and in the step-by-step directions. and this slide also has the apple maps, goggle maps and transit app logos on it. the mdc resolution discussed providing multiple ways for people to get information about accessibility and how to get to specific locations in the park and this slide shows how -- >> can you hold on one second. we're getting the interpreter situated. >> oh, sure. >> if you can start that slide, it will be great. >> sure. we're on slide 18 and the mdc resolution discussed

providing multiple ways for people to get information about accessibility and how to get to specific low cases in the park. so this slide shows how people can contact us to get information other than just going to the website. so, our first e-mail is address is our new e-mail address for people to request accessible information and accommodations along with my phone number and the e-mail is rpd access@sf gov dot org and the phone number is my phone number. i'm excited to share this is working. i've gotten several phone calls from locals and out of town visitors asking for information about how to get to certain areas in the park and mostly people are really excited to hear about the shuttle. and really and then i usually send them the link to the website information as well. so, this is working well. the second is the

e-mail address or rpd info which is rfd info@sf got gov and the staff will monitor this e-mail and we work together to provide information to people about how to access different places in the park. and the third is 311 dot org or calling 311 and this will also get to us but it may not be as fast as the other two methods. so next i'll talk about outreach to the disability community. the access and safety program included a lot of outreach to the disability and senior communities. and one of the best examples was the shuttle workshop that we held in 2021. but there were over 16 engagements with disability community just during that project. our commitments include ongoing outreach and inclusion of people with disabilities in

projects in golden gate park. slide 21 includes some examples of outreach we're doing and how we stay connected to the disability and deaf communities. we've been doing quarterly check-ins with mod for several years and there's talk about increasing the frequency and we have committed to being available for quarterly updates to the mdc, but we know that you have a very busy schedule and so we'll wait to get an invitation like we did for this meeting. most of the accessibility work that we're currently doing or in the planning stages for, is the direct result of input from the disability community groups or individuals with disabilities. and since the access and safety program, we've done more proactive outreach and we

acknowledge this is the best approach, but also want to point out that the system that's in place where people can communicate with us through the mod, or directly to our ada coordinators is effective and so i think it's important to note that rec. and park has ongoing communication with the deaf and disability communities in relationships and collaborations with other disability organizations, such as support for families of children with disabilities, sfusd special ed, bay area outreach and recreation program and the citywide inclusion collaborative. so, next, i just wanted to give a quick update on the bike program. it's not something that's a result of a commitment but we're in the recreation business and this is a recreation program for people with disabilities in golden gate park and it's showing great success since we reopened the

program. so the photos on slide 23 include people getting ready for, to go out on a ride in the new site for the adaptive bike program behind the ban shell. it's right where the bike and segue rentals and food trucks are. the other photo is someone riding a hand cycle in the music concourse. and then the photo on the bottom is a group of riders getting on a variety of bikes and lining up for a photo at the entrance to the accessible parking lot. we moved the location of the bike program to the ban shell and created a reservation system so people can reserve a bike that's right for them. the new site is right next to the accessible parking lot. food vendors, as i have mentioned and very important also, right next to restrooms which we didn't have with the old location. it's a short ride through music core course to the

jfk promenade and a bonus of the new location that it's right in the mix. so people are seeing the bikes and stopping by to ask questions and learning about the program all the time. it's a prime location right there where everything happens in the park. and the bike program is also out of the great highway. it's closed for the winter but it will be opening up again in the spring. so, providing access plans for events in golden gate park was a commitment of the golden gate park access and safety program. and complete access plans for collaborative events and we have started working with outside event organizers, like hardly strictly blue grass on their access plans. our access plans are now included in the web page for the

event and linked to, from our e-news and other social media. and the plans cover accessibility information, including visual maps and text information so the image on slide 25 is the map that was used for the recent tree lighting event in december. and this map shows accessible parking, the event route and connections to parking and muni and the event route, the shuttle route for the event and connections to parking and muni and passenger loading zones. in slide 26 is a sample of the text information for the recent tree lighting event. and the event access plans include getting to the event, parking at the event, shuttle service for the event, and we extend the shuttle hours and month fewed the route to serve -- modified the route to

get to the event and information on the activity and accessible information on event activities and front of line passes and asl interpreters and how to request other accommodations. and the photos on slide 27 show the shuttle during our halloween event that took place on jfk for first time this last october, as well as passenger loading zone that we created and passenger loading zones has been the biggest hit for recent events and the temporary loading zones, while i'm setting them, people see them and start dropping people off in ubers and lyft and private vehicles start dropping people off in the loading zones hours before the event has started. providing a community shuttle was the equity

initiatives for the access and safety program. and it focused on bringing people or focuses on bringing people from equity zones to -- throughout the city to golden gate park and beginning last summer, the program brought kids from areas of the city that don't have easy access to the park to the young museum and other golden gate park sites. the reason i mentioned this program, the program brought kids with disabilities and deaf kids to the park, so the photos on slide 29 show a staff person and a child from our urn sign language day camp inside the d-young museum and a child from everybody plays day camp interacting with the music concourse. some program brings kids to the park but gives them free passes for transportation

and attraction so they can act as ambassadors and by their -- and bring their families with them. the next is projects not implemented yet but in the works. so i'll hand it back over to brian. >> thanks, lucas. and great to see all those things that have been implemented, just as a reminder. these are the, in the works projects that we are actively working on to implement and should be coming sooner than later. this is slide 31. there's an image on the bottom, an example of a future shuttle map that will be, it's a draft but it will be used inside the shuttle to allow people inside the shuttle to gain awareness of where the shuttle goes and where

the stops are. many -- the many -- there are items in the works for the shuttle stops. we are planning permanent shuttle stop improvements which will include accessible planning pads and concrete or asphalt, depending on the location. they will be all equip with benches and we're developing bus stop poles with information on them so that you can see that where each stop is from a bit of a distance, but also when you're at the stop, you can see learn more information about the frequency of the shuttle and other park information. as i've mentioned in the vehicles, we're doing? other improvements for planning. one is installing the maps that i've shown. we're in the review process for that and we'll be making sure that gets

accessibility review for visual requirements. we're working with our vendor for having audio announcements, so that when you are in the shuttle, there's an audio announcement indicating the next stop when it is arriving and what the name of it is. as well as visuals destination signs, both on the outside of the vehicle, called the header. you know, above the windshield so you can see which direction the shuttle is going as well as inside the vehicle, so that information could be transmitted visually there. both of those have the capacity, also, to transmit other text oriented information about the park or special events so that we can communicate with people using those tools in the vehicle. so, those are coming in the coming months. lastly, with

the shuttle schedule, we're, as mentioned in the completed work, we're really happy that you can use the different on line services to -- online services to connect to the shuttle whether you're coming from muni or walking. it's based on a schedule now. however, we're in the works with our vendor to install, have real-time passenger information, essentially knowing exactly where shuttle is and how long that it will be coming, not just on a fixed schedule but actually based on where the shuttle is at that moment. that's similar to what sf mta muni service already has so we're well on our way to getting that worked on. lucas? >> yes. slide 32 is more about

event access. in 2021, debbie kaplan and i worked with an internal from sf state on an event accessibility tool kit and the outcome of that project was a tool kit of resources for event organizers. in slide 32 shows the paper from the city's website where the resources live. we just found out that we'll be getting another intern this spring to complete phase ii of the project which will be a checklist as part of our permits process, to ensure that event organizers who are doing events on recreation and parks property will complete appropriate access plans for their events. this will be helpful citywide to make sure event organizers are following correct accessibility guidelines and especially in

golden gate park. another thing that's in the works and really excited to announce is that we're in the process of adding a new member and i'm waiting for the inns -- i'll wait for the interpreters to switch. i'm excited to announce we're adding a new member to our accessibility team at recreation and parks. we are working on hiring a disability access coordinator which is another commitment from the access and safety program. and this slide shows the disability access coordinator alongside alexis weissman-ward who is the ada coordinator for physical access and myself. ada coordinator for programmatic access and for all the work he's been doing for the last few years, brian should be up there as well. he's become a valuable member of the team. so the position has been approved and we're moving forward with it

and we hope to be announcing the position in the coming months and begin the recruitment for our new team member. >> thanks, lucas. as i've mentioned, before the ballot initiative passed for the music concourse garage, which was this past november, and we are working on a whole passage with the mcct which is the organization that currently manages the garage. now, that the ballot initiative has passed, so this is an element that is going to be developed. as you can see in the photographs on the left is the image of the parking garage in the d-young portion of it with the green paint next to accessible parking spots as well as on the right hand side is in the cal academy side which has

orange paint and some accessible parking spaces and a crosswalk. it says this is where a pay station is and we're fully aware that much of the effort is to address the payment and the possibility of addressing disabled parking, is it possible to have free parking within the garage for disabled parking stalls for people with placards. >> so, we're committed to continuing outreach to the disability community similar to what we did during the access and safety program, like i've mentioned earlier. and what we're focusing on is the model of inviting people to come out to the park, you know, either virtually or in person and provide input for different projects. and this is a model that was used in the site tours we did as a part of the access

and safety program, so the photo on slide 36 is from one of the accessibility site tours we did as part of that program and we also piloted, bringing people in virtually which worked well, so we definitely plan on doing that again. and the next project we are working on for this is a joint rec. and park and mod way-finding project that we just proposed to the sf fellows program, so we're hoping that that is going to come through and the image on that slide, i forgot to mention is from one of those tours or maybe i did mention that. we're also in the planning phase for a barrier removal project at the botanical garden bookstore. in slide 37 is a photo of the bookstore. i'm mentioning this project because it's another golden gate park access project that's in the

works and it was a result of feedback from a member of the public and because it will take sometime to do the barrier removal, you know, actual construction for the -- actual construction for the project, we're going to implement some programmatic solutions until the ramp can be built. >> the show lake renovation is a barrier removal project. it's not one -- as lucas mass -- lucas mentioned, they weren't a part of the mdc resolution which we felt is critical to update you guys on, and we'll be renovating the existing path surrounding stole lake, its entire perimeter and it will include upgrading and improving furnishings, benches, picnic tables to achieve ada

compliance. the construction will be performed in go phases so half of the perimeter path will be opened at all times and no work will be occurring in the immediate area in front of the boat house, however, as shown in the photograph on the left, the ramp from the boat house parking area near the -- where there's a restroom and building and boat house itself, that will be getting an upgrade and the image on the right shows a path with a little bit of pooling of water that -- next to the lake. that's just an example of path at which -- it does need improvements because of its surfacing. this will improve the path itself as well as the ramp from the parking lot. the next section we're going to talk about is path of travel improvements

along the jfk corridor. this was part of one of the request in the mdc resolution. we will be -- we're in the planning phase and design phase of replacing curb ramps along the jfk promenade. this includes the improving crosswalks at the conservatory drive east and west and the palm bay circle near the dally dale and the other area will that will be included is this are sidewalk south of haze street down to jfk drive. we'll be building in the initial higher priority locations which is shown on the map, there's a map of the northeastern portion of golden gate park with yellow circles around the stanyon

between jfk and jfk and conservatory east and at nancy pelosi circle as they approve jfk drive and the intersection as highlighted at conservatory drive west. i will note that much of this area on -- on the far eastern portion was the paths in between were repaved on extensive areas of this map. there are other areas that we are designing that -- further to the west, but those improvements, physical implementation are pending funding. >> okay. we made it to our still

to come section. so, now we're going to talk about some projects that are on the horizon but they were at the beginning stages of, so they are not quite in the works yet. so, the first is that we're working on access to the conservatory flowers for those who drive a passenger loading vehicle close by. there are areas in the middle of the park that have fewer, way fewer blue zones in them and brian started to study this and we've had preliminary discussions with the senior disability action, so that's something that we're -- we will be focusing on. we're still investigating the mapping project for the park. we're working on finding a designer and the funding for this project but once we have maps, we'll

provide the maps in accessible formats such as large sprint in braille in textile and the mdc discussed providing information on the website, well, first, audio description for website videos. that's something that we're definitely planning to work on and maybe part of an upcoming project with some sf state students that we're calling, know before you go project, and so we are looking into doing audio description for website videos, but the resolution also did talk about providing information on the website in american sign language for deaf people much we provide visual information and captioning for videos and like i said, we're looking into using

videos for way-finding information, which would be captioned and audio described, but i really do like the idea of providing directions in asl. we've used asl videos for announcing some events -- announcing programs for our deaf programs so it's something that we'll explore. and that is all for our jfk initiatives update. thanks so much. i know it was lot of slides but we really appreciate your listening and watching. >> yes, thank you. thank you for your patience in listening. orkid. >> thank you so much for all of this information. it was very, very informative. a lot for us to digest. we'll open up for

public comment. then we'll open it up to council members for their comment and thirdly, we'll ask the mod if they have comment. i believe we have a public comment lined up. please proceed. >> yes. so, just a reminder to the public, to make a public comment using computer or tablet or app by using the raise hand feature. you can also use the q&a future in the zoom webinar to be recognized or to make a comment. if you wish to be recognized, you can type in the q&a box that you would like to comment and hit send. you can type your comment into the q&a box and the clerk will read it for you and if joining by phone, i can dial star nine. it does look like there's one member of the public that would like to make a comment so richard scaf, you have been permitted to

unmute yourself and you may speak. >> i have written an e-mail and attached it to the chat section for the q and answer section so you'll have that. i'll concerned and i'd like to read this. the closing of john f kennedy drive in san francisco's golden gate park had a negative impact on people with disabilities who were employed, facilities within the park. as they are now unable to drive or be driven to their place of employment within the park. you have seen the attachment howard has sent you from the san francisco ark about their members who have lost their jobs. it used to be in golden gate park. closing the golden gate park, jfk drive, it

had an impact on those with disabilities, they can no longer drive. it removed their access to the park and it's public accommodations which in my opinion is a violation of state and federal civil rights laws and regulations. the closing of the parks main thoroughfare has caused a loss of independence and civil rights for many members of the senior and disability communities. the decision by the san francisco mayor and board of supervisors to close john f kennedy drive in golden gate park is absolutely unacceptable and a clear violation of the civil rights of vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities. it is unconscionable for the mayor and board to take actions considering the negative impact it had on the community and their decision to close that street to vehicles illustrates a complete disregard for the rights and needs of those vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities who want to visit the park but now are

unable to do so. thank you. >> i'm not through yet. the action taken by mayor and board of supervisors is a clear indication of their position regarding the rights of vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities. and it is not acceptable. many in the bay area communities and vulnerable seniors and it's a bay area issue, are no longer able to visit, able to access many of the important sites and venues within golden gate park due to the decisions and actions to close jfk drive to vehicles by mayor breed and board of supervisors. and i find that they have shown a clear and intended disregard of those civil rights. many of us will be taking any and all actions necessary to assure that the mayor and board members will be held accountable for that travesty. you must speak loudly

about the closing of jfk drive. you're members of the council, speak up or speak out about issues that affect the disability community which includes many seniors by the way. if you decide to not take any real visual and effective axo posing the closing of jfk drive, you clearly can't and don't represent what the majority of people with disabilities and vulnerable seniors want and need and if that's the case, why is there a need for this council? i certainly hope that won't be the case. i also want to say, um, that in your council resolution 20220-01, you had a section that supported a decision by a small group of people with disabilities that thought the closing was fine. the problem with that in your resolution is

that it suggests that it's okay for the board of supervisors and mayor to take that effort and close that street because of that small group of people. instead, we have a majority of people, residents in san francisco and those of us that don't live in the city, but have been using golden gate park, paid memberships in the d-young museum and the academy of science and no longer can access those facilities because of the reduction, actually the complete removal of access by the city. i am also concerned, i have no idea nor have i ever been shown the background and technical knowledge in training of the park and rec. ada coordinators.

i want to know what the transition and self-evaluation plan for rec. and park speaks to with regard to golden gate park and the closing of jfk and i would like to know, does rec. and park hold yearly meetings with the disability community to allow us to give input as far as priorities for the next year's projects? i haven't heard anything about that. so, there are a number of issues i have raised in the question and answer section that miss kaplan said she'll ask, so i'll stop at this point, thank you for letting me speak. >> thank you. do we have any further public comment? please use the raise hand feature.

>> at this time, i don't see any other members of the public that would like to make a comment, so that concludes public comment section. >> very well. we'll move to any comments from members of the mdc? again, please use the raise hand feature if you would like to share comment. this is for council members only at this time. and then when recognized, you can unmute yourself and share your comment. sheri, please go ahead. >> hi, good afternoon. this is sheri albers and i am blind and a member of that community. i

want to thank you for lucas and brian for the presentation. it was a lot of information and thank you. but my questions focus, i'll just leave -- i'll focus around one point right now about the shuttle. i wish i had been a part of the outreach program in 2021. i don't remember about it and we have had a lot to say. at this point, i do want to say thank you for including the forthcoming announcement of stops that will be implemented when people are on the shuttle. that's very

important. also, and you said they will be -- the shuttle schedule or the -- it will be implemented into -- i want to clarify, you said it's on an app. you said an online format, is that, like, a transit app. >> it's mentioned, apple maps, and goggle maps and transit app. it's currently setup to show what the fixed schedule is, however, once we get the technical it stuff installed on the shuttles, we'll have real-time information for when the shuttles will arrive. >> i couldn't read that on the slide, if that was written. the slide wasn't read out loud, so if the schedule is listed on an

app, is there a problem with the shuttles not adhering to the schedule right now or because i heard at one point, you mentioned they are on an on demand mode or is that, was that only for one event. >> on demand is only in the evenings during the winter months from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. for the feature and other evening features during the winter months. >> otherwise, the shuttle only runs from noon to 6:00 during the week? >> correct. 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 during saturday and sunday and holidays. >> okay. what designates a shuttle stop? >> currently, there's a temporary shuttle stop sign which is on an a-frame or

sandwich board sign, wherever you prefer to call it and it has got a bright green look to it on one side. it has a big giant logo that says, it shows a bus and a lot of information as well as the other side that shows a map. but we're working to get as mentioned in the presentation, permanent shuttle stop sign poles that would be within the shuttle stop zone where the new landing pads would be and they would be fully ada compliant for both physical and visual and audio disabilities. >> okay. and so, for me as a blind person, how am i going to locate a shuttle stop? >> that's a challenge right now. we'll definitely, that's why we want to work on addressing that with the permanent shuttle stop

signs. >> okay. >> you mentioned you're going to be seeking out developing a parcel map of some sort for the park? >> yeah, we're working on mapping, a pole mapping project for the park and once we have a good map, then we'll be working with the lighthouse to provide maps in large print, in braille and textile formats but so that is -- it's a big project because first we have to, you know, do good mapping of the park in general with all the accessibility information and put it into those formats. but they are great examples. you have seen what ggnra has and

what can be done. >> oh, yeah. [multiple voices] >> absolutely and incorporated in that would be the shuttle stops, i'm assuming in that map. so then just further down that same theme, are there any -- not the mapping, but are there any bodies, like, physical bodies around for someone like me to ask a question because i've been to the park where i'm standing there, like, and there's no one to ask and it's really, just really discerning because, you know, yeah. so, i'm just going to say that. is there going to

be -- are there information peoples, booths or huts or something like that to go to where i can get shuttle information, where i can get directions because i don't want to keep just stopping random people and, you know, asking, you know, where can i get the shuttle? i'm just going to stay on shuttle team. >> yeah, that's -- the plan is to, and we've done this with -- to some extent but making sure the people working in the different institutions have that information. >> uh-huh. >> because we've heard situations where somebody has gone maybe into the d-young museum and asked for motion about the shuttle and they don't necessarily know, you know, exactly where the stops are or how frequently the shuttle runs or something so the plan is to really make sure that the people in the institutions have that

information as well as mclaren lounge which is opened during business hours, but still, to make sure that people at the front desk, they are able to give out good information, so that is a project we didn't mention it, but another really important project that we're going to be working on. we haven't really done much in that area yet because, so right now, the answer is, most of the information is on the website. it's hard unless you can find a park ranger or somebody there, or gardeners or people who work in the park, they will do their best to help out, but there aren't info booths or anything like that so the institutions are the best place to make sure that the people working there have the, you know, they are able to answer questions.

>> yeah. and i'm sorry, i'm taking everybody's time here but the one slide you showed and i don't remember if it was slide 18, that it the three modes of contact with phone, e-mail, and then 311. where was that, where could someone like, just, find that? really quickly or where was that located? and if i were just out in the park and i have that information, would that be able, would i be able to call that number? that's your number, brian? lucas, whose number is that? >> the number at the top was my number. >> that's your number, dock. would i be able to call you and would -- and would you be able to radio someone and find out where the shuttle is and at any given point and -- as you can tell the shuttle is important to me. >> no, no. to a lot of people.

>> yeah. >> i mean, brian pointed out the huge progress made with the shuttle but there's still a lot more to come. and -- >> yeah. >> i definitely can't say that i would be able to do, you know, specifically what you're asking because it would take me getting the phone message and trying to contact brian who is in contact with the shuttle, you know, it's a complicated thing to do. >> yeah. >> but once we have the real-time information, it really could be possible. it probably wouldn't be me but we would make sure it's the people at the front desk at maclaren lounge, if they could help out with that, but you know, it would be somebody who can use an app and has the app on their phone and could use the -- they could use

the app and they can get the real-time information. that doesn't work for everybody. not everybody has a cell phone or has the ability to use those apps, so -- >> yeah. >> yeah. it's definitely -- really good points but challenging to set up a system that could work especially when most people are going to want it, it's going to be evenings and weekends, of course, whether we don't have as many staff available. >> okay. all right. that's all i've got for now. and i'll be looking forward to hearing some more updates, so thank you. >> we are happy to do that. [multiple voices] >> thank you sheri for your excellent points. >> thank you. >> are there any -- do we have any other council members who have comments before i ask my question? please use the raise hand feature if you do. seeing

none. this is orkid here. i have a number of things myself, but i'll try to be (indiscernible) as i can. this has to do with the garage. the sliding doors that you use to access the d-young museum, i don't know if it needs to be replaced in order for it to have good access from the garage and i'm wondering if that's a part of the plan? >> there's problems with the d-young because people wait a long time if relying on shuttle. so i wonder if this sort of miss timing of people wanting to use the normal day-to-day services when there are events happening? people come from all over the

bay area even as far as fremont and they get there not knowing, like, that certain doors will be closed and that's where they get dropped off. and they don't know what to do. part of the problem is determining whose responsibility it is to get information out so people can receive it. just a moment. there's another issue regarding lighting on the path. sometimes golden gate park staff who are doing -- doing maintenance park at path and it's not safe for those pedestrian who need extra lighting to do way-finding on the path. i have seen that myself where it's difficult to navigate a path when there's a

parked vehicle across it. if you have to go around it, you don't know which is the safer way in order to get back on the path on the other side of the vehicle. so, it's another consideration they wanted to throw out as a part of safety and way-finding. i also wanted to ask about the speed of bicyclist. are you going to have radar out there? are you going to have that little sign that says, this is your speed, please slowdown? sometimes i have to run like a chicken to get across the street safely because who knows what's coming. will bicyclist be held to the same standards as the vehicles that's allowed and i have one more thing. let me find my notes. ramps are closed in a number of areas. i know you're working on that. but the

information you've shared about the shuttle bus and this special requirement of it being on demand in the evenings, i think that information is, as well as how to access service on monday morning and people with disabilities need that information. signage is another issue. it can be very confusing. again, i know you're working on the way-finding but these are -- these are areas that i think that is maybe on your radar already in the park, but i'd like to make sure they stay there and that we see some positive improvements there along with the increasing accessible parking. it's great to see what you have already attained but we look forward to seeing progress on the other things as well. so, that

concludes my comments. >> there were a lot of things that you brought up, orkid. as far as the doors leading into the de young museum. i think i've heard there may be an issue with those and as far as i understand, de young is responsible for the maintenance of the facility. brian may know more about this than i do, but we can definitely make sure that they are aware if there's an issue with the doors. >> yeah. i would say that historically because the garage was privately owned and operated in addition to the de young being a separate entity. that was the situation now that the

garage were in the transition to making it be managed by the city. obviously, with a vendor, but we will -- as lucas mentioned, this is an opportunity for us to inform the de young of this and especially now that we'll be operating the garage as a city, but i do believe those doors are technically under the de young's jurisdiction. >> and then as far as tree maintenance vehicles blocking pathways, that is sometimes an issue that you see all over the place or delivery vehicles blocking curb ramps and blocking pathways all over the city. and that's something that probably the best way to, you know, either informing park rangers or

311, if you see something like that because 311 will get back to the manager who can, you know, make sure the staff are being reminded, you know, being trained not to block pathways, accessible pathways. i'm trying to remember. >> i can speak to one of them about -- another one about the shuttle. >> yeah. >> about the wait times. before we have a new operator for the shuttle, which started in october and i didn't mention this in the presentation and under the old contract for the prior operator, there were no backup drivers during the driver's breaks. and so, that created some of the longer wait times. now, we have, under the new contract, all breaks have a reliever driver to ensure that this service stays on the same

frequency, which is 15 minutes on weekends and about 25 minutes on weekdays with the two shuttles. so, i have not personally heard any complaints about that since but we're open to hearing more constructive feedback as you provided. >> also, about the on-call shuttle or on-demand shuttle, that's a brand-new thing we're piloting for the, you know, like brian was talking about, for the evening concerts and other events and as well as the intwined exhibit, so that people can get to those things without, you know, using the shuttle even after hours at night when the events are happening or when the lights, you know, you can really

see the lights for intwined. so it's another thing we're trying, what we're hoping is it's going to work better for the public, to be able to call the shuttle when you actually need it and have it come to the stop that -- where you parked or where you're getting off muni, take you to your destination and then you can call it or text again afterwards and have them come and pick you up again. but we don't have a whole lot of information yet about how well that's working, so we really invite people to come out and try it and let us know because we're really hoping this is something we can do more of if it works well. and provides better service and more efficient service, so please, if you have any -- if you give it a try and if somebody gives it a try, let us know how it works

for you so we can keep doing it if it's working or change it if we need to. but the information is on the website, on the golden gate park, getting their website and you click on the shuttle link of the website and then it will give you the first thing you'll see is the information about the on-call shuttle and what you do between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to get the shuttle. >> i can respond to the question about bicycles and the speed of bicycles. we're definitely aware of the speed that some bicycles take, they are going quite fast and that creates some conflicts for people of all abilities and ages who want to cross the street or who are walking along or a little child learning to

ride a bike on the street is jfk. one of the areas that we've had implemented was since october, there have been the different interventions in the street, whether that's the doggy diner heads, the yellow dot with the ginko trees a conservative west or the wells or murals, all of those innings, especially ones that have come up out of the street, not so much the murals on the ground, they have -- we've noted that this has slowed a number of the bikes down to really demonstrate, this is a space for, yes, for recreation, which may include riding your bike, but also for many other uses and it's a space for people of all different ages and backgrounds and that this is not an area to go speeding through, but i know this is an

area where we continue to monitor and there's room for adjustments and improvements. >> thank you very much. that's all good news. i'd like to see if we have any other comments from council members? we do. let's go to denise and then we'll go back to sheri after denise is done. >> first of all, i like to thank lucas and brian for their presentations today. and listening to the various comments from council members. i appreciate, as far as information and communication along with way-finding and, excuse me, signage. you did listen to some of the issues

around those concerns and as orkid stated, pleased to have these issues on the forefront because of concern, i want everyone to be able to enjoy the park and access the park as well. my concern -- >> uh-oh. it looks like we lost denise. maybe her internet -- >> i'm sorry about that. my phone. [audio difficulties] the only thing i'm concerned about, you mentioned getting back to the disability community and one of the concerns that i'm -- that i care about along with the council is because of this closure that everyone has access too and what i'm understanding from some of the e-mails i've

seen, some of the comments that i have heard is that, there still are some severe access issues that certain populations of the vulnerable communities aren't able to access. i can't speak of them because i don't know enough, but i think that if there are -- if there is anything -- [audio difficulties] >> let's give it a moment and see if denise's audio comes back. >> sorry, sorry. i'm still here, sorry. can you see me? >> yes. >> i can see you. okay. sorry. so, my concern is to address the issues that are brought up in public comment with regard to access issues for people and

seniors and disabilities and people with disabilities who were apparently working at the park and no longer because of access issues especially if the decision is made to permanent close, then it's going to impact people with disabilities as far as employment. [audio difficulties] >> we've lost you again. [multiple voices] >> what are their access issues and i'm sorry, i don't know what's happening with my phone. but i really want those issues addressed for seniors, people with disabilities that can't access the park for whatever reason that used to work there and lost gainful employment because a decision is made, as i

said before, to permanently close, that's going to impact money and employment is tied to that and access to the park and i want everyone to have an opportunity especially if a decision was made to close it and we have to address the barriers. [audio difficulties] >> so, yes. rec. and park takes it very seriously that making jfk into a promenade -- oh. >> thank you. >> were you finished? >> i'm sorry about that. >> okay. that's all right. >> yes, i am. thank you. >> yeah, we take it really seriously that has -- that having the jfk become a

promenade and not be open to private vehicles has changed things and made some places that people are used to getting to by vehicle harder, you know, maybe a little bit more difficult to get to and we also are finding that a lot of the -- a lot of what we're hearing is that people just don't really know, now how to get to places they used to drive to. there's an alternative that they could be dropped off. we hear that, oh, you can't get to the museums by vehicles and you can't get dropped off by the museums but there's always been passenger zones in front of both museums and they are still there and you can drive up to them. a lot of our work has been with just making sure that we're putting

out the information of what is available and what does work. the shuttle is a big piece of what we've done. the shuttle is not perfect. there, you know, as brian pointed out, there's a lot we have accomplished in the last year and a lot of things that are still to come. you know, like what we hear about the shuttle being low floor to make it easier to get on and off of but i've heard -- there's people i have heard of who think the shuttle doesn't have a lift, which you know, of course it does, so a lot of what is going on is information and making sure that we're sharing the correct information for people. but it's true. it is a change and it is affecting how people -- if people were used to using vehicles to get to places and i

personally haven't heard anything about the -- that people have lost jobs because of not being able to drive on jfk, so i don't -- i can't speak to that. but i know that there are people who, you know, who were used to parking on jfk who work there and are obviously having to find other places to park, but you know, we have, as far -- as far as free accessible parking, we have more spaces and jfk closed. as bryan talked about -- as brian talked about, we're working with the parking garage because that is, you know, 33 more spaces that are right there, you know, you can't possibly get closer to -- >> they are the closest spaces and have been since they were

installed. >> yeah. but we still have work to do as far as making those spaces more affordable and all of that. so, we really do hear all those comments and we have been listening and, you know, we've done a lot but we know there's still a lot of work to do to help make sure that people can really get where they want to get to. >> thank you. >> thank you. i believe we have one more question or comment from a councilmember, sheri, you have your comment and then we'll have a break. and then we'll also hear from the mod if they have any comments on this topic. so, please be brief if you can. >> hi, this is sheri again. i

forgot to ask one more request about the shuttle on -- i forgot to ask one more question about the shuttle on demand. if this is something you're going to bring in for an evening event or concert or intwine light show, if you're already going to have the drivers working, hired for that evening, why wouldn't you just run them on the normal route back, you know, whatever. i don't understand what the on-demand accomplish is. is it just because you don't have to hire as many drivers? i have -- i just, in my experience on-demand doesn't work when you have a number of people in different locations. if you just ran the normal route and people know that that's what it always is and always was, i don't know

if they have been to the park before and know the shuttle. i didn't know what the reasoning was by having a special event on-demand. that's all. >> i can speak to that, lucas, if you want to add, i think that's a fair question. i think the primarily thing is that in general in the evenings, when it gets dark and obviously it gets dark earlier before 6:00 even in the winter months, a lot of people leave the park. however, obviously with these lightening executives and activities, there are people in the park. however, it's still in general less than normal and so, a combination of, that there are fewer people in the park and that we feel like it's an experiment, we're trying to see if this works, like lucas was saying, we felt it would --

rather than having two drivers go around on the weekdays or the weekends until 8:00 and pick up almost nobody, we thought let's try and see if this different service that's on-call that could be worked well for both the demand that's actually there, meaning the driver will go directly to a stop where somebody needs to be picked up and take them directly to a stop where they are going. obviously that does add a feature like you noted that, hey, that may work on paper but does it really work well in activity, so the thought was hey, one driver that's a more economic method but we want to make sure it works well, so that's why we're doing it now and it would be great for people to test out. lucas? >> yeah. i would just add that, i mean, just to sort of picture

how it's supposed to work is the driver would be waiting, say, at maclaren lounge which is one of the shuttle stops, but also is right next to intwine so say something calls or text and says, i'm at the muni stop at hayton stayon to the driver takes them to the intwine exhibit rather than driving -- or two drivers driving all the way to the park like stowe lake, with another example of a stop that people probably aren't going to be going to at night. >> the rose garden. >> yeah, the rose garden, places that are dark, you know, transverse drive, that there's much less likelihood they would be going there but rather, you know, the shuttle can go, you know, if you call in and say i parked in the accessible parking

lot, can you come pick me up and take me to intwined? then, the thought is that they will get there much quicker. >> right. >> because they are not circling the whole park going to all the different stops when, like, brian said, there's going to be very few people -- >> just as a little background, it's about a 40-minute loop for the shuttle to do the whole loop to start at stowe lake and returning. >> thanks for the information. >> thank you, sheri. next, we'll hear any comments from the mod staff if there are any, please proceed. >> hello. there are several questions which have come in under q&a and the webinar and many of them are definitely

germane and worth asking. i'm also very aware that it is already nearly 3:00 and you think interpreters and the rest of us are due for a break so i would like to ask the chair to go ahead and have the break and when we come back, we'll probably announce a way to handle many of the questions that have come in. >> okay. that sounds like a great idea. we'll hold off then on the comments from the mod staff. we will take a break. what time is it now? 2:55. we'll due for a 15-minute break

so being back at 3:10. is that workable? by 3:10 and we'll start back again at 3:1 -- 3:15 and debbie will talk about how to wrap up the comments. and we'll have another discussion and we'll wrap up our meeting by 4:00. we're now on break. [recess]

>> we have several very, very excellent questions come in on q&a that are not just comments but are previous follow-up questions for many of the issues that lucas and brian covered and so, there are over, i think, 35 questions and so, given how

numerous they are and where we are so far on our timeframe for this meeting, i am going to take all of those questions, organize them according to topic and then provide them to lucas and brian for your responses. excuse me, and then we will take that -- the questions and answers and publish them on the mdc website as supplemental materials to this meeting. so i have no questions. >> okay. thank you, debbie. let

me get my bearings here. we've had the break. and we are now moving on. i believe to agenda item no. 7, is that right, which is a discussion item regarding the future of the great highway closure. that runs along the coast in san francisco and the closure -- there's a closure issue here. we'll have a presentation from lucas tobin and brian stokle from recreation and park department. continue your presentation turning to the great highway. >> hi, thank you. let me get presentation on this. this is

brian stokle. oh. it got me to the beginning. hold on. it's the same presentation, so i'm going to just go to the end. there we go. okay. so, this is an update on the great highway and the image here on the introduction slide is an image of the great highway during its promenade format with a number of people walking and biking and congregating on the great highway southbound lane at the intersection at the beaches to the right and the neighborhood is to the left. in december 2022, so just last month, the board of supervisors

passed an ordinance to maintain the great highway between lincoln way and slope boulevard as a promenade until december 31, 2025. this is known as the great highway pilot. it's a three-year study. it keeps in -- for the use of the great highway, what it has been since august 2021 which is vehicle access on the for lanes of the great highway from monday morning at 6:00 a.m. until friday at 12 noon. and then on the weekends, from 12 noon on friday until the early hours of monday at 6:00 a.m. as a walking and biking and promenade for all different types of users. the image shown is of -- on the left

is a person pushing somebody in some sort of wheelchair device along with a dog walking next to them on the great highway and on the right, i believe that's -- lucas can correct me, i believe that's an image from the bort program on the great highway. lucas, can you chime in on that? >> that's right. that's the adaptive cycling program. it's in golden gate park, the first and third saturdays and out of the great highway on the second and fourth saturdays. it will be starting up again in april. but this was from, i think this was the first day that the, that the bikes were out at the great highway. >> and to give a little more information about the pilot and study, over the next three years, our department along with sf mta will be collecting much more robust data on the great highways use, both for vehicles,

pedestrians, bikes, et cetera. they will inform a recommendation to the board of supervisors for consideration on the great highways long-term future at the end of the pilot. we're happy to reach out to our internal and external stakeholders when we begin public outreach. in the meantime, we encourage the people to provide us with feedback at rpd dot info dot org. this is a shorter program and this ends the presentation on the great highway and we will -- we're here for questions. thank you.

>> if you were speaking, you were on mute. >> the interpreter apologies for being on mute. we'll start our comment period, first with public comment. we'll have public followed by comment -- we'll have public comment followed by comments from the council and mod. if a member of the public would like to share a comment, please raise your hand. >> just a reminder to the public, you can make a public comment by using the raise hand feature on your computer or tablet or using the smartphone

zoom app. if joining by phone, you can dial star nine or you may also make a comment using the zoom webinar q&a feature. at this time, i don't see any members of the public that would wish to make a comment. >> okay. no public comment regarding the great highway closure. now, let me turn to members of the mdc. any comment from council members of mdc? if not, i do have a couple of questions regarding the great highway. i drive to take my son to middle school in the outage minaria area and sometimes there's problems of highway 1

not being open on monday. from what i understanding the storms have greatly impacted it and i understand why there are closures due to effects from the storm. even prior to that, i've had problems driving through on monday mornings. so, when that highway is not open, i had to take a route to get to where i'm going. i think signage would help. i think at this point, people see signage and they don't necessarily know what to do and they may be surprised by its closure. so, will it ever be open? highway 1? >> i can respond to that. first of all, just a clarifying

detail. the great highway is, although it has highway in the name, it is technically a city street. it is not highway 1. caltrans state highway 1 runs along 19th avenue through golden gate park and it becomes park presidio. it's a road people use coming from skyline and the peninsula and it runs along the coast. so, it sounds like and then we've heard it's a communications challenge and it is a physical closure challenge that we're discussing. there are flashing beacon signs right now to warn people when the great highway is shut. they are set on a timer, so that they are set for weekends and fridays at

noon. that raises the question of, can they be updated on the fly when the -- when there's an event whether it's throughing or sand blocking the road to vehicular access. i have to get through to sf mta to manages those to see if there's a way to streamline that. and in terms of streamlining, we are working on a better communication system because i think that's one of the key challenges here is making sure that people know when the road is accessible for vehicles, whether that's on a regular basis or on when many of these events happen. just as a note, last year there were 31 events, depending on a few hours or several days when the road was closed to vehicular access

due to sand encroaching on the roadway. so, we are working with public works who manages the sand removal and does much of the monitoring of the sand and the flooding in concert with our park rangers and others, obviously, the fire department uses it for emergencies and the police department has access. we're working on -- improving the communications so that the public does have a better knowledge, both in general which is on our website about when you can access is for driving which will lead to one of my questions for you, but also i think especially when there's unscheduled closures for vehicle access because it's understandable that if you drive it normally on a wednesday at 9:00 a.m., you would normally have vehicular access and we need to make sure that everybody has multiple ways they can find

out if it's not accessible. you did mention monday mornings that there was a challenge. was that before or after 6:00 a.m.? >> it should have been about 10:00, after 6:00 a.m. >> 10:00 in the morning. >> i saw the notice about friday, saturday, and sunday, and i had been aware of that in the past, but on monday mornings at one point, there was a part i couldn't access. it could have been because of sand that needed to be removed and that has to happen on a weekly basis. one problem is that there are some trees that you can't drive -- there are streets you can't drive-thru and you have to take

a route and find your way around blockage. there are those streets that's closed due to the slow streets program and so, those are the ones you have to try and navigate when you can't use that part of the great highway. >> uh-huh. >> so, you can only do it if you're familiar with the area. i wanted to put that out there as a thing that needs to be remediated at some point. anyway. that was all i wanted to say. i think we can turn now to staff. >> i'll just add that part of what our -- we're working with sf mta, both for -- the pilot of the great highway is about the road itself, but we -- about the neighboring streets, so that we can -- we monitor how people get around it, whether it's on a scheduled basis or in this case, when -- as we know on average,

it's actually 27 times a year, at least a month of the year that there are obstructions on the road and it has to be closed. part of that is making sure that there are ways you can get around it physically, like, to drive and that we pass on the information in expeditious way, so that the most -- the greatest number of people that use it can learn about that and hopefully have a better way to get around because they know ahead of time. >> right. yeah. and sometimes you can't get through golden gate park as well. that's some of the flaws with closures we have seen in golden gate park is that it does take you around robins hood barn and try and find another way but that's another issue to be discussed at

another time. thank you, brian, for sharing your insights on that. >> thank you, orkid. >> i would like to ask staff of the mod if you have comments? >> yeah. thank you very much. just a study and contrast today between the two presentations and you finished the presentation and i said, wait, we're done, but i think, you know, i just, number one i would like to point out that this is, you know, a great example of the right timing in the initiation of a new project or change in how things are going to be done is to come to the disability community and ask for it but rather than wait for people to start complaining about things.

so, i'm pleased, we at mod are very pleased with you coming onto the community now. one issue that we, i know i've talked about with you in the past, it might be useful for the council to understand, we've gotten complaints from people when corkus and other mobility access gets blocked by the sand and -- >> could you wait for a moment. i don't think the interpreter's spotlight is -- >> okay. >> jen, you're still spotlighted. could you go on and continue for a while? thank you. please proceed. >> okay. thank you. i was asking

about, um, what to do when the, um, sand and -- it blocks wheelchair access and i lived on the -- i've lived on the east coast a few year ago and had to live through snowstorms and the situation when you got accumulation of snow or slush probably is the same with sand where when the curb cut is blocked. (indiscernible) work around people who are on foot can avoid the blockages and

people who rely on certain paths of travel for wheelchair access or mobility access. they have a much -- more significant impact. i'm curious how you're approaching that issue and how you think it might play out if the great highway is going to be used primarily for people who are not driving? >> those are great points, debbie. this is great to come in this early on this. i do know right now, as i've mentioned, the public works manages the removal of sand on the roadway. they are developing a new updated sand management plan. what i can do with that is flag

this for them to ensure that at least on the roadway where their domain is, it's rec. and park jurisdiction but they have the role of maintaining it, is that they -- we examine how does the sand get removed at crosswalks and at key locations so it's working for all different users, not just vehicles that use it on weekdays. i hear you loud and clear about the curb ramps, but essentially everywhere. we do know that people in wheelchairs and also frankly bikes, they need the sand cleared and even if something changes from the current pair time with the weekend promenades, there will always need to be a degree of sand removal of that roadway regardless, even if vehicles

aren't using it, some of the time or all of the time but that's down the road. i'll answer two things. we'll doing a dune study and we're not conducting it but the san francisco estuary institute is based on a grant from the california chose con certificate vaen see is doing a study on the dunes and how to make it a better habitat but having plantings that will hold down the sand better so there's land accumulations than we especially saw in the last year. that's obviously no guarantee that, i think we need? degree of sand removal and the hope is reduce it. you think the other key -- i think the other keep element you're saying is making sure we have a multi-jurisdictional knowledge of this and action

plan because the area between the roadway and lower great highway where there's ice plant and grass and where the restrooms are, that's park and rec. jurisdiction where we maintain it and there have been sand accumulation there. last is the lower great highway road itself which is, where the curb ramps end and that's an area where i have seen sand accumulations and that's a question, a combination of the rec. and park side and public works which i believe does the street cleaning and so i think we'll need to have, look into that to make sure that the route works the entire way, even though for all agencies to ensure that all users, people in wheelchairs and bikes and rolling could get through when

there are sand accumulations. >> i guess i would like to encourage you and all of us to think about this as a really great opportunity and it may be that there needs to be cost jurisdictional collaboration in order to do, um, more than just, you know, maintenance and keeping things working at some -- sometimes it's very frustrating being in the job of working on and advising the city about accessibility because we want to do -- we want to keep it accessible but when it comes to

people with disability, there's so much more that's possible and the great highway is just an amazing place. it's an amazing location and i think for people, especially with disabilities, who may have more difficulty getting outside of the city to areas where it's more wild. it's more close to nature, that area is really quite an opportunity for people to experience the elements, nature, not being in the middle of cement. and i think that, you know, this would be the time, hopefully, to ask people what would you like to do here? you know, not just what you need to make it accessible

but what are the things that could really be cool, what would you like to do that we can help out? and we have talked about this, you know, the people who operate the federal parts of that area can also become involved and we can create some extraordinary opportunities for people in addition to maintaining the accessibility that we want. i agree with you. i have a relationship with the national park service almost all of that western portion of the city in the northwest rec. and park borders gtnra. there is, we are agreed again at least on a

staff level that ocean beach, the dunes and the great highway is a great opportunity space and regardless of how this board of supervisors decides in three year's time how to use it, this is an opportunity to look at it as one giant, big open space that can envisioned in a different way than it is now in light of what we have even currently have, so we're on that road and i appreciate your comments and suggestions. >> one other finer point, you mentioned the coastal commission and they have done great work on having people about disabilities assess all of the issues in the state and they have published

books about access to coastal areas especially beaches and so they might also have some interest here. >> yeah. we've been in touch with them because we have to. we're getting a coastal zone permit for the current pay lot study but that's good to hear. i'll look into what they have done on other projects for accessible ways of getting to the beach and interacting with the coast. >> the only thing i'm chime in on is we have gotten feedback from a couple of members of the public about the ramp going down to the beach because that gets

filled with sand as well and i think somebody put that in the q&a as well. my understanding is that's also dpw that maintains that but they have to -- they have to do it by hand because their equipment won't fit on the ramp so that has been more of a challenge for them with their staffing to keep up with it but like bryan said, i think that's part of them putting together a bepter schedule for keeping the sand -- for keeping the sand under control because it has been, especially, seems to be more of a challenge more than ever. >> okay. thank you very much to lucas and brian. you're right. we need access to all the nature we can get. it's right there at our doorstep, really, so we have

to find ways to help problems like sand. we can't prevent it entirely because that's part of what the beach is. we have a clover as habitat. it's a very unique species to have at the beach. so, with that said, we have a few more things to go through before we wrap up at 4:00. agenda item 8 is an informational item asking debbie, if there's been correspondence since our last meeting, if so, debbie, please share that. >> there has and it's lengthy and my voice is starting to give out so i asked tess to read the correspondence for us. >> great. >> yes. so, this item we have,

we received e-mails about qualifying the closure of jfk drive. [audio difficulties] >> overwhelming 65% of satisfy ans rejected prop i -- san franciscans rejected prop i and 60% supports prop k. those want jfk want it to remain open including fridays. supervisor mar proposed to legislation to codify great highway park beyond the emergency order and approve a pilot study for upper great highway and this will be heard at land use and transportation before the full board. i want you to support expanding park time to include all day fridays, starting at 6:00 a.m. so people can join the park and the city can study the full weekday of

great highway park being open to people. will you support opening great highway park at 6:00 a.m.? given the overwhelming support for great highway park, san franciscans want more park time not less. they are asking you to lead and take action now on this amazing opportunity to pilot great highway park starting at 6:00 a.m. on fridays through 6:00 a.m. on monday. san franciscans love great highway park and they want to improve their well-being and safely retreat, recreate. you can hear from a blind runner and aging -- a service worker and biking -- a mom biking her kids to school.

(indiscernible) community spaces sf dot com and on you tube. (indiscernible) support a 24/7 great highway park highlighted in the richmond review. and the space has already been studied andy val wapted at length for more than ten years starting with the ocean beach master plan included in the si-cta's great highway evaluation report. recognized for the "new york times," great highway park is a safe, accessible and environmentally friendly ocean front community space that will be a world renowned 234 -- 24/7 park one day but that can't become a reality without one full workweek day which you can make happen. you have an opportunity in helping does

leading our city plan for the future and making great highway park even more accessible and equitable by codifying the great park highway pilot as open to people from friday at 6:00 a.m. to monday at 6:00 a.m. codifying great highway park at weekday will allow our city to pilot, study, and implement improvements including for the surrounding area and for north south transportation from the richmond and car traffic in district 7 near sunset boulevard and (indiscernible). (indiscernible) will you support great highway park from 6:00 a.m. -- from friday 6:00 a.m. to monday at 6:00 a.m. for at least a -- as supervisor mar proposed it. and then the

second letter we have is improving access along jfk drive from howard shop net. (indiscernible) excuse me, disability cochairs, and mdc members, attached is sf mayor's disability council resolution 22 -- 2822-1 which you adopted in march 2022. it's that permanent closure of jfk to cars should be considered and must have access improvements that were implemented. these include drive-thru car access for exhibits and (indiscernible) from jfk. physical separation again pedestrians and cyclists slash scooter riders, information and way finding

improvements and code compliant and shelter areas, new or low floor ramp shuttles and complaint curb ramps, sorry, compliant curb ramps in good condition. the resolution concludes by requiring that the permanent closure of jfk should not be considered unless these conditions are met. as you know, you've adopted the resolution in response to the february 18th, 2022, mdc meeting which ran over four and a half hours. dozens of public comments described the hardship that car ban caused them and ask that car was allowed on jfk again and there were comments in the chat as well. the mitigation measures described by mta at the meeting

didn't change anybody's mind. one in two commenters supported the band and even their comments were ambiguous. (indiscernible) records and transcripts of the meeting and the testimony at that meeting and prior meetings and the written comments to the mdc and mog you received is to find a resolution for the permanent closure of jfk drive to cars under any circumstances instead of the conditional one you adopted. the mdc resolution has been almost completely ignored. almost none of its conditions were met. almost none of its access and safety requirements were implemented before the recreation and parks commission and the board of supervisors adopted and the mayor signed the golden gate park access and safety program. as the last time i was on jfk

drive, which was in early october because i'm only able to roll there on a warm, sunny and calm day, this is the case. the park department spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on jfk drive before the elections on (indiscernible) and installing restored doggy diner heads, installing dozens of (indiscernible) chairs in accessible to those with disabilities and hosting the gardens through trucks and halloween party. more money has been spent since the election such as the world healing cup event. (indiscernible) in favor of proposition i from arts san francisco, a nonprofit individuals with develop mental disabilities. according to the art, the closure of jfk drive

has prevented its clients from visiting and working in golden gate park. many clients have been forced to end employment in golden gate park because they no longer can get there. the attached is a document filed with the department of elections. the patron voter guide which was, which have identical wording is a part of a large pdf and i don't know how to pull a single page to attach it here. (indiscernible) but nonetheless, an important example of the exclusionary access of the car ban is many people who rely on cars especially disabled people seniors and people can't visit the light shows in golden gate park that's currently taking place. nor will they get to the conservatory of flowers which went up which takes place all yearlong. the detail reasons for this is subject e-mails you have received from people. an examples are included in the

comments made at the above referenced meeting. i rode a few blocks of (indiscernible) since 1988 and over the decade enjoyed riding on jfk drive at night and seeing conservatory of flowers. and to longer will i or countless others be able to see the conservatory of flowers illuminated. the facts that rpd felt it necessary to provide vip parking in front of mack -- it caused the most reductions in access i have seen in the 47 years i've had a mobility disability including 32 years as a wheelchair user. moreover, getting cyclists and e-bicyclists endangered seniors

and individuals with disabilities and other pedestrians on jfk drive. rpd and mtd are aware of this but done nothing. (indiscernible) among others written to the mog eloquently about this. yesterday evening i was at a meeting of planning association of their richmond, at which mta director tumlin spoke. a woman at the meeting made a comment about how dangerous jtk job had become because of this and the -- and say something be done. she was in tears as she spoke. the exclusionary access barriers and pedestrian safety issues should concern you both as an sf advisory body and individuals with disabilities. our (indiscernible) have ignored the mdc resolution should concern you. i urge you to advocate as

strongly as you can to rpd and the rpd commission, mta and the mta board and mayor breed and her staff, each supervisor and his or her respective staff that all the conditions in the resolution be implemented immediately and that steps be taken immediately to ensure pedestrian safety on jfk drive. sincerely, howard chapner. >> thank you, tes. so we're approaching 4:00. and there's one more item on the agenda before we can wrap up. we're now at agenda item nine. general

public comment. apparently there are two people waiting to give public comment. tes, could you moderate that? and let's be strict about the three-minute limit, please. >> yes. so at this time, members of the public may address the council on items of interest for the public that's within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council but on the meeting agenda. agenda item, you have had an opportunity to address the council. when that item was reached during this meeting and the "brown act" forbids the council from taking action or discussing any item not on the posted agenda including those items raised by public comment. if you would like to make a public comment, you may use the raise hand feature on the zoom app or on your tablet or computer. you may also dial star nine if you're joining by

phone or you may type your comment in the q&a feature on the zoom webinar. we have members of the public who would like to make a comment. first, i have a phone call-in listener, 415-707-9680. you have been permitted to unmute and you may speak. >> hello. >> please continue your comments. it looks like you're unmuted now. do we have any

public comment from the member who is connected via phone? i don't see any other phone number so it's just the one. >> okay. can you hear me? >> yes, go ahead. >> we heard you say, can you hear me? we didn't hear anything else, so -- >> hello, can you hear me?

>> yes, we can. >> okay. i'll try this one more time. thank you. my name is laura and i'm a resident of the park side district. i use a disability placard to make my way around the city and i have a pump for pain in my back. my partner and i go down to the beach at least one morning a week and we drive in on the slope -- on slope road by the great highway. we park there where the surfers clam rate in the parking lot. i'm hoping that area will be open to the public even though the disability placard parking spaces are too far away from the beach to actually enjoy the beach view and i hope at some point if you keep that open that we'll be able to open a couple of those spots for people with disabilities. and i know they

are going through construction over by the sewage plant there, but it's one of the few activities my partner and i can enjoy together because it's in the car and it's not warm enough by the ocean to be standing out there but it's like a million dollar view, with a cup of coffee we can enjoy ourselves as a member of the public. i hope they keep that open and keep 1 of the lanes open on the great america highway so people can make their way and enjoy the views whether they are disabled or not. it's one of the best places in the city that you can still enjoy without having to pay a lot of money to participate in on. for those on disability who don't have a lot of money and they are still able to drive or have someone drive

us there, it gives us, you know, an opportunity to participate in some social activities that we don't necessarily are able to enjoy as easily, so i just thank you guys for all the hard work you do on the council and i hope that you'll keep those of us who drive (indiscernible) who can't participate and walk down to the beach because of our backs and i'm hoping it will work for us too. thank you very much. >> thank you for your public comment. do we have any other public comment, please? >> looks like we have one more member of the public that would like to speak. zach, you've been permitted to unmute and you