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“This is my no. 1 complaint about Muni. They really, really need to consolidate stops. I understand the tradeoff — that I might have to walk a block farther to get to my stop. But I will most definitely trade that for a faster ride.”
– megan allison In response to "Moralism vs. Utopianism--of Red Lights, Helmets, Bike Lanes and..."
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by Matthew Roth
The idea that the speed and free-flow of cars is the proxy that is being used across the state of California to measure whether a project is [environmentally] impactful is in the long run undermining the very quality of life [we] are working to protect. Continue reading »
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Jamison Wieser
I know the F-Line is cute and popular with tourists, but that doesn't mean it's just a novelty that serves no real purpose in our transit network. What taomom said is absolutely true about it being faster (most of the time) to get from Castro to Montgomery on Muni Metro, but while the subway offers faster service, it doesn't stop at many of the places in between. There's quite a gap between Church and Van Ness which the F-Line does serve and for some short hops the F-Line can be quicker than having to walk up to a couple blocks to get to a subway station.
Last december, when my foot was in a cast, I depended on the F-Line because it stopped right at my corner and the extra distance to Castro Station was a slow, painful trip on crutches. The F-Line fits in the gaps laps left by Muni Metro, just like BART doesn't eliminate the need for bus service on Mission Street.
While it is popular with tourists, I don't like seeing it dismissed as just for tourists when the segment west of Union Square to Castro is so heavily used by residents. I don't think historics needs be the only streetcars on Market, Zig referred to a comment I made on another post about continuing F-Line service while also converting the J-Church to modern, low-floor car that would share the track. I worry that if the F-Line is not taken seriously, then rather a surface J-line being seen as complimentary it would be seen as a solution to some non-existent problem of the F-Line.
My vision, when the Duboce and Church intersection is retracked a few years from now, that an outbound switch be added to allow streetcars outbound on Market to turn south and continue outbound on Church. Right now there's only an inbound turn used by F-Line cars as they come onto the line and if the outbound switch was put in, then it would allow Muni to purchase low-floor cars like the ones shown in Milan and start running the J on the surface, using the loop around the Hotel Vitale near the Ferry Building to turn around. The F-Line would still be continue to the Castro and passed the Ferry Building, but there would now be additional surface capacity on most of Market Street and offer an alternative choice for wheel-chair users and anyone who has trouble climbing stairs.
What this also does is open up more room in the tunnel for the other lines and allows Muni to start bringing in low-floor cars without having to start converting the subway. This also means we wouldn't need to purchase anymore Breda cars for increased demand and the Central Subway and takes away a bottleneck at Duboce and Church where the J and N-Judah are both trying to merge with 3/4 other lines already in the tunnel.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Palal
zig: Market Street Subway is, at present, over capacity. There are a number of easy solutions that can be implemented before requiring little major capital improvement. However, Muni seems to want to study all options a dozen times before trying anything.
Remember, Bredas can't run on the surface unless wires are (re)moved and added... the F line runs under trolley bus wire. New Low Floor trams would also face the same problem. This should not cost a bundle.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Palal
Bikerider: The point I'm trying to make is that Muni should get more Low Floor Trams for all other lines. However, replacing PCCs on Market and Embarcadero should be a big no-no, because they are tourist magnets, just like Cable Cars. All other lines should "Eurotrams" (don't like the term...maybe low floor trams, as opposed to low-floor LRVs)
As for ADA, all Low Floor trams have ramps that can unfold and fold back up very quickly and don't require slow lifts. Perhaps using something like this Vienna ULF (Ultra-Low-Floor) tram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Low_Floor) should be considered (although I don't know how well it will work on SF's numerous crests). The floor is only 7 in above the road surface.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
John Murphy
@Greg I'm sure Wade's a nice guy but the quickest way he could make an impact might be "I quit. Take my salary and put a bike lane in on Townsend" or something of that ilk.
in response to Streetscast: Sunday Streets Press Conference
Greg
Confused as to why a "Director of Climate Change" would be there. Wouldn't that person be some sort of scientist or something, working on changing the planning code and I dunno, supporting non-car transit as a policy, etc.?
Just wondering.
in response to Streetscast: Sunday Streets Press Conference
Brian
I always believed Irving from (7th to 11th) and 9th from (Judah to Lincoln) should be pedestrianized.
Inner Sunset is one of The City's most lively shopping and eating neighborhoods, but cars ruin it and make it dangerous. People are crowded onto the sidewalks. Crossing the street on foot is hair-raising.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
jon winston
As a resident of the traffic clogged clogged Glen Park area, I have five words regarding a big garage near the BART station: Not In My Back Yard.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
John Murphy
@Charles and @Jeffrey Baker - the best option from any BART station in the system for my money is to take BART to Glen Park and then take the 44. The 44 is quite expedient up O'Shaugnessy and down Woodside/Laguna Honda/7th. Of course you then hit the GG Park Bottleneck on heavy DeYoung/Academy days. But it drops you off at the front door of the Academy of Science. This also addresses DaveO's concept of parking at transit - Millbrae/SSF/San Bruno parking lots are never even close to full, and I think the same is true of Colma. Strange but true - I have seen with my own eyes Peninsula families using this option. For kids the zippy ride into SF along 280 from Colma to Glen Park is pretty cool.
They should put special discount coupons for the Academy in the hands of the driver of the 44 to give out to riders of that specific line.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
Michael
zig,
Noise is a serious issue, although I wonder how much of it could be alleviated with track improvements (the loudest noise is at places where tracks intersect).
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
zig
My two cents on this is of all places I am familiar (not a ton) urban elitism is the worst in San Francisco while this is the very place it is most important to think regionally as SF in an increasingly small portion of the Bay Area.
Part of it is the high number of transplants I think.
in response to Reaching Across the Urban-Suburban Divide
zig
I think this is Jamison's original idea but I would think these low floor vehicles could also replace the J-church which could then run on Market to alleviate congestion and an awkward and slow connection to the tunnel. And I say this as a J-rider who would need to transfer. The Bredas are loud and too large for the neighborhood IMO.
Perhaps other lines could be created as well using modern low floor vehicles with minimal investment is new tracks.
Not being an engineer, but always having an opinion anyway, it seems to me a high capacity alternative to the failure prone and overcrowded Market Street subway is needed now.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Charles Siegel
Those parking lots with transit connections would not help someone like me, who wants to come from Berkeley by BART. They made an error by placing the museum where it is not accessible by transit. There were proposals to rebuild it in downtown, where it would have been easily accessible, but unfortunately that opportunity was missed.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
Susan Vaughan
The Culture Bus costs $7 for the day, but riders get a $3 discount at the CAS and a $2 discount at the de Young -- making it a total of a $2 bus ride.
Aside from this point, there are major issues that could not be addressed due to time constraints and word limits:
1) How do Recreation and Parks, the Music Concourse Community Partnership, and the Concourse Authority intend to fulfill the mandate of Proposition J and turn the concourse into a pedestrian oasis?
2) Muni riders such as myself know that Muni service -- the 44, 71, N-Judah, 5, and 21 all run near the portion of the park that attracts the most car traffic -- is seriously eroded by traffic congestion. If there is no current analysis on the impact of congestion on Muni service and the overall of economic health of the city, one should be commissioned; And,
2) Knowing what we know about traffic in and around GGP, do we really want to go forward with putting the CAMP in the Main Post of the Presidio?
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
Michael
Marc,
The G-line was mentioned in a post here yesterday, which is definitely the first mention of it on the Internet in a long time.
Since the TEP reroutes the 33 to terminate in the Dogpatch instead of Potrero and 25th St., perhaps the G-line could actually be modified to both serve its original purpose and replace the 33 (and thereby supplement a heavily-used portion of the 22 as well.) So, it might be something along the lines of 3rd St. and 23rd St, 22nd St. Caltrain, up to 18th (through Potrero Hill's main street,) following the path of the 33 until Church, up to the Buena Vista tunnel using existing tracks from there, turn right at Stanyan to get up to the entrance to GGP park and continue on to the Inner Richmond.
We can dream, right?
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
taomom
I guess I don't understand. I love the old street cars--they're cute and great for tourists--but why would anyone who lives here take them when you can take the underground trains that are five times as fast? I can get from Castro to Montgomery in five minutes underground (once a train comes.) On the F-line it is endless. Why don't we just get the throughput up underground so that a train comes every five minutes? Energy-wise, it's far more efficient to move volumes of people that way without the constant decelerating and accelerating required by traffic. Leave Market Street to bikes and tourists (they may spend money.)
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Jim F.
Greg, I agree with you. No one in Muni wanted the Culture bus. It came down from on high and it was put out. It started last fall after the tourist season and is now probably going to be cut. You can always take the 21 or 5 out there and get almost as close for $1.50 (maybe $2 in the future).
About the Museums: what are you going to do out there? When the Asian moved downtown everyone out there wanted to make sure the rest stayed b/c they wanted to make sure they could drive to them. So, a huge garage is built and now they can drive there. As the one commissioner said "it was not unexpected.
Signs would be a good idea and so would closing a larger section of JFK on Saturdays. I never go to the park except on Sundays b/c you don't see the cars.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
taomom
I have ridden my bike to the area twice in the past month, once to the De Young and once to the Academy. There is no secure bike parking there, only open racks in front of each museum. There is a small bike rack in the below-concourse parking garage which I used because I felt my bike would be slightly less vulnerable there, but it wasn't easy to get to--either I had to go through steps and doors or I had to come in via the car entrance with the cars, much to the annoyance of the guy running entry/exit area. As a bicyclist who has invested a lot in her bike, it would make me extremely happy to have access to secure parking (lockers of some sort) or someone posted to watch bicycles (hey, I'll even take a security camera.)
The de Young doesn't give a discount for bicycles, only for Muni riders. The academy gives a $3 discount, which isn't bad, but obviously isn't enough.
What would for sure encourage bicycling, Muni and walking? A separate, faster entry line to the Academy, but I don't know how you'd keep people from claiming they'd walked when they hadn't.
Is there a way to take transportation to the area from Marin? Does Golden Gate transit stop anywhere nearby? From the Peninsula, taking Caltrain or Bart and then the N Judah has to be seriously pushed. There is really no sense in the Academy trying to educate people about global warming when they've all just driven their SUV thirty miles to get there. Maybe the Academy should only let people enter on Sundays if they can prove they came via transit, bikes or walking. Would be interesting.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
marcos
Does anyone remember the G Line, a proposal from a decade ago which would link together UCSF Mission Bay and Parnassus Heights by (historic?) streetcar on 16th Street to Church and on through the Buena Vista tunnel with a spur down 9th Avenue to the Concourse?
That did not make it into the TEP in any shape or form.
-marc
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
Michael
Yet another chance to lament the fact that BART wasn't built under Geary to Marin (this would bring a huge swath of the Bay Area closer to GGP by BART, even if they'd still have to walk/take the bus a few blocks from Geary.)
More constructively, I wonder if some of the suburban counties might be able to consider running weekend shuttles to and from the de Young and CAS. With tourists, we might be able to simply promote existing transit, which is adequate for getting to GGP from within the city. But getting there by transit from outside can be a long haul for those off the Muni grid. SamTrans' buses to 49ers games might provide a model for this.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
Jeffrey W. Baker
Perhaps an advertising campaign can be undertaken to encourage visitors to arrive at the museums by way of the N-Judah. It is only a 10-minute walk from 9th & Irving to the Academy. Out-of-town visitors could conceivably park at 5th & Mission, boarding the N at Powell, or they could arrive by BART or Caltrain and transfer directly to the N.
Naturally this would work better if the N-Judah was not an overcrowded, unreliable, slow joke of a streetcar.
To their credit, the web sites of the Academy of Sciences and the de Young Museum feature Muni as the primary way of getting to the park.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
mikesonn
Dave0, I reread what you wrote. I guess you have some point in putting the parking next to public transit. However, there is plenty of parking at places like Daly City and San Bruno, people just don't use it. (I may be wrong about commute hours since I rarely go to these places during work hours, so I'll be happy to admit I'm wrong if that is the case.)
But, this doesn't do the park any good people still think that parking is available in and around it. Let's take the fisherman's wharf for example, there is a lot there that is often full, with tons of transit options, but people still drive and wait for parking because there is a chance that a spot will open up in the garage. Now if that garage wasn't there, I'd fancy a guess that less people would drive because the chance of being rewarded with a parking spot is that much less.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
Justin
The Academy of Sciences building is not a green building. In no way shape or form.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
mikesonn
DaveO, you need to explain how more parking space will not increase car usage. In my opinion, that is about as backwards as it comes. If you allow for more parking cheaper, more people will drive. It is the same with widening roads/highways.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
Greg
The Culture Bus was an example of a half-baked idea, with no real research, poor planning, poor fare structure (why should I pay $3 for it with a muni pass when I can ride a cable car for free ,etc) and was a disaster ,with very poor publicity by the people it supposedly served (tourist industry) Not only did it do NOTHING to address the hellish traffic and noise in our neighborhood, it actually made things worse by sucking away money from relevant projects.
We can't just make life miserable for motorists and hope they are "encouraged" to take another form of transportation to the park and its many awesome attractions. People need to hear the message loud and clear - trying to find a parking spot in the park, in the Inner Sunset, or in that overstuffed garage is a fool's errand at best, and that has to be made clear. Policies of "encouragement" are bullshit and never work because most people are too stubborn to change.
Worse, because drivers and others can't seem to obey basic traffic regs, the intersections at 9th/Irving, 9th/Lincoln are getting VERY dangerous for people crossing the street legally with a green light AND a walk sign. Just yesterday a car barreled past the N Judah as passengers, including kids were leaving the train and it came so fast it was a miracle no one was hit. At the very least it may be time to consider banning left turns at the Irving/9th intersection simply because no one seems to follow the rules and this blocks cars, buses and bikes who are trying to get by.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
The Overhead Wire
Buy USA is not an issue. Most European Tram companies have assembly facilities here in the United States. Heck the Siemens plant is in Sacramento. Prices are greatly inflated when you make a special order so if you don't buy in bulk you're going to pay through the nose. One of the biggest issues is the CPUC making life harder for everyone than it really has to be.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
DaveO
More public garages need to be built and heavily promoted, not necessarily in downtown or near attractions, but in locations where easy access to both highways and public transit exist. Van Ness/Market area; Glen Park/Balboa Park/Daly City; Western Geary Boulevard (maybe after the BRT is built). You won't get people to abandon cars in favor of public transit simply by banning car access without making it possible for people to use public transit.
in response to Cars Invade Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset as Institutions Reopen
meligrosa
-a really good bank- is there such thing?
and why isnt the he-figure riding the bike?
Im thinking very postivie here, but maybe his bike is ruined and the loan is to get himself a new bike, or repair it, etc/
this reminds of the defunct wamu, as seen about a year ago here in SF: wamu billboard
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
bikerider
Palal: While archaic high-platform streetcars might also be useful as museum rolling stock to add to the collection, the proposal here is for modern low-floor trams that serve a real transportation purpose.
The big challenge for implementing modern low-floor trams isn't funding, but the counterproductive regulatory framework:
1. The "Buy-USA" trade protection, which limits choices available (and greatly inflates prices). Breda was one of the few manufacturers willing to deal with this nonsense.
2. Not sure how state ADA rules would fit into the concept. If state law (or local politics) dictate level platform boarding at each and every streetcorner, it could be very problematic. On-board wheelchair lifts might have to be used instead, but they really kill dwell time (ok for bus, not ok for high-volume tram).
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Palal
Muni should also consider getting some Tatra T3 cars from Prague. They're high floor, but they've a lot of high points.
They will fit within the historical context of San Francisco, as they're "descendants" of the PCC cars that make up roughly half of the fleet of the F line.
They can be coupled together in up to 3 units, although currently platforms on the F line can only take 2 ... that's the capacity of 2 PCC cars for the price of 1 driver, and you still have your historic factor... (as good as modern trams look, they are not as sexy and sleek). If they ever build the loop for the E line on the Ballpark end, you could couple them in 3-unit trains and run them along the Embarcadero during peak crowds.
They are dirt cheap... Prague is replacing many of them with low floor cars and is virtually giving away many of them.
They are VERY reliable... The T3 and the T4 series are some of the largest mass-produced series of streetcars in the world...almost 14000 T3 and 3500 T4 cars, while only 5000 PCCs have been built in the U.S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_T3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_T4
It would be great to have one or two for Muni's centennial...
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Brian Tyler
If Market Street does become car free, then the historic street cars should be put on other routes and replaced with low floor designs and proof of payment systems. These new cars should not use the subway because of the incompatibility and cost of changing the platform heights. As it stand however, it would be a wast to buy new light-rail vehicles that just get stuck in get in traffic.
My website, Switching Modes, discusses similar topics. Please take a look at: http://switchingmodes.wordpress.com/. I plan to post a plan to double the capacity of the Muni Metro system without building a new line downtown.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Greg
Until you end the looting of MUNI and the destruction of stable forms of funding (sorry parking tickets are not stable and don't count) you can have all the brilliant ideas in the world but none of it is going to happen.
The Bredas have been an example of politicized purchasing by City agencies that produce a product that serves no one well. The SF Weekly did a great story 10 years ago detailing how we got these things under Mayor Willie, who borked it up pretty good.
I hear Tom's point, but really, it's all just nice sounding talk.BART might do its part by finally building the line down Geary we were always promised (and ripped out the B Geary for) but of course never got. Since then we have been subsidizing BART stations WAYYYYY out there for a handful of folks. Gotta love it.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Banjo K
Yes, the people who actually get to fit onto the historic streetcars do "love them" and think they're cute.
The problem is, this city is just too big and needs more capacity than the limited number of historics can provide. I dare anyone reading this to try and fit onto an F-Line car heading back from Fishermans' wharf on a nice sunny afternoon. Muni just doesn't have enough of those cute low-capacity historics to provide the service we need.
I don't have any problem with maintaining the current service, so long as historic rail advocates stop pretending that these cute little cars can actualy provide enough capacity for a real city's modern transit needs. The solution is to maintain them for their cute value, for tourism, for branding, and slowly replace the Breda cars with low-floor, modern, hi-capacity vehicles.
And if we don't have enough money for both, sorry but we have to pick -- and the real needs of real residents should take precedence over nostalgia.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Seth Andrzejewski
If you do the math, saving 2-3 minutes every run equates to millions of dollars every year in savings. I agree with all the above... anything Muni can do to speed up runs: Translink, bus stop spacing, car-free streets. How about a Geary - O'Farrell that is only thru for bicyclists and transit?
Wouldn't the tram pictured above be too long for some Market Street blocks (2nd St - Montgomery)?
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
eddo
Agreed with Josh, there's no reason both can't work. And I've never loved the Bredas either. The new LRVs at Valley Metro Phoenix are all Kinkisharyo and they look fantastic and the ride is *really* smooth. Locally, the VTA runs Kinkisharyo LRVs as well.
I shudder to think how much it would cost to revamp the underground stations to accommodate low-floor trains.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Todd
It's not at all clear what this billboard means or why it is there. The obtuse message provides no clear connection to the image (hence this discussion), no call to action and no way to ascribe any value to the brand (and therefore little benefit to Chase). Since it requires the viewer to fill in the story I choose to believe that this man was out walking in his hiking boots and stole a bike that he is now forced to carry because it is still locked. But then, in an act of divine retribution his accumulated clot of bad karma erupts from his belly in a flash of agony that destroys most of his internal organs. He now has an urgent need for a really good organ bank.
I have to believe this was an in-house design because I know of many "admen" who cycle to work but know zero bankers who do. I suggest Chase sell a corporate jet and buy each of the executives in the company a bike, compel them to ride it to work and reward them for the insight to reality this provides. Once they get the hang of it I hope to see them at Critical Mass.
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
theo
The best thing Muni could do to speed up the trains is heavy promotion of Translink. Boarding and dwell time is really that bad, and Translink is really working now.
I've estimated that 50% uptake would speed up the N Judah run by 5 minutes, and probably get 2-3 minutes off an F market run.
It's time to end the "soft launch." My current plan is this:
1. Spend $1 million giving a $5 subsidy upon activation of a new account to the first 200,000 account holders.
2. Hire those part time credit card promoters who are always around college campuses to hassle everyone using one of the downtown stations for a week. Another $100,000.
3. Hire bar promoters to go around to bars and clubs signing people up -- free drink with new account activation. Also hire those Peachy Puffs girls, if they're still around. Another $100,000.
4. Promote heavily at major public events for 2-3 months after launch.
The worst thing about Muni is its total lack of sales focus. It operates like a utility, which it really isn't. By and large, it's in real competition with private cars and cabs.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Josh
I agree with the above, and with Mr. Radulovich's last point, that we enjoy the streetcars (and implicitly feel they are worth the cost), "but I think people might also enjoy the nice modern low-floor cars."
Keyword: also. Let's start talking about giving Muni the money it deserves, rather than argue about robbing Peter to pay Paul.
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
SfResident
1.9 million, much of which doesn't seem to come from SF, is very small potatoes compared to the cost of any of the modernization ideas that Radulovich floated.
Laubscher is spot-on about other, less expensive and more effective, solutions (let's get cars off Market already! And I say that as somebody who neither owns no rides a bicycle). In any case, I see no need to make this into some sort of historic preservation vs. modernization fight. We can, and should, do both.
I, for one, would love to experience San Francisco's transportation past. Imagine a network of streetcars that traversed the city. Bring back the A Geary and the E Union!
in response to Do San Francisco's Historic Streetcars Keep Muni Stuck in the Past?
Seth Andrzejewski
I see no way Chase can make a positive spin: "we like bicyclists, who are smart for being bicyclists, and we are a smart bank for you". If they had a picture of a typical SF track-stand courier type bicyclist, then it surely would have insinuated "you're pathetic looking... get a car loan". There's no way anyone would identify with the Tampa Bay image. I guess they had to settle for a generic, stock photo of an athletic bicyclist that rides purely for recreation and exercise.
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
Greg Riessen
Bravo Dave!
in response to Today's Headlines
Pat
I don't know about the people at Chase Bank, but when I go to work I usually ride my bike rather than carry it. Also, does the white landscape, the silhoutte of the man and the simple symbol that looks to be exploding seem reminiscent of nuclear apocalypse imagery? Maybe by "good bank" they mean a bank that is constructed with 6 foot lead walls and a store room of Mad Max style weapons.
But really the first thing I thought of was that they were suggesting the cyclist needs to save money for a car
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
Jamison Wieser
So who's this good bank they're talking about? Chase is only offering a whopping 0.01% APY on their saving accounts, so maybe they're talking about Charles Schwab which is offering a 2.0% APY.
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
Charles Siegel
How can we get the city to start developing a plan for removing the remaining Central Freeway? In the age of global warming, is it possible that SF might actually get moving and develop a plan to do this?
in response to Today's Headlines
John
From the responses here, I think understand where the anger is coming from, but I think I understand the fence too. There is the poor urban planning for sure and the two parks were not built at the same time. Rolph Park has been there for as long as I can remember and Potrero Del Sol formerly known as La Raza Park was built in the early 80s. It wasn't a skate park and had no playground that I can remember and it rather quickly devolved into a filthy camp for the homeless and drug addicts and peddlers. So back then, making cross walks and such wasn't on anyone's mind. Now though, you've got kids on skateboards, many freshly baked on weed -neither of those factors being a good combination with an existing freeway exit and onramp. @Pat $300,000 is not nearly enough to do all things that you suggest. Plannings, hearings, materials, labor, environmental. It all adds up rather quickly. And it takes what is most vital in this situation- time. Planning and building the perfect solution takes a lot time and money. Maybe I'm naive but I think the fence there now, in the meantime, will prevent kids from getting killed. As a parent myself, that's what important to me. What really frightens me is seeing many immigrant families crossing the street with their baby strollers and small children. So yeah, the fence is ugly and won't stop everyone but I think it is the best solution for now.
in response to Eyes On The Street: Potrero Median Fence Is Partially Built
Charles Siegel
Maybe they mean that you need a bank where you can deposit all the money you save by riding a bike.
I have calculated that, if I had owned a car all of my adult life instead of being carfree and bicycling, I would have no savings and would not have been able to buy a house.
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
marcSFBC
Just reminded me of the ad I spotted in Suburban Tampa, FL promoting Biking to Work from Regions Bank...:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcas/3444632391/
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
mcas
I'd say he chose this carefully-- MI (read Detroit) + Highway = logical. As for Obama's hat tips to livable communities, he doesn't have much of a record of that in his past, so why would it start now...?
in response to Obama Falls Prey to Ribbon-Cutting Syndrome
mcas
...at least we're not in NYC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zb8YXrmIA
in response to Making the Best of Having Your Bicycle Stolen
Fran Taylor
JP Morgan Chase has been building on its 19th-century legacy of profiting from slavery by now administering unemployment benefits for several states in such a way that recipients wind up paying fees to the bank, which presumably is laughing all the way to itself. These people are nothing but thieving greedbag opportunists. They should be chased out of town.
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?
mikesonn
My impression is that you need a bank to give you a car loan, dude who now has to ride his bike everywhere.
But I do like your optimism.
But if I can make a comment about bikes in ads, that Bud light ad where the guy ends it by saying, "and that's why I don't ride bikes!". I just about threw my non-bud beer at the tv. Give me a break.
in response to Ad Nauseam: What Are You Implying, Chase?