By Bruce Wolfe, HANC Board

Over this summer, SFMTA’s Bikeshare Program Director, Adrian Leung, announced to the neighborhood that a double-size bike docking station to rent Lyft/Motivate bicycles was slated to be installed at the southeast corner of Page and Cole. This would take up two parking spaces.

As you may recall from our actions in 2016 when this program started, HANC Membership and Board took a vote and spearheaded the opposition. The result was we were able to push back any bike docking stations on the stretch of Page St from Masonic to Stanyan. To that end a station was placed on the wrong side of Masonic (west side on Page) to which HANC Board intervened and the station was moved to the east side on Page St. The other station was installed in the cloverleaf on the north side of Fell & Stanyan intersection.

Back in May, HANC was contacted by Haight-Ashbury Resident Task force (HART), a large group of Page St and surrounding neighbors, concerned about the placement of the massive docking station. Their position on the matter is “encouraging use of the separated bike lanes for cyclists, rather than encouraging those same riders to take Page, which is a big contributor to the chaotic nature of the slow street. Page Slow Street is intended to be a space inclusive of walking pedestrians, in addition to the many other kinds of traffic on Page, and we've got many examples of shouting matches between cyclists speeding through stop signs and cars unfamiliar with the nature of a slow street that have presented some very scary circumstances.”

HANC agrees! HANC Board Member, Bruce Wolfe, joined with HART on a walking tour with Mr. Leung who was interested in an in-person account of where else in the surrounding area a docking station could be placed. He was unaware of our actions in 2016 including others on the tour to which Bruce had given the history when the group approached the first location at the corner of southwest corner on Shrader at Page. Other locations were reviewed but almost all in the group rejected any locations west of Clayton except if they were placed on the sidewalk as they are elsewhere in the city and other Bay Area cities without much fuss.

Instead, HANC and HART voiced that the docking stations should be placed along the current Panhandle bikeways where the purpose statement of SFMTA’s Bikeshare program states that it meant mostly as a commuter service than for recreational purposes.

HART’s position boils down to, “1. Adrian (Leung) to advise HART on process for proposing Panhandle location to Parks and Rec, including decision-makers at each phase and relevant community forums for further input. 2. Propose Panhandle location and initiate SFMTA's process for vetting that location, with approximate timeline.”

HANC’s existing and reaffirmed position by the Board of Directors remains, “HANC maintains opposition for the installation of any bike stations on the Page Slow Street corridor and on any other adjacent residential streets around the Haight Street Merchant Corridor. HANC reiterates our long standing position for the siting of bike stations in the Panhandle in close proximity to the permanent bike lanes with existing major bike traffic along Fell Street and soon-to-be Oak Street. HANC’s position is consistent with the SFMTA Bikeshare Program’s stated goal to promote more bike commuting “and insure that bike share in all its forms is safe, orderly and equitable for all San Franciscans”, and SFMTA Bikeshare Program’s stated criteria for siting the stations in areas with “proximity to the bikeway network and general support of station neighbors.”

On August 7th, the Mayor along with SFMTA, and the Recreation and Park Department announced 12 stations to be installed in Golden Gate Park, nine of which have already been installed. https://sf.gov/news/san-francisco-announces-expansion-lyfts-bike-share-program-golden-gate-park

Continued advocacy from HANC Board and Members is needed in concert with HART to assure that docking stations are installed in the Panhandle and not on Page St or the surrounding residential streets. If you are aware of any new docking stations being planned or installed without any notice or postings, please contact HANC immediately at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..