Car-Free Market Street Studied Again
The proposal to ban or restrict cars on Market Street is being considered again, this time by the SF County Transportation Authority at the request of Supervisor Chris Daly. (See also results of a previous study.) This has been considered many times before but was always rejected – Rescue Muni participated in a Transit First Market Street Alliance way back in 1996, if memory serves properly.
Whether or not cars are banned entirely, we have long supported extending the existing bus lane the full length of Market Street, or at least from Van Ness to the Embarcadero. This would be a good first step towards improving the currently glacial speed of mass transit on this important corridor.
The issues with the full length bus lane, as good of an idea as it is, is that the F line often blocks buses or buses block it. It can’t pass. A better solution is two bus-only lanes in each direction, which is basically what Daly is proposing.