The KidSafe SF Voter Guide for safer streets and equitable transportation
What will it take to create a city where every kid and grandparent can walk or bike to their daily destinations, safely? To start, we need to show up to vote, and pass good policies and funding for our mobility priorities at the ballot box.
This November, there are four key measures on the San Francisco ballot that deserve your attention because of their impact on the city’s ability to deliver on safe, equitable streets.
Regardless of how you plan to vote, please remember to vote by November 8, and make a plan to return your ballot! Here are instructions on how to vote in San Francisco, whether you received a mail-in ballot or still need to register to vote (you can still go in person even if you’re not yet registered!)
❌ Vote No on Proposition I: Put cars on JFK & the Great Highway
Proposition I does three main things:
It overturns the city’s decision to establish the 24/7 JFK Promenade and instead requires the city to allow private motor vehicles on JFK most days. If Proposition I passes, JFK would only be open to people on Sundays from 6am-6pm, and some Saturdays and holidays.
It ends the Great Highway compromise. Currently, the Great Highway is available to commuters in private motor vehicles Monday at 6am through Friday at noon, and available for recreation as protected open space Fridays at noon through Mondays at 6am.
It overturns the city’s Ocean Beach Master Plan at an estimated cost of at least $80 million. This project, which will decommission the Great Highway between Sloat and Skyline in order to protect our city’s critical wastewater treatment infrastructure, is scheduled to break ground next year after over a decade of planning by multiple federal, state, and local agencies. Prop I would require us to come up with a new plan that maintains the road in perpetuity, a losing battle in the fight against coastal erosion and climate change at immense cost to taxpayers.
This is bad policy all around. We can’t go back to dangerous traffic in our parks. We can’t be overturning a carefully considered climate plan just because one person had the money to collect 9,000 signatures to put an ill-conceived measure on the ballot. What’s more, ballot measures are no way to decide how to use every individual street in the city. Reject Prop I to maintain the JFK Promenade and weekend Great Highway Park.
✅ Vote Yes on Proposition J: Protect JFK as open space for people
Prop J maintains the JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park exactly the way it is today: Safe and open to people 24/7. It also maintains the full safe route through the park for people walking and biking – again, exactly the way things are today.
Prop J does not change anything about the existing Great Highway weekend compromise. It simply allows the city to continue to plan for the future of these roads and public spaces through existing public processes, similar to the nearly 2-year public process that resulted in the Board of Supervisors and Mayor voting to approve the JFK Promenade.
If both Prop I & Prop J pass, whichever one gets more votes will go into effect, and the other will be voided. That’s why it’s important to vote Yes on J AND No on I.
If you want to keep JFK car-free and keep Great Highway car-free on the weekends, vote Yes on J.
✅ Vote Yes on Proposition L: Fund road improvements and transit
Prop L reauthorizes for another 30 years the ½ cent sales tax that has funded many of our local and regional streets and transportation projects since 1989. Prop L will not increase taxes, but it does need ⅔ of the vote to pass. Passing Prop L is CRITICAL for advancing safe streets and equitable transportation in San Francisco.
The funds will be used for:
Transit maintenance and enhancements
Major transit projects like increasing Muni and BART capacity
Street repaving and road repair, including pedestrian safety projects like crosswalks and bulbouts, and new protected bike lanes
SFMTA’s paratransit program
Without Prop L funding, we will be faced with a shortage of funding for safe streets and bike lanes, improving Muni service, or even paratransit services for people with disabilities. We want to improve public transit, and we need money from Prop L to do that. Vote YES on L.
✅ Vote Yes on Proposition N: Reform the Golden Gate Park garage
Prop N would allow the City to manage the Concourse Garage in Golden Gate Park to reduce costs and facilitate more equitable access to the park and its institutions. The Concourse Garage has over 800 parking spots, over 30 ADA spots, and direct access to the de Young museum and California Academy of Sciences.
The Garage has been managed by a non-profit, the Music Concourse Community Partnership, that has not met since 2015, oversaw a $4M embezzlement scandal by its CFO, and failed to refinance its debt during an era of historically low interest rates. The Garage cost over $55M to build, yet it has sat largely empty – prior to the pandemic it was less than 30% full on average.
City agencies have extensive experience managing parking garages, favorable contracts with vendors that would facilitate substantial cost savings, and concrete plans for new programs to enhance equitable access. Under city leadership, the Concourse Garage could add additional ADA parking spots, provide discounted parking for low-income visitors who drive, and enhance the drop off zones for visitors with mobility challenges who arrive in private vehicles. Vote YES on N to improve accessibility for JFK Promenade and Golden Gate Park.
