A Bold Addition to 'Transit-First' San Francisco Streets

Jessica Kwong reports on the city’s new look for transit-only lanes: a deep shade of red that will alert drivers to the proper use of the lanes.

The first red lanes actually appeared almost a year ago “as part of a pilot project on Church Street between 16th Street and Duboce Avenue to improve the movement of J-Church trains and 22-Fillmore buses.”

The city is currently painting on Third Street between Townsend and Jessie streets, with additional work scheduled for “on eastbound Market Street between Fifth and 12th streets, westbound Market Street between Eighth Street and Van Ness Avenue, and Geary and O'Farrell streets between Market and Gough streets, except for the segment between Powell Street and Grant Avenue.”

SFMTA Transportation Director Ed Reiskin is quoted in the story making a telling statement about how San Francisco prioritizes the use of its public right-of-ways: "As a transit-first city, we need to be smart about how we improve transit to make it an attractive, reliable choice for San Franciscans."