BICYCLES!!! (and the freaks that use them)

[samhexum]

https://nypost.com/2024/04/13/us-news/san-francisco-restaurant-owner-eiad-eltawil-on-hunger-strike-protesting-bike-lanes/

A San Francisco restaurant owner is in the middle of a month-long hunger strike, protesting the city’s new bike lane experiment he claims is driving his customers away.

Eiad Eltawil, 41, will spend the next month in a parklet outside his storefront, not eating food, to show his hatred for the problematic new bikeway built outside his business.

Eltawil’s family runs the Syrian restaurant Yasmin and artworks store Rossi Mission SF out of the same building on Valencia Street in the city’s Mission District.

In August, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency unveiled its new two-way protected center bike lane designed to be safer for the city’s most important north-south bike route, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The bike lane project has reduced the number of vehicle lanes down to one side each way between 15th Street and 23rd Street on Valencia.

The project also removed 71 metered parking spots, which the local business owners claim reduced their clientele.

“If I was in New York, I’d have lines around the block,” Tunisian restaurant owner Rafik Bouzidi told the San Francisco Chronicle. “But San Francisco is killing businesses, and it’s as simple as that.”

During his 30-day protest, Eltawil says he will sleep outside his art store, consuming only water while passing out fliers supporting his hunger strike.

After being repeatedly shot down by multiple departments and kicked out of by the mayor’s office, Eltawil hopes his fasting will get the attention of the city leaders who could change the bike lanes or he will be forced to close down his beloved restaurant.

“I’ve already suffered so much,” Eltawil told the outlet. “At least this way, maybe someone in power will see my struggle and make some changes. It’s a last resort for me.” 

Eltawil also wrote out his grievances on the exterior of the makeshift structure he will call home for the next month.

Eight months after the launch of the 6-month long trial, the SFMTA says the experiment is a work in progress, according to KTVU.

Twelve crashes were reported between pedestrians and vehicles in the bike path’s first three months of operation, a higher accident rate than before the bike lane opened, according to the Chronicle.

The SFMTA said it is working has heard the business owners and is tweaking the design to benefit everyone.

“We have talked to the parklet operators in Valencia and received their feedback about their loading needs to inform the design process,” the agency told the outlet. “Our outreach and collaboration will continue through the spring, as we work on solutions that best protect both businesses and bicyclists on the corridor.”

In August, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency unveiled its new two-way protected center bike lane designed to be safer for the city’s most important north-south bike route.

[kingsley88]

I'd think he'd get more business from hungry cyclists?

[samhexum]

3 minutes ago, kingsley88 said:

I'd think he'd get more business from hungry cyclists?

They probably eat only sprouts and tofu.

[+ WilliamM]

Nothing wrong with sprouts cold beer 

[+ Pensant]

As an avid cyclist, I wish more cities would do this! And no, we don’t subsist on tofu and sprouts. We’re trying to get more people out exercising safely on the roads. 

[+ José Soplanucas]

I am not a cyclist, and often I feel annoyed by all the space taken for bike lines in Washington DC. But that is only because I am often a selfish asshole. You have to be a selfish asshole to oppose a trend that is obviously healthier for everyone, including the environment.

[Rod Hagen]

I've been Mountain Biking for 30 + years.  I have two bikes hanging from my ceiling.  I'm also not sure road biking belongs in major cities and feel very conflicted about it.  I think I land on the "Your not out in rural America so don't act as if you are."  I mean, they lost 71 metered sites just so people can what?  Bike?

[+ José Soplanucas]

2 hours ago, Rod Hagen said:

I've been Mountain Biking for 30 + years.  I have two bikes hanging from my ceiling.  I'm also not sure road biking belongs in major cities and feel very conflicted about it.  I think I land on the "Your not out in rural America so don't act as if you are."  I mean, they lost 71 metered sites just so people can what?  Bike?

Interesting. I think cars are more justifiable in rural America. I am all for discouraging the use of cars in cities, and instead promoting public transportation and biking. And I looooove my civic. I do hate SUVs in cities and I would triple the taxes they have to pay. 

[Ali Gator]

My city did this to a major thoroughfare which is lined with businesses and restaurants. They narrowed a two lane road (which lead traffic out of the downtown to the on-ramp of a major highway) to a one lane road, removed parking spaces and installed a barely-used bike lane to the anger of business owners. Mostly to appease the college students at three nearby universities.

After four years of traffic turmoil and a major loss to businesses, the new mayor (elected last November) has finally listened to the business community and angry drivers and has decided to remove the bike lane and revert back to the way things used to be by the end of May. It will cost taz payers a few hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this - same as it cost to install the bike lane in 2020. 

[Rod Hagen]

3 hours ago, José Soplanucas said:

Interesting. I think cars are more justifiable in rural America. I am all for discouraging the use of cars in cities, and instead promoting public transportation and biking. And I looooove my civic. I do hate SUVs in cities and I would triple the taxes they have to pay. 

Pub Transport, absolutely.  Bikes in the city, not so much.

[samhexum]

8 minutes ago, Rod Hagen said:

Pub Transport, absolutely.  

You mean commuter vans to facilitate pub crawls?  

Interesting idea!

[BSR]

3 hours ago, Ali Gator said:

My city did this to a major thoroughfare which is lined with businesses and restaurants. They narrowed a two lane road (which lead traffic out of the downtown to the on-ramp of a major highway) to a one lane road, removed parking spaces and installed a barely-used bike lane to the anger of business owners. Mostly to appease the college students at three nearby universities.

After four years of traffic turmoil and a major loss to businesses, the new mayor (elected last November) has finally listened to the business community and angry drivers and has decided to remove the bike lane and revert back to the way things used to be by the end of May. It will cost taz payers a few hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this - same as it cost to install the bike lane in 2020. 

If the bike lane was barely used, then the college students who fought so hard for its installation didn't actually bother using it.  Note that the students didn't bear the negative economic impact, the business owners did.  I hope the local government increased the 3 nearby universities' property taxes to pay for the bike lane boondoggle, but I have my doubts.  The whole fiasco ended up as just a very expensive exercise in virtue-signaling.

If the 3 universities had sent out a letter to all the student activists that their tuition would go up $300 to pay for the bike lane, I wonder how many would still have favored it.  Life is so damn easy when you don't have to pay for the consequences of your actions.

Edited April 15 by BSR
damn typo

[dbar123]

Here in Portland there are bike lanes and racks everywhere. I bike to restaurants and coffee shops to meet friends several times a week. It’s so much better than mass transit or lugging out the car. Bikes in a downtown city are really the fastest way to go.