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SFMTA presents Slow Streets study; Fire Department flags small but meaningful response-time increases
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Summary
SFMTA officials briefed the Fire Commission on the 40-mile Slow Streets network, materials changes and ongoing data collection; fire leadership said measured response times rose by 5'to'30 seconds in eight tracked neighborhoods and commissioners pressed for continued coordination and design changes to preserve emergency access.
SFMTA officials defended the city's Slow Streets program at a Fire Commission meeting, while fire leaders and several commissioners pressed the agency to prove changes will not harm emergency response.
Jeffrey Tumlin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, described Slow Streets as an experimental, COVID-era effort to create secure space for walking and biking on low-volume residential corridors. "Our goal is to make sure that we have an overall citywide network of primary emergency response routes that are always protected from congestion," Tumlin said during the presentation.
Program manager Shannon Hake said the temporary treatments have evolved: SFMTA has been field-testing new flexible delineators and plans to phase out type-3 barricades after fire-department tests. Hake described robust monitoring: roadway counts of vehicles and bikes, pedestrian counts and a 15,000-response perception survey the agency is analyzing.
Fire Marshal DiCocio told commissioners his office has measured response-time changes and is concerned. "We've seen an increase of anywhere from 5 seconds to 30 seconds over these 8 neighborhoods," he said, adding that the department removed the top and bottom 10 percent of outliers when calculating averages and is tracking month to month. He warned this increase is notable given that city traffic volumes were reduced during the pandemic and that further congestion as normal activity resumes could exacerbate delays.
Commissioners asked technical questions about speed bumps, traffic-calming devices and how emergency vehicles will navigate cushions and newly configured lanes. SFMTA staff said the agency is increasingly using speed cushions with lateral slots to permit wider vehicles (including fire apparatus) to pass by straddling the cushion and urged continued joint design work with the Fire Department. SFMTA also said buses on busways can disconnect from overhead wires and clear a path for emergency vehicles.
The presentation drew a long public-comment period: callers from neighborhood groups, advocacy organizations and residents urged the commission to support keeping successful slow-street corridors in place to reduce traffic violence and create family-friendly public space, while asking for better specifications and coordination with the Fire Department on turning radii and durable barriers.
Why it matters: Slow Streets have become a high-profile, visible intervention in neighborhoods across San Francisco. The program balances public-safety goals that favor slower motor-vehicle speeds with emergency-response goals that favor unobstructed, rapid vehicle access. The Fire Department's analysis of small average increases in response time prompted commissioners to call for sustained, data-driven coordination before any permanent conversions.
What's next: SFMTA said it will complete its evaluation and present recommendations about which corridors should remain beyond the pandemic (SFMTA staff anticipated more clarity by July). The Fire Department said it will continue to monitor response times and work with SFMTA on device specifications and routing to minimize delays.
