SF transportation staff propose reinstating petitions, raising speed threshold for traffic-calming program

SFMTA staff told the San Francisco County Transportation Authority on Dec. 16 that they plan to reinstate a petition requirement for the city's application-based residential traffic calming program and raise the minimum speed threshold for eligibility from 27 to 30 miles per hour.

The proposals were presented as part of a broader progress update in which SFMTA said it is already implementing hundreds of measures to address a backlog of accepted applications. Damon Curtis, traffic calming program manager, said work tied to FY22 includes 265 devices at about 155 locations split into five contract packages, with recent notice-to-proceed dates and installation progress: “we've already installed over 50 devices, in less than a month,” he said, and reported that two early contracts have installed 37 of 57 devices and 27 of 62 devices respectively.

The measures are intended to replace or add physical traffic-calming devices such as speed humps, cushions and other treatments; Curtis said design work for remaining accepted applications will begin in spring and be packaged into construction contracts to speed delivery.

Why it matters: Residents and neighborhood groups have pushed for faster delivery of traffic-calming treatments as part of the city's street safety efforts. Staff framed the proposed changes as a way to "right size" the program after demand spiked during the pandemic when the petition requirement was relaxed.

Kimberly Leung, who introduced the peer-city review that underpins the proposals, said the agency benchmarked petition requirements, speed thresholds and maximum grade against other cities and found San Francisco's prior thresholds were more permissive. "We are proposing to adjust our program's acceptance criteria," she said, including reinstating the petition requirement and raising the minimum speed threshold to 30 miles per hour; she said no change is proposed to the current 13% grade limit.

Board members pushed back on the proposals' equity implications. Vice Chair Danny Sauter cautioned that a petition threshold can disadvantage denser neighborhoods where organizing door-to-door is harder: "when you're looking at apartment buildings...that's just not feasible," he said, and warned that raising the speed threshold could exclude streets with serious crash risk below 30 mph. Commissioner Aaron Wong (first questions on the record) supported petitions as a test of organized support but asked how staff will ensure fair distribution across districts.

Staff said the application-based program would remain part of the city's toolbox even as SFMTA works toward a more proactive citywide approach; Curtis and Leung said other programs and proactive projects account for a significant share of devices and the agency intends to preserve a formal application path for residents.

Advocates called for deeper reform. Jody Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco, urged the Authority to pursue "complete reform, not just an update," warning that safety should be data-driven rather than a popularity contest and asking the agency to design a system that is transparent and equitable.

Staff also acknowledged communication problems with the prior system and said they are assigning a communications staffer to the traffic-calming program and considering technology to streamline petition collection and public tracking of application status.

Next steps: Leung told commissioners staff will finalize the new acceptance criteria in spring and return in summer with another progress update. The agency said design work for remaining accepted applications will begin next spring and construction will be packaged into upcoming contracts.