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Pedestrian and bicycle advocates urge board to block Waymo testing on Market Street
Summary
Walk San Francisco and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition told the Transportation Authority board they oppose Mayor Lurie’s announcement permitting Waymo on car-free Market Street, saying it threatens a decade of pedestrian-safety work and could slow transit and invite litigation.
Chair Myrna Melgar and staff reported this month that Waymo plans to begin mapping and incremental testing at San Francisco International Airport and on portions of Market Street. Those announcements prompted public comment at the April 22 San Francisco County Transportation Authority meeting from pedestrian- and bicycle-safety advocates who urged the board to oppose permitting autonomous vehicles on Market Street.
Jody Medeiros of Walk San Francisco told the board that allowing robotaxis on Market Street would be “a slippery slope” that risks bringing private vehicles back to the corridor and reversing safety gains. “Removing private vehicles from Market Street was a decade-long campaign,” Medeiros said, and since that change collisions have been reduced, she said, by about 40 percent. Medeiros said Market Street’s safety and vibrancy depend on prioritizing people over cars.
Christopher White, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said the mayor’s announcement “upends overnight more than a decade of intensive public input and collaboration” and that the city has not provided a public safety analysis tied to the decision. White warned that reintroducing vehicle traffic could slow Muni and said the announcement has already prompted legal threats from ride-hailing companies. “There is no reason to think more cars will improve the experience on Market,” he said.
Neither commenter endorsed Waymo or AV technology in principle, but both urged the board and city agencies to prioritize transit, walking and biking and to ensure thorough safety analysis, data collection and public review before permitting driverless testing on the car-free corridor. Board members did not take a formal vote on permitting testing during the meeting; Director Chang said staff have been meeting with SFO and other agencies to discuss a more incremental permitting approach and monitoring requirements.
