San Francisco

Not to be outdone by Google Maps for bicycles or Ride the City, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, SF Environment and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) launched a new online bike map this week that they hope will be the most useful of the various mapping tools available to cyclists. The SF Bike Mapper is built on a Google Maps platform, but combines many of the elements cyclists in San Francisco have come to expect from the Bicycle Map, including a very helpful layering feature that shows street grade by color. The SF Bike Mapper also allows users to add layers for transit and real-time traffic.

Cyclists who routinely ride on Market Street from Gough Street eastbound have no doubt noticed a steady stream of changes to the bicycle lanes as the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has been adding safe-hit posts and creating the impression of greater safety and dignity for cyclists on the corridor. Over the weekend the SFMTA took that process a few giant leaps forward by adding vibrant green paint to the protected lanes to further distinguish the bicycle-only space. The lanes are part of the SFMTA's Sustainable Streets division, which has secured permission from Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to experiment with various pavement colors and treatments in bicycle lanes, the Market Street Calm the Safety Zones, and other areas of the city.

Thursday's Bike to Work Day will be the first time in more than three years that the annual spring event can be cast by cycling enthusiasts more as celebration than protest.

That's because in November a San Francisco Superior Court judge partially lifted a 2006 injunction that barred the city from striping new bike lanes and moving forward with other biking enhancements until a comprehensive environmental assessment of the San Francisco Bicycle Plan was completed.

San Francisco has been greening up its act quite a bit lately. There are many opportunities to promote a sustainable and greener you. The Green initiative nods at supporting local and organic farmers, eco-friendly choices and healthy, supportive environments. You’d probably get a double nod if you mentioned biking. For some, the idea of hopping on a bike and riding down the streets of San Francisco is fantastic.

Riding a bike to work comes with lots of rewards. Planet Earth isn’t doing so hot, and riding a bike to the office can make all the difference, according to Renee Rivera of the San Francisco Bike Coalition. And that’s not all pedal pushing can do for people. Rivera says riding a bike as part of the daily grind is often faster than driving in rush hour traffic, saves money on gas, and also earns rider’s a nice, firm butt since it’s an excellent way to “stay in good shape.”