Car-free Hayes may be reduced to a single day, your public comment is needed in the next 24 hours

TL;DR: Tomorrow the SFMTA Board will vote on whether to reduce car-free Hayes to 9 hours/week. Click here to email public comment to the SFMTA Board, to keep our current 3-day program. (this should open your email program, if it doesn’t, use the email template at the bottom of this message).

Hi there,

My name is Andrew Seigner. I created the Car-free Hayes Street petition you recently signed. Thank you so much for your support.

I plan to use this communication channel sparingly, but in less than 24 hours the SFMTA Board will vote on whether to reduce our 3-day car-free program to a single 9-hour program on Saturday only. This is all-hands on deck.

If you have the means, please attend the meeting in-person to give public comment:
Tuesday, 1pm
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA
Room 400, Floor 4

Full details and agenda: https://www.sfmta.com/calendar/board-directors-meeting-october-17-2023

We’re asking for 2 things:

1) Amend item 10.2 A (Hayes Street Shared Spaces) to continue with our current 3-day program, rather than reducing to 1-day.

2) Request the SFMTA Board to instruct SFMTA staff to design a process to pedestrianize a street, giving our community a path to a 24/7 pedestrianized Hayes Street.

If you can’t attend in-person, please send an email, template is below. Also note that only 10 minutes total will be permitted for phone comment, so best to email or show up in-person.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the issues and data, have a look at this writeup:
https://carfreehayes.org/blog/car-free-hayes-may-be-reduced-to-9-hours-per-week

If you’d like to reach out to me directly, I’m at andrew@sig.gy.

Thank you again for your support. I hope to one day hang out with all of you on a fully-pedestrianized Hayes Street.

-Andrew

Email template to SFMTA Board:

—

To: MTABoard@SFMTA.com
CC: comment@carfreehayes.org
Subject: Amend item 10.2 A (Hayes Street Shared Spaces program), continue 3-day program, and direct staff to design a process to pedestrianize a street

SFMTA Board:

Please amend item 10.2 A (Hayes Street Shared Spaces program) to continue our 3-day Shared Spaces program, and also direct SFMTA staff to design a process to pedestrianize a street.

For over 3 years, the 3-day Hayes Street Shared Spaces has been a lifeline for Hayes Valley. This program has been the focal point allowing Hayes Valley to not only survive and recover, but thrive. It’s made Hayes Valley a destination from Friday night through the weekend.

With our Transit First, Climate Action, and Vision Zero goals, San Francisco should be leading the world in pedestrianized spaces. Please amend the recommendation to continue our 3-day program, and direct SFMTA to design a process to pedestrianize a street, giving our community a path to a 24/7 pedestrianized Hayes Street.

Thank you for your time.