Green City: Reaching critical mass

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Green City: Reaching critical mass

Fifteen years of free-wheelin'

BY RYN STEPANSKI

Tuesday September 25, 2007

 

 

› news

 

 

GREEN CITY Fifteen years ago this month, San Franciscans mobilized for the first

Critical Mass, an unpermitted monthly bicycle parade and social protest that has

subsequently been exported to cities around the world.

 

 

The movement formed in the streets as the Commuter Clot, just a handful of

bicyclists seizing their stretch of pavement together. Among them rode former

bike messenger Jim Swanson, whom many credit with coining the name Critical

Mass, a reference to the traffic-controlling power achieved when enough bicycles

join a ride.

 

 

Two months into the project, Swanson watched Ted White's short film The Return

of the Scorcher. The surreal footage of bicyclists in China fording

intersections inspired Swanson: " When there was enough of them, they crossed and

took over the road. "

 

 

Thus, in September 1992, the autonomous and leaderless collective known as

Critical Mass was born, picking up momentum — while enduring an often rocky

relationship with the city and its motorists — ever since.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sept. 28, around 6 p.m., thousands of bicyclists are expected to convene

around Justin Hermann Plaza for the 15th anniversary ride, just as they do on

the last Friday of every month. Each rider brings a unique cause and perspective

to the ride. Swanson wheels out his 1965 blue Schwinn Tandem each month and

makes it a regular date with his sweetheart and friends.

 

 

Longtime rider Joel Pomerantz focuses on the political undertones of the event.

" For me, the ride is about community. It's an opportunity for people to take

over public space that is usually destructive to the community, " he told the

Guardian.

 

 

During Critical Mass, riders change the use of street space and establish

bicycles as the dominant form of transportation, taking control of every

intersection they encounter, at least for the 10 or 15 minutes it takes the mass

to pass.

 

 

Bicyclists in San Francisco have also attained critical mass in other ways, with

more and more residents realizing the environmental, health, safety, and

monetary benefits of trading the gas pedal for a pair of pedals. The 35-year-old

San Francisco Bicycle Coalition now boasts a peak membership of 7,500, and the

city has the highest per capita membership in the Thunderhead Alliance, a

national conglomeration of cycling and walking advocates.

 

 

According to the Urban Transportation Caucus's 2007 report card, automobiles and

trucks account for 50 percent of San Francisco's carbon emissions, a major cause

of climate change and respiratory ailments. " Simply reducing the number of

driving vehicles will be the biggest thing in reducing carbon emissions and

improving people's health. Bicycling comes up as the most cost-effective way to

reduce private vehicle trips, " SFBC director Leah Shahum said.

 

 

Some groups want ...to take big steps toward furthering that trend. For example,

San Francisco Tomorrow is pushing a plan to ban private automobiles on Market

Street. But for now the city is prevented by a court injunction from undertaking

bike-friendly projects after a judge found procedural flaws in how the current

Bicycle Plan was approved (see " Stationary Biking, " 5/16/07).

 

Carla Laser, founder of the San Francisco Bicycle Ballet, said getting the plan

back on track is also essential to minimizing bike-car conflicts: " The striping

of bike lanes is an example of how the Bike Plan educates the public on how to

share the streets. Drivers can clearly see that the city actually supports bikes

on streets and is willing to give them a nod of space with the stripes. Every

street is a bike street. "

 

 

That's especially true for Critical Mass, a situation that can cause tensions

between motorists and cyclists and fuel a backlash toward bike riders seen as

overreaching into the realm of automobiles.

 

 

 

Yet Critical Mass remains more popular than ever, and it only seemed to grow

larger a few months ago, when the San Francisco Chronicle publicized some

motorist-cyclist clashes (see " Did Critical Mass Really Go Crazy?, " SFBG

Politics blog, www.sfbg.com, 4/4/07).

 

Yet as the event becomes a popular rolling party, some longtime massers have

started openly wondering what's next for those looking to send a serious message

about minimizing dependence on cars.

 

 

As transportation activist and former SFBC executive director Dave Snyder told

us, " I'm looking forward to the next public phenomenon in San Francisco that

inspires a humane use of public space, as Critical Mass was to so many people. "

 

 

Comments, ideas, and submissions for Green City, the Guardian's weekly

environmental column, can be sent to news.

 

 

 

 

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, it's what we know for sure

that just ain't so.

- Mark Twain