The long drive to banish cars from San Francisco’s workhorse thoroughfare — Market Street
As of Tuesday, private cars are no longer welcome on Market Street in downtown San Francisco. Here’s how the uphill battle to ban them finally took hold.
1906
In “A Trip Down Market Street,” a 12-minute time capsule shot from the front of a streetcar four days before the 1906 earthquake, the camera takes us through a glacial morass of pedestrians, horse-drawn carriages and streetcars — plus a scattering of newfangled automobiles and the occasional bicyclist.
1916
The new transportation craze is “jitneys” — small independent buses whisking people to and fro for a nickel. The Board of Supervisors votes to bar them from Market Street during the day and add crosswalks, a move The Chronicle praises for showing that “at last the mere pedestrian is to be recognized as having rights.”
1929
As private car ownership grows, The Chronicle runs a page of letters from civic leaders calling for construction of a subway beneath Market Street to leave the roadway “open for the free and easy access of automobiles.” There’s one lonely voice of protest: A letter to the editor the next day from A.R. Knoll suggests “Market Street can be converted into a paradise by driving every auto off the street from the Embarcadero to Tenth street.”
1963
Plans are in the works for a Bay Area rapid transit system that will have stations below Market Street. The city Planning Department calls for widening the sidewalks to handle the commuters and diverting auto traffic elsewhere “to enhance safety ... improve transit and create a vibrant and inclusive destination.” We get the sidewalks.
1980
City officials again suggest banning cars from Market Street between Van Ness Avenue and the Embarcadero, pointing out that it is used by a quarter of all Muni routes but only 300 to 400 private vehicles an hour. Good luck with that.
1990
Now the call to rid Market Street of cars comes from Supervisor Harry Britt, who wants a trial ban to improve Muni service. Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll supports the idea — “The most common sentiment uttered by a Market Street motorist is, ‘How the hell did I get here?’ ” — but no one else does.
1993
Critical Mass, a monthly act of civic defiance by festive bicycle riders that began the prior year, chooses a provocative theme for its April outing: “Ban Cars on Market Street.”
1997
After a tumultuous Critical Mass that ends in more than 100 arrests, a member of the Parking and Traffic Commission suggests banning cars from Market, in exchange for bicyclists agreeing to register with the city. Mayor Willie Brown shows interest, but opponents carry the day.
2008
“It’s the city’s grand boulevard. Why don’t we go for the gold?” Supervisor Chris Daly says in making yet another call for a carfree Market Street. Though a spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom scoffs that the odds of this happening are “slim to none,” studies begin a few months later.
2009
On Sept. 29, drivers heading east on Market Street get a rude surprise — they’re forced to turn right toward Mission at several intersections in the first test of the car-free idea. “It’s going to be a novelty to see it in place,” says Andy Thornley of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, “but it’s hardly a novelty as an idea.”
2019
By a unanimous vote, the board of San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency approves the plan called Better Market Street — a full redesign of the thoroughfare that will add protected bike lanes and do away with private automobiles east of 10th Street. A.R. Knoll, it turns out, was 90 years ahead of his time.