(Bloomberg) -- San Francisco today joins a growing number of cities across the globe that are going, at least partially, car free. Passenger cars and ride-hailing services will be indefinitely prohibited from traveling on portions of Market Street, the major thoroughfare in the city’s Financial District, though they’ll still be able to cross it. Reducing private vehicle traffic is a first step in a much broader $600 million “Better Market Street” plan put forth by the city to revitalize downtown San Francisco with faster buses, safer bike lanes, repaved sidewalks and new trees.

“If you walk or bike on Market Street, you’ll have less conflicts,” said Cristina Olea, an engineer with San Francisco Public Works and the project manager for Better Market Street. “A lot of collisions happen when cars are turning, and we’re eliminating that congestion.”

Following several years of civic debate, the transformation comes after a unanimous vote last October by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board of directors, which approved the capital plan. The ban will start with soft changes: On Wednesday, new signage will notify drivers of turn and parking restrictions; traffic enforcement officers will issue warnings and fines to scofflaws. Later in the year, the city expects to break ground on major construction elements, including fresh tracks for the existing historic streetcar, a protected bike lane — or cycle track — and a reconfigured sidewalk. Dedicated bus lanes and passenger loading islands are set to further speed up transit service. Emergency vehicles, delivery trucks, traditional taxis and transportation services for disabled people will still be allowed.

The push is meant to save lives. Market Street, one of the city’s busiest traffic arteries, is also one of its deadliest. San Francisco’s “Vision Zero SF” is aimed at eliminating traffic deaths by 2024. But it has a long way to go: preliminary data from Vision Zero reports that 29 people were killed in traffic fatalities in 2019. Fifteen percent of the city’s population is 65 or older and account for half of pedestrian fatalities each year, according to Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian safety advocacy group. Fatalities have been on the rise nationally for people walking or riding bikes, according to data from Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition.

The Market Street car ban is also part of a broader movement. Urban centers from Barcelona to Oslo are working to reduce car use, as a new generation of traffic engineers, city planners and advocates seeks to reclaim cities for people over private vehicles, to improve safety, reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions, and improve air quality. In California, the largest chunk of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions — roughly 40 percent, according to the latest verified data from the California Air Resources Board — comes from transportation. Low gas prices, the rise of ride-hailing services, long commutes and a growing number of package deliveries have exacerbated the problem.

“The redesign of Market Street is emblematic of a much broader shift in city design and transportation engineering, from viewing streets as fundamentally about moving vehicles to viewing streets as spaces that serve a wide variety of functions and wide variety of modes,” said Ben Grant, the urban design policy director at the planning think tank SPUR. “It’s as much about traffic circulation as it is about commerce and culture.”

Advocates for car-free urban centers tout a multitude of benefits, and envision reinvigorated business districts and public spaces dominated by cyclists and pedestrians. For example, after Times Square in Manhattan was pedestrianized in 2008, pedestrian injuries dropped by 35 percent and businesses reported improved sales. Madrid’s center city ban on polluting vehicles cut traffic by nearly a third along some of its busiest corridors.

In San Francisco, a growing economy has added new residents, bringing the population to 880,000, and more traffic. The city must adapt accordingly, said Jeffrey Tumlin, the newly arrived executive director of the SFMTA. “Our streets are not getting any wider,” he said. “We have a responsibility to move more people in the same amount of space.”

San Francisco is also looking at congestion pricing, especially as new private transportation modes have added cars to the roads: In 2016, ride-hailing accounted for roughly 15 percent of all intra-San Francisco vehicle trips, according to data from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. That agency is exploring how a fee to drive into the tech-heavy downtown and South of Market districts during busy hours would work in practice, bearing in mind that such a scheme could burden low-income drivers. Fees collected from driving would go toward projects, subsidies and incentives to encourage public transit, walking and biking, said Tilly Chang, executive director of the SFCTA.

“Congestion disproportionately affects vulnerable communities,” Chang said. “Less traffic means improved travel times for public transit, which many people rely on, as well as improved air quality,” which then improves public health, she said.

Proposals for car bans in cities around the world tend to attract vigorous protest by business owners and motorists. For example, New York City’s closure of 14th Street to private vehicle traffic in Manhattan in October 2019 resulted in several lawsuits, alleging that the changes violate environmental review laws and discriminate against bus riders with disabilities. Those challenges ultimately failed. Since the plan was enacted, bus speeds are way up, and fears about traffic being diverted to nearby streets did not materialize.

In San Francisco, there is overwhelming support for Better Market Street among merchants, politicians, ride-hailing companies, activists and planners.

“It’s such a tourist destination that everyone understands that there needs to be a better and safer flow of traffic, especially if you’re not familiar with driving or riding a bike down there,” said Tracy Everwine, the executive director of the Central Market Community Benefits District, a nonprofit consortium of property owners and residents in the area. “Market Street just doesn’t function well. Folks aren’t all thrilled about the impact, but they realize changes need to be made.”

To contact the authors of this story: Dana Hull in San Francisco at dhull12@bloomberg.netLaura Bliss in San Francisco at lbliss2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dimitra Kessenides at dkessenides1@bloomberg.net

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