We should all be taking Johnny Cash's advice Wednesday, April 10, for Walk to Work Day by walking the line. And there’s never been a better time, or way, to experience San Francisco – than from the "two-foot" level.
This year marks the seventh annual Walk to Work Day in the city. The event, sponsored by Walk San Francisco, is an excellent opportunity to see the city in a way that most typically do not get to – during the morning rush hour when the city truly comes to life.
The day begins with a rally on the steps of City Hall at 9 a.m. with Mayor London Breed and many other elected and city officials. The message is clear: We are all pedestrians and we all deserve safe streets. To meet up with your elected officials from your own city neighborhood first, visit Walk San Francisco.
From about 7:30 until 10 a.m. five support stations, otherwise known as "Hubs," will be located throughout the city cheering on commuters by offering free beverages, snacks, prizes, tokens and lots of words of encouragement – maybe even a song or two of their own.
Participants can also enter contests with great prizes for the “Longest Walking Commute,” “Most Interesting Sight” and “Best Shoe Bling” by posting to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #Walk2Work.
No matter how you get to and from your job each weekday, we are all “walkers” at some point during our commute, even if it's only for 5 minutes. Whether it’s walking from your transit stop to work, or from your bike share station to class, walking plays a critical role in San Francisco with more than a million walking trips taken every day in the city.
Walking is not only the most sustainable form of transportation, but it’s also a great healthy lifestyle choice. With miles and miles of pedestrian and other safety improvements implemented throughout the city, there’s never been a better time to explore San Francisco from the ground up.
Here are a few of the pedestrian safety achievements we have been working on in 2019. We have installed new traffic signals at 2nd/Natoma, Geneva/Stoneridge and Esquina/Geneva. We upgraded almost 100 crosswalks from standard to high visibility. We completed the streetscape project on Polk St. and two blocks of quick-build on Townsend that created new delineated safe walking areas to Caltrain.