Global Assembly Dialog

The mission of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is to transform San Francisco`s streets and neighborhoods into more livable and safe places by promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation.

Our Vision
Our city remains a city of distinct neighborhoods, in which people of all kinds and means enjoy safe and easy access getting to work, play, and satisfying other needs. Our neighborhoods have less pavement and more green space and gardens. We find ourselves frequently interacting with our neighbors. Bicycling is commonplace with children and grandparents riding roads everywhere. Many people use all kinds of public transit - clean, quiet buses and trains; ferries; and motor and pedal taxis - which are inexpensive and run frequently. The wide sidewalks are busy and alive, free of parked cars but crowded with kids and adults playing games or holding sidewalk sales. Fast motor vehicles are used only for emergencies, and other cars are rare and travel slowly. The streets of San Francisco are inviting, free, social spaces where everyone feels welcome. The air we breathe and the water we drink are clean and healthy.

Our Values

We value...


* the urban community of San Francisco, our vibrant streets and public spaces; our diverse people & neighborhoods; and our capacity for bringing together a critical mass of people to create a new and better world.

* true democracy, with maximum informed public participation.

* the equitable distribution of public resources, including a balanced transportation system that works for all and equal access to public spaces

* our natural environment, and belief that our impact on it must be sustainable

* the health of our bodies and communities

* the bicycle not as an end, but as a means, and sometimes a particularly joyous means, to realizing our vision and living our values.


Our History


The SFBC is one of the oldest bicycle advocacy organizations in the country. Founded in 1970 by a group of activists representing a coalition of environmental and neighborhood groups, the SFBC started the convention of calling an advocacy group a "coalition" while riding groups were known as clubs. It quickly evolved into a powerful alliance of individuals working for a more bicycle-friendly city, winning bike lanes on upper Market Street, removing the ban on bicycling through the Broadway Tunnel, and gaining access to the Golden Gate Bridge and, along with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, gaining access to BART. Mostly defunct throughout the 1980s, it was rejuvenated in October 1990 with the first issue of the newsletter, then known as "the tubular times." Operated entirely by volunteers for the first several years, it has been dominated by a grassroots volunteer ethic ever since, growing into one of the strongest bicycle advocacy organizations in the country. Its biggest victory in the 1990s were the bicycle lanes on Valencia Street, supported by the Board of Supervisors despite a Department of Parking & Traffic Director who declared "they`ll be bike lanes on Valencia Street over my dead body." The SFBC, in conjunction with the Bicycle Advisory Committee, was also responsible for some of the strongest requirements for indoor bicycle parking and public event attended bicycle parking in the country.