Bike vs. anti-bike
San Francisco's cycling activists meet their match
Topics: Globalization, How the World Works, San Francisco, Bicycling, Politics News
Somehow, it only seems right and fitting that San Francisco, home to some of the world’s most aggressive bike activists, has spawned one of the world’s most determined anti-biking activists. For every pedal action, there’s an opposite and equal reaction?
Rob Anderson, described by the San Francisco Bay Guardian as a “63-year-old dishwasher, blogger … and failed District 5 supervisorial candidate,” who is motivated by a “deep animosity toward the bicycle community,” has succeeded in bringing the city’s ambitious Bicycle Plan to a screeching halt. In response to a lawsuit filed by Anderson claiming that the plan had not received the level of environmental review required by the California Environmental Quality Act, a judge issued a preliminary injunction halting any further action on completing bicycle-related projects that are part of the plan — including, says the Guardian, any new bicycle lanes anywhere in the city or plans to allow more bikes on mass transit.
If you’re thinking that using environmental legislation to stop bike lanes sounds kind of wacky, well, you’re not the only one. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, naturally, is upset, as is the SFWeekly’s Matt Smith, who wrote a column last week calling Anderson “mean” and “spiteful.”
Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21. More Andrew Leonard.
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