Walking and Bicycling in San Francisco Through the Years

A growing variety of options include the old standards of walking and cycling, as well as emerging, alternate mobility services such as shared scooters and biking networks. As San Francisco begins the re-opening process we are encouraging riders to get out, get going, and walk, bike or scoot around town to help with the capacity of our transit fleet as well as congestion on our streets. 

While walking as a transportation option goes back to the beginning of the human experience, bicycling also has a rich history in our city. Join us for an exploration of how alternate transit modes like bicycling and walking have grown and changed over the years in San Francisco.

In San Francisco in the 1890s bicycling took off as a major fad. Between 1890 and 1899 the word “bicycle” was mentioned more than 9,000 times in the San Francisco Call.  

It took the invention of the “safety bicycle” in the 1870s with its design resembling a modern bicycle to bring a wave of mass popularity to cycling. Then as today, Golden Gate Park was a favorite of cyclists, also commonly known at the time as “wheelmen” or “wheelwomen.”  

A new form of walking also became a fad in the Victorian era. The promenade was an opportunity to stroll for leisure—to see and be seen. In San Francisco, promenading was a component of the burgeoning tourism industry. At Ocean Beach, a popular promenade was located near the Cliff House. Also developing out of the popularity of promenading was the invention of the modern wheelchair. Wheelchairs debuted as a rental item at the Atlantic City Boardwalk in 1887. 

The Great 1906 Earthquake and the subsequent days of firestorms that ravaged the city changed every aspect of life in the city, including the ways that San Franciscans were able to get around.

On April 23, 1906— only six days after the earthquake and a mere two days after the fires completely snuffed— the SF Call ran the headline “Great Fire Demonstrates Usefulness of Automobile,” making an early case for the decline of the bicycle in favor of the car.  

By 1919, the San Francisco Call newspaper was advocating for a revival of the bicycle as part of the war effort for World War I, indicating that the mass popularity the bicycle had seen at the turn of the century was waning in favor of both autos and also San Francisco’s expanding public transportation system, which had been growing rapidly between 1912 and 1920.  

Even as late as the 1920s, the city’s most trafficked street— Market Street— lacked protections and designated areas for pedestrians as well as cyclists. People on foot crossed the street without crosswalks and there were barely any traffic signals or stoplights at intersections around town. At the same time, biking had mostly been relegated to a hobby, in particular a child’s hobby that was viewed similar to roller skating or sledding. 

In the modern era, with the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, walking took on a meaningful role as a mode of protest and activism. Nonviolent marching and walking were protest techniques mobilized against segregation and discrimination, most famously at the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama in 1965. 

Walking and biking will never go out of style, especially as an environmentally friendly way to get around our city. By choosing alternate modes, like walking, biking, or scooting, is a great way to get exercise and is great for the environment.

Visit SFMTA.com/GetGoing for resources on how to get around San Francisco using time-honored alternative modes of transit like walking or biking.

Safety is always a top priority when it comes to biking around town. There are great resources for bikers at all experience levels, thanks to our friends at SF Bike Coalition and the Vision Zero.

•  SF Bike Coalition  
•  Bike Education  
•  Vision Zero