Golden Gate Park Access & Safety Program

Over 5 years, there have been more than 100 injury collisions involving people walking and biking in Golden Gate Park: 38 injuries on the current car-free street alignment, 26 at entries to car-free streets, and 42 on other park streets.

970 general purpose parking spaces were removed along the car-free route – only 13% of available parking: 6,320 general-purpose street parking stalls are still available within the park and along its edges. The Music Concourse Garage also hosts 800 additional parking spaces directly underneath the De Young Museum and the CA Academy of Sciences.

To better understand who was driving to, and on, JFK Drive, SFMTA and RPD conducted a study of the home locations of drivers using JFK Drive before the COVID closures.

It was found that more than half of drivers using JFK Drive live in the Richmond, Inner Sunset, and Outer Sunset districts. The number of drivers coming from the city’s east and southeast pre-COVID was relatively low.

New loading zones for pick-up and drop-off in the Music Concourse were established in 2020.

Nancy Pelosi Drive was reopened up to JFK Drive, providing access to the Tennis Center and three new ADA blue zone on-street parking spaces.

Conservatory Drive West will be reopened by the end of September 2021 to provide direct access to the Conservatory and the Dahlia Dell and between 18-20 street parking spaces.

The tour bus parking lot behind the bandshell in the Music Concourse will be converted to 14 new ADA blue-zone parking spaces. Construction anticipated in October 2021.

Metson Drive and Middle Drive West will be reconfigured to allow access to the Polo Fields without interrupting the car-free route.

Goal 1: Enhance the park experience: Park streets should be utilized for park purposes. Vehicle trips within the park that have no park purpose (like cut-through traffic trips) degrade the park experience for all visitors and pose a substantial safety risk. Any decision for the current car-free route must deter the re-introduction of cut-through traffic and minimize negative impacts to park visitors.​

Goal 2: Enhance traffic safety: JFK Drive was on the city’s High Injury Network prior the COVID closure due to the high number of driver collisions with people walking or biking. Any decision for the current car-free route must enhance traffic safety above and beyond pre-COVID conditions.

Goal 3: Ensure access for all park users: Seniors, the disability community, and residents in Equity Priority Communities have specific access needs and challenges in Golden Gate Park. A broad range of policy, programming, and physical solutions must be brought to bear to improve park access for these groups above and beyond conditions before the COVID closure.

Goal 4: Support park institutions: The park is home to many beloved institutions with myriad logistical, staffing, and access needs. Any decision for the current car-free route must be evaluated for its impacts on the critical functions of park institutions, including loading and deliveries. ​

This option would maintain the existing car-free route in Golden Gate Park, with other project proposals improving access and mobility for park visitors.

This option would retain all the benefits of the existing car-free route, including faster service on the 44 O’Shaughnessy; reducing cut-through traffic in the most popular parts of the park; and enhancing safety and park experience for park visitors.

This option would still retain access challenges for members of the disability community and for park institutions. Other project proposals would be needed in combination with this option to address these impacts.

The current park shuttle runs infrequently, has poor signage, and does not serve park visitors well.

This project proposal would run shuttles more frequently, more reliably, and serve key destinations in the park. Improved signage would make the shuttle a more visible option for park visitors along with investments at shuttle stops like benches, shelters, and lighting.

Under the current car-free route, Fulton Street has the street parking closest to the DeYoung Museum.

This project proposal would create loading zones and 14-16 new ADA blue zone spaces on Fulton Street to facilitate park access and drop-offs for trips coming from the north. This would also include sidewalk widening on Fulton Street and pathway upgrades between Fulton Street and the Music Concourse in order to meet ADA disability access guidelines.

Taxis today can drop-off fares in Golden Gate Park but are not allowed to pick up passengers hailing them on streets within the park. In 2020, fully one quarter of all taxis rides in San Francisco used the Paratransit Debit Card, providing rides for seniors and residents with disabilities.

This proposal would establish two taxi stands on Music Concourse: one adjacent to the DeYoung Museum and one adjacent to the CA Academy of Sciences. This would create queuing space for taxi operators in the Music Concourse, becoming a convenient and highly-visible alternative to travel by private vehicle.

This proposal would include allowing taxis to cross JFK at 8th Avenue in a Taxi/Muni-only lane, but this is not required to establish taxi stands in the Concourse.

The Music Concourse parking garage is currently not well signed for park visitor visibility, especially drivers coming from the north. If the car-free route in Golden Gate Park is to be maintained, more effective utilization of the parking garage is a critical component.

This proposal would involve wayfinding signage updates both within the park and on surrounding city streets to better inform visitors of the permanent alignment of today’s car-free route as well as how to easily access the parking garage.

The proposal would also involve promotion of the garage for free 15-minute access for pick-ups and drop-offs. This service is offered today, but few park visitors know or utilize it.

Today, both dockless bikeshare and scooter share are not permitted to operate within Golden Gate Park. Bringing these services to the park would help close some of the first-mile & last-mile gaps that hold visitors back from making trips without a vehicle.

This proposal would install at least 132 new bike racks across the park, creating the capacity for 264 new parking spaces for privately-owned bicycles, dockless bikeshare, and scooters.

While there are 9 bikeshare stations located within one block of Golden Gate Park, there are no docked bikeshare stations within the park itself. Not having stations near destinations within the park is a strong deterrent to visitors using bikeshare.

This proposal would install 10 new bikeshare stations within Golden Gate Park, with a focus on key destinations and areas of the park with few bikeshare stations nearby on surrounding city streets.

Pedicabs currently only operate along the Embarcadero waterfront.

This proposal would permit pedicabs for operations within Golden Gate Park and establish a designated route for pedicab operators to travel between the Embarcadero and Golden Gate Park.

After reviewing many potential changes to the current car-free route, the SFMTA and RPD have developed an option that directly addresses some key challenges.

This option, establishing a one-way westbound vehicle lane on the north side of JFK between 8th Avenue and Transverse Drive, involves some substantial tradeoffs.

This option would reintroduce between 12-15 ADA blue zone parking spaces on JFK immediately north of the De Young Museum. By staying on the north side of the street, it would never cross the car-free route, allowing for full separation between drivers and people walking and biking.

But this option would also mean a divided roadway for half the distance of the car-free route on JFK Drive, substantially impacting the park experience for visitors on the car-free route. The additional traffic demand for this route would also create substantial delays for the 5/5R Fulton and the 44 O’Shaughnessy muni lines.